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Welcoming First-Time Donors: 4 Best Practices to Follow
From K-12 schools to colleges and universities, educational institutions often rely on generous donors to power fundraising for academic and community programming. While a significant portion of the efforts involves securing first-time gifts from these individuals, establishing long-term relationships with new supporters is just as crucial.
Why? Engaging and retaining first-time donors is essential for the sustainability and growth of any institution. An individual’s initial contribution signifies trust and interest in your mission. If nurtured properly, this engagement can lead to long-term support.
Here are four best practices to follow when welcoming first-time donors to ensure they feel valued, engaged, and inspired to continue their support:
- Thank first-time donors for gifts promptly.
- Collect employment data and other useful insights.
- Screen for match eligibility and encourage submissions.
- Provide other opportunities to get involved.
New donors can come in all shapes and sizes. Alumni join the workforce and opt to give back to their alma mater. Students join your community and bring with them familial support. Community members celebrate the value of your school with their financial contributions.
In every case, it’s important to grow these first-time supporters’ engagement with your institution, and we’re providing expert-proven tips to do so. Let’s begin!
1. Thank first-time donors for gifts in a timely manner
The first step in building a lasting relationship with any new donors is to promptly acknowledge their generosity toward your cause. Sending a timely thank you note demonstrates appreciation and respect for their contributions and allows them the peace of mind of knowing their donations made it to their intended destination.
Check out these recommended practices for successful first-time acknowledgments that set the stage for ongoing support:
Trigger a thank you message within 24 hours of receiving the donation. This can be an automated email, phone call, or text message—and it should also include an official donation receipt for the individual’s own record-keeping purposes.
Incorporate personalization in your outreach. Address the donor by name and mention their specific contribution. Personal touches like these, when possible, make the thank you feel more heartfelt and genuine. Start your new supporter relationship off on the best foot possible!
Focus on the impact. Include information on how their donation will be used—and the immediate impact the gift will have on your cause. This helps the donor see the tangible results of their generosity and increases the likelihood that they’ll give more in the future.
Mention matching gifts and other workplace-giving opportunities. One of the best ways to grow support and engage new and existing donors is to highlight an individual’s potential for a gift match. We recommend adding a quick blurb about matching gift opportunities in your new donor acknowledgments—and then implementing dedicated matching gift outreach as well.
2. Collect employment data and other useful insights
Gathering information about your new donors can help your team tailor its data-driven communication and engagement strategies. Employment data, in particular, can be useful for understanding donor demographics and exploring corporate giving opportunities.
Fortunately, your team can gather the information in a few easy ways. These include:
Donation form fields: Add an optional field that prompts donors to supply employment information directly on your giving forms. Clearly explain how this information will be used to enhance their giving experience!
Follow-up outreach: Send follow-up emails that encourage donors to supply employment information if they haven’t already.
Email domain screening: If a donor gives to your institution using a corporate email address (e.g., janedoe@disney.com), you can likely assume they work for the company reflected in their email.
Data appends: Choose an appends service provider and supply them with a file containing existing donor information. The appending company will review the information on your donors and fill in missing employment data when available.
3. Screen for match eligibility and encourage submissions
Many companies offer matching gift programs that can double or even triple the impact of a donor’s contribution. Once you know where your new donors work, identifying those who are eligible for matching is a valuable step in maximizing the support you receive.
While you can technically take a manual approach to screening donors, we strongly recommend using a matching gift database (specifically one that integrates with your fundraising database) to reduce the operational lift.
Equipped with a user-friendly search tool, donors can uncover detailed and company-specific instructions and links to online request forms to participate—and multiply the impact of their support—with ease!
4. Provide other opportunities to get involved
Keeping donors engaged goes beyond financial contributions. Offering a variety of involvement opportunities can deepen their connection to your cause and encourage long-term commitment.
Here are a few ways new donors may be interested in extending their support:
- Requesting a matching gift from their employer
- Donating time and skills through volunteer activities (and participating in corporate VTO or volunteer grant programs!)
- Attending an upcoming event (such as a fundraising gala or school auction)
- Accessing exclusive opportunities, such as a behind-the-scenes tour or meet-and-greet session
- Participating in advocacy or awareness efforts
- Taking on a peer-to-peer fundraising role
Building a strong foundation with first-time donors ensures a steady stream of support, helping your organization grow and thrive in achieving its goals. Welcoming first-time donors with thought and care is crucial for fostering long-term support and engagement.
By promptly thanking donors, gathering useful insights, leveraging matching gift programs, and providing diverse involvement opportunities, you can create a meaningful and lasting relationship with each supporter.
Remember, a well-nurtured first-time donor has the potential to become a major supporter and lifelong advocate for your cause.
From K-12 schools to colleges and universities, educational institutions often rely on generous donors to power fundraising for academic and community programming. While a significant portion of the efforts involves securing first-time gifts from these individuals, establishing long-term relationships with new supporters is just as crucial.
Why? Engaging and retaining first-time donors is essential for the sustainability and growth of any institution. An individual’s initial contribution signifies trust and interest in your mission. If nurtured properly, this engagement can lead to long-term support.
Here are four best practices to follow when welcoming first-time donors to ensure they feel valued, engaged, and inspired to continue their support:
- Thank first-time donors for gifts promptly.
- Collect employment data and other useful insights.
- Screen for match eligibility and encourage submissions.
- Provide other opportunities to get involved.
New donors can come in all shapes and sizes. Alumni join the workforce and opt to give back to their alma mater. Students join your community and bring with them familial support. Community members celebrate the value of your school with their financial contributions.
In every case, it’s important to grow these first-time supporters’ engagement with your institution, and we’re providing expert-proven tips to do so. Let’s begin!
1. Thank first-time donors for gifts in a timely manner
The first step in building a lasting relationship with any new donors is to promptly acknowledge their generosity toward your cause. Sending a timely thank you note demonstrates appreciation and respect for their contributions and allows them the peace of mind of knowing their donations made it to their intended destination.
Check out these recommended practices for successful first-time acknowledgments that set the stage for ongoing support:
Trigger a thank you message within 24 hours of receiving the donation. This can be an automated email, phone call, or text message—and it should also include an official donation receipt for the individual’s own record-keeping purposes.
Incorporate personalization in your outreach. Address the donor by name and mention their specific contribution. Personal touches like these, when possible, make the thank you feel more heartfelt and genuine. Start your new supporter relationship off on the best foot possible!
Focus on the impact. Include information on how their donation will be used—and the immediate impact the gift will have on your cause. This helps the donor see the tangible results of their generosity and increases the likelihood that they’ll give more in the future.
Mention matching gifts and other workplace-giving opportunities. One of the best ways to grow support and engage new and existing donors is to highlight an individual’s potential for a gift match. We recommend adding a quick blurb about matching gift opportunities in your new donor acknowledgments—and then implementing dedicated matching gift outreach as well.
2. Collect employment data and other useful insights
Gathering information about your new donors can help your team tailor its data-driven communication and engagement strategies. Employment data, in particular, can be useful for understanding donor demographics and exploring corporate giving opportunities.
Fortunately, your team can gather the information in a few easy ways. These include:
Donation form fields: Add an optional field that prompts donors to supply employment information directly on your giving forms. Clearly explain how this information will be used to enhance their giving experience!
Follow-up outreach: Send follow-up emails that encourage donors to supply employment information if they haven’t already.
Email domain screening: If a donor gives to your institution using a corporate email address (e.g., janedoe@disney.com), you can likely assume they work for the company reflected in their email.
Data appends: Choose an appends service provider and supply them with a file containing existing donor information. The appending company will review the information on your donors and fill in missing employment data when available.
3. Screen for match eligibility and encourage submissions
Many companies offer matching gift programs that can double or even triple the impact of a donor’s contribution. Once you know where your new donors work, identifying those who are eligible for matching is a valuable step in maximizing the support you receive.
While you can technically take a manual approach to screening donors, we strongly recommend using a matching gift database (specifically one that integrates with your fundraising database) to reduce the operational lift.
Equipped with a user-friendly search tool, donors can uncover detailed and company-specific instructions and links to online request forms to participate—and multiply the impact of their support—with ease!
4. Provide other opportunities to get involved
Keeping donors engaged goes beyond financial contributions. Offering a variety of involvement opportunities can deepen their connection to your cause and encourage long-term commitment.
Here are a few ways new donors may be interested in extending their support:
- Requesting a matching gift from their employer
- Donating time and skills through volunteer activities (and participating in corporate VTO or volunteer grant programs!)
- Attending an upcoming event (such as a fundraising gala or school auction)
- Accessing exclusive opportunities, such as a behind-the-scenes tour or meet-and-greet session
- Participating in advocacy or awareness efforts
- Taking on a peer-to-peer fundraising role
Building a strong foundation with first-time donors ensures a steady stream of support, helping your organization grow and thrive in achieving its goals. Welcoming first-time donors with thought and care is crucial for fostering long-term support and engagement.
By promptly thanking donors, gathering useful insights, leveraging matching gift programs, and providing diverse involvement opportunities, you can create a meaningful and lasting relationship with each supporter.
Remember, a well-nurtured first-time donor has the potential to become a major supporter and lifelong advocate for your cause.
Blackbaud, the leading provider of software for powering social impact, and Almabase, the digital-first alumni engagement solution, have announced the expansion of their partnership to the education sectors of Canada and the United Kingdom. The partnership will provide institutions with a modern, digital-first solution to improve constituent data, drive self-serve engagement, and boost event participation.
A Unified Vision
The partnership aligns with Blackbaud’s commitment to customer-centric innovation across digital engagement, Advancement CRM, and financials.
“Partners bring integrated capabilities that extend capabilities and outcomes for Blackbaud customers. We are thrilled that Almabase’s offering, integrated with Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT® and leveraging Blackbaud’s best-in-class payment solution, Blackbaud Merchant Services™, is now available to even more of our customers around the world.”
- Liz Price, Sr. Director of Global Partners at Blackbaud
