In my last blog, I talked about the Public Religion Research Institute study that detailed the changes in the demographic landscape of America.
But before the full measure of those changes take place, we still have a few years to maximize the fundraising techniques that we know works best. We are urging our clients to maximize their investments into these tools while they are still working.
The leading sign that these demographic changes are happening is the decline in effectiveness of direct mail acquisition. At some point, the cost to acquire a new donor will be ROI prohibitive.
Our company’s focus is to help you raise more funds to fuel your mission. There are only three ways to do that: Win new donors to your cause. Lift current donors to give more, and Keep more of your donors active.
As this is already happening, we are starting to recommend that organizations shift their “Win” budgets towards “Lift and Keep” budgets.
Two of the things you will want to start doing, and many of our clients are doings this now, is to invest in predictive models. First, models that identify those donors who should be targeted for mid-major cultivation efforts. Second, models that priortize who should be targeted for reactivation.
These models pay for themselves quickly, and help you to maximize your Lift and Keep revenue.
Part of any good strategic plan is to have your contingency plans in place. We believe that one of these contingency plans is the gradual shift from “win” budgets to “lift and keep” budgets. At least until the next big thing in new donor acquisition is discovered.