Faced with a challenging fundraising landscape, many nonprofit organizations are turning to their existing audiences, hoping that by upgrading some of their existing donors internally they can relieve some of the costly acquisition pressure. As a result, we’re seeing some nonprofits putting added focus on their high-value donor audiences, including mid-level and sustainers, over their low-dollar donors.

At MissionWired, we strongly believe that even in a challenging fundraising landscape, retaining and upgrading donors can never fully outpace the acquisition and stewardship of low-dollar donors. So how do you acquire mid-level donors (and prospects) without having to sacrifice your low-dollar donor programs?

We’re excited to share strategies for growing your program holistically so that even in a tough fundraising environment you don’t have to feel like you’re investing in one segment of your audience at the expense of another. Below, we’ll take a look at strategies to acquire, upgrade, and grow your donor pipeline from low-dollar donors to mid-level prospects to your existing audience of mid-level donors.

But before we dive in, a quick word about us: We’re MissionWired, a fully integrated agency helping our nonprofit partners tell the kinds of big, ambitious stories that build communities while breaking revenue and audience growth records across every direct marketing channel. Our data scientists brought The Digital Co-Op to life in 2020 to help nonprofits and campaigns grow their lists and connect with the best audiences for their mission – it’s powered by over 250 member organizations and has raised nearly $350M for its members since 2020.

So, without further ado, let’s dive into the strategies to engage, retain, and grow your file for the long-term success of your program as a whole:

1. Optimize your segmentation strategy across audiences.

Whether you have an existing, robust mid-level program or you’re just getting started growing this audience of donors, it’s important to have a strong, data-backed segmentation plan across all your direct marketing channels. Data and propensity modeling have long been the standard to help you identify your best prospects for upgrades, and a strong segmentation plan will make sure you’re getting the most optimal ask in front of each donor in your fundraising appeals.

With this targeted approach, you’ll be able to engage your low-dollar, mid-level prospects, and existing mid-level donors with an ask string strategy that increases your chance of upgrading donors at all levels without going too far in any one direction.

At MissionWired, we encourage our partners to consider their low-dollar donors as mid-level prospects. In fact, among our own nonprofit partners, we’ve found that 40% of mid-level donors are also low-dollar donors to the same program. Several studies conducted within the industry have found that donors who give $100 or more are 9X more likely to become a mid-level donor at some point in their relationship with your org.

So while traditional mid-level prospect pools might start at donors who’ve given closer to $250 or $500, there’s an incredible opportunity to expand this potential pool if we don’t look away from some higher-potential low-dollar donors.

2. Grow your file at every level to achieve long-term and mid-level growth.

Even within a difficult acquisition market, efforts to continue to grow your audience with new donors are still critically important to the long-term health of your program. By continuing to drive a robust acquisition and low-dollar program, you’re providing your organization with the engine that can power your future higher-dollar donors.

In a report earlier this year, The Chronicle of Philanthropy shared that 53% of mid-level donors have been giving to these nonprofits for more than 10 years. And of course, when it’s possible to acquire new donors with an initial mid-level gift, this sort of high-value acquisition can have a significant impact in the long term. We’re working closely with our nonprofit partners to help them identify and target the best new-to-list prospects for mid-level appeals.

3. Test your assumptions around messaging cadence to engage your existing mid-level donors.

Traditional strategies might dictate that your higher-value donors – sustainers and mid-level donors – should be getting a lower volume of messaging from your organization. Many fundraising programs will send a few thank you messages, maybe one fundraiser during the year, and save their biggest appeals for November and December campaigns.

With one of our largest international relief nonprofit partners, we tested this strategy over email and actually proved the inverse to be true: For this audience of committed donors, we did not see a threshold for “too many” appeals, and we found that reaching out to these donors more throughout the year with engagement, stewardship, and fundraising messages actually helped increase response.

Ultimately, the right messaging cadence for your unique audience of mid-level donors will be specific to your organization. We always recommend testing assumptions to find the right pace and balance between cultivation and appeals for your program.

4. Develop an ongoing stewardship plan for mid-level donors and prospects. Your audience of mid-level donors are supporters who have already bought into your cause – They’re looking for more in-depth information and updates both on the issues your organization is responding to and the response within your community itself. Messaging that offers this audience a sense of an insider scoop can go a long way: from detailed reports and impact updates to unique invitations to briefings or events. As important as it is to upgrade your donors to mid-level, it’s equally important to be sure you have a good program in place to continue to engage and retain these valuable members of your audience.

While engagement campaigns are generally tricky for direct mail campaigns to include in a budget, consider the extra weight they can carry in tailored outreach to your mid-level audience and prospects. Cultivation packages with no financial ask included will make this audience feel like the valued key stakeholders in your work that they are. Our partners have seen success sending thank-you packages that include something tangible like a calendar or a business card for a mid-level gifts officer.

5. Leverage end of year for mid-level appeals – and look to your data for support.

With year-end just around the corner, some of your biggest fundraising appeals of the year will be a valuable time to build your strategy around upgrading donors. With the higher volume at end of year, we also typically see average gift amounts increase among our nonprofit partners. And mid-level donors often have a tendency to give at the end of the fiscal year.

Whether or not you’ve tested into robust mid-level appeals at year-end for your unique program, this season is a fruitful time to make sure your segmentation is optimized to ensure you have the right ask amounts in market. And don’t miss the opportunity to test audience behavior – the insights you gain this year-end have the potential to become opportunities and core strategy for 2025.

For nonprofit strategy leadership making decisions for your program in a challenging landscape, it can be tempting to look to a single solution or segment of your audience to drive quick growth. For the long-term health of your program and to achieve broader growth overall, it’s essential to invest in strategies to acquire, upgrade, and retain across your audiences – keeping them committed to your world-changing work for a lifetime.

 

Trista Murphy is a Senior Vice President with MissionWired where she lends nearly 15 years of experience working with our nonprofit partners across their digital and online fundraising programs. Trista has worked for a number of leading international humanitarian and advocacy organizations, including Americares, Save the Children, and Planned Parenthood. Most recently, Trista was the Chief Integrated Fundraising Officer at Make-A-Wish America. There, she set the mass market fundraising strategy for the enterprise and fostered collaboration for Make-A-Wish between the national office and 58 locally based chapters. Additionally, Trista is passionate about the nonprofit Direct Response industry at large, currently serving on the DMAW Board of Directors and a mentor for the YDMAW young professionals group.