Nonprofit Fundraising: Who's Who In Your Fundraiser Group

Author: Jill Stewart on 17 August 2010 | 1 Comments

Tags: Nonprofit Fundraising, Donors

Do you know who participates in your events-where they live, their household income, what magazines they read, etc. What about the the people that participate and fundraise? More importantly, do you know why they fundraise?

Do they have an affinity to the cause, or mostly to the type of event you are producing? Are they a team captain? On a team? Or registered solo? Are they mostly men? Women? Old? Young? These are key things to know about who is fundraising for your event.

Here is a radical idea: treat your top fundraisers like most organizations treat their major donors. Know their birthdays, their kids' names, etc. It only stands to reason that if these are the people who are bringing in the most money for your cause, you should treat them like their ideas matter. Encourage participation by inviting input from everyone. You may be the person who comes up with the great fundraising event ideas, but they are the people who are putting the ideas in action.  Asking for the opinions of your fundraisers will give them a voice, automatically making them feel more valuable and possibly pushing them to be more active as well.  

Don't forget to ask what your fundraisers may need from you-what could you be doing better? They may be the perfect target group to answer that question and make your overall performance better. Once you know what they need from you, make sure you segment your communications to this group.

The point is: Make it personal. Keep it personal. Make sure they come back next year. This is a great way to help ensure the continued success of your event.