5 "Money Moments" Missing From Your Fundraising Strategy

Money vs. Time

Many, if not most, nonprofits think that there’s only one moment that matters in their fundraising: the donation.

But to your supporters, a donation is just a single gesture among many in how they relate to your organization and the cause. They sign petitions, attend events, volunteer, and share stories about your cause with their friends. And they do this because they want make a positive change the world. (I can’t imagine a bigger motivator!)

A Money Moment is Not About Revenue

Most of the activities mentioned in the previous paragraph include untapped “money moments.” These are the “moments” you should focus on to build stronger relationships with your supporters (disclaimer: “Money Moment” is just something I made up for this post. Should I copyright it? LOL).

By “money moments” let’s not limit it to the part where you get cash. To create any substantive relationship you have to apply an equal amount of care and attention.

CHALLENGE TASK: Clearly define five “money moments” for your nonprofit, keeping in mind your unique community. To help you get started, here are five examples:

  1. When someone joins an email list. On the confirmation page, ask them to ask three friends to subscribe as well, or embed a personal-feeling thank you video. (Check out what I do with dolphins!)
  2. When someone likes your Facebook Page. Give them an eBook that has gobs of valuable stuff related to your cause. Stuff that is valuable to them, not you.
  3. When someone donates for the first time. On the confirmation page, have them share why they donated with their Facebook friends, or pick up the phone and say thanks (this will blow them away).
  4. When a current donor donates again. Send a personal email to them with a few gobs of discounts from cause partners they do business with. (It’ll make them feel like an insider!) Make sure you offer appropriate discounts to each person; you don’t want to send a Denny’s coupon to the vegan girl.
  5. When they click through an email message. Add them to your “link clicker” list to receive highly relevant emails (which increases opens and clicks). With the right software (I use Aweber and MailChimp), you can set up a rule where if they click on a link about organic farming, they get dropped into a drip campaign that dives deeper into that topic. There’s so much behind this, a separate blog post is needed. (Stay tuned!)

Stop It!

Don’t just go ahead and start doing these five things. These are just examples. Do the hard work and dialogue about this with your people. Having a fruitful discussion before doing stuff will help you get way more out of the tools and tech than you can ever imagine!

What do you think?

4 thoughts on “5 "Money Moments" Missing From Your Fundraising Strategy”

  1. I think you hit the nail on the head with the critical thinking advice at the bottom. Some times it is best to adapt strategies to your own environment than to mimic the action while expecting the same result. I do love when CTing is stressed.

    Great post, keep it up.

  2. Pingback: 5 Small Gestures That Power Fundraising Strategies - Nonprofit Hub - Nonprofit Hub

  3. Pingback: Weekly Clairity Click-it: Body Language, Purpose of Social Media, New Tools, Fundraising Basics, Thanking - Clairification

  4. Another action item that results in a “money moment” is the retweet on Twitter. The person sharing is telling all of their followers to take an interest in your organization too. When your staff, donors and volunteers take part in any “money moment,” it’s a great way to build relationships and promote the good your organization is doing. (By the way, definitely copyright your term!)

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