Blog Series: Level-Up Your Fundraising, Involve Your Volunteers

Welcome to part 5 of our blog series, "Level-Up Your Fundraising."

This 11 part blog series is crafted to help your nonprofit navigate several different fundraising situations, with the goal to help you raise more money with less stress and hassle for your team. These tips span the most common strategies used by organizations of all sizes.

If you missed part 4 on Memorial Gifts and which gift is the most important, you can view it here

Part 5: Get Volunteers Involved in Your Fundraising Efforts

Many nonprofits look for ways to get volunteers more involved in fundraising. There are three great ways every nonprofit can get volunteers to help with development:

Invite Friends to a Non-Ask Event

Non-ask events are one of the best ways for any nonprofit to expand its donor universe. A non-ask event (sometimes called an introductory or point-of-entry event) is a gathering at your facility (or at the home or office of a supporter or board member) where people can hear more about your work. As the name suggests, these events are free for attendees, and no ask is made at the meeting.

Your volunteers can provide a significant boost to your development program by inviting their friends and colleagues to your nonprofit’s next non-ask event. Assure your volunteers that no fundraising will be done at the event, and ask them to attend, along with two or three friends. You’ll be surprised at how receptive your volunteers are to bring their family, neighbors, and others to hear about the work they do at your organization.

Make Thank You Calls

Did you know that donors who get a thank you call from a nonprofit within three days of making a donation are far more likely to give again? It’s true, and the call doesn’t have to be from a board member or executive at the organization. It can be a simple “Thank you for your recent donation, we really appreciate it!” call from a volunteer or other supporter.

If your nonprofit is too understaffed for your development office to call donors within three days, consider putting together a team of trusted (and well-trained) volunteers to handle some of these calls for you. It will have a direct, positive impact on your fundraising revenue.

Personalizing Donor Communications

Donors love it when the communications they receive are personalized. It makes them feel loved, appreciated, and an integral part of your team. Even a simple handwritten message (such as “Thank you for your support!”) at the bottom of a thank you letter can make a donor feel special.

Your volunteers can provide a great service to your fundraising team by handwriting short personalized notes on thank you letters, newsletters, and annual reports that are already being mailed to your donors. Put together a volunteer team with great handwriting and a desire to help thank your donors through the written word.

Posted by Alyssa Pacheco

Alyssa Pacheco is a former Digital Marketing Manager, Nonprofit Solutions at StratusLIVE. She has three years of marketing and communications experience within the technology sector, along with four years of direct nonprofit fundraising experience. “I genuinely enjoy sharing the significant benefits that technology plays for nonprofit organizations in their social good efforts.”

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