Between donations, events, and volunteer participation, you collect donor data constantly. The rise of fundraising technology and nonprofit digital marketing has only made data more accessible, and that can be a great thing for professional fundraisers!

Your donor data is incredibly valuable. It provides you with insight into who your donors are, what motivates them to support your cause, and how you can keep your cause top of mind.

In this quick guide, we’ll share the fundamentals of managing your nonprofit’s donor data, so you don’t let yours go to waste!

What Is Donor Data?

Donor data refers to the information that nonprofits collect about their individual donors. The most common types of supporter data organizations store include:

• Full names, preferred nicknames, and titles
• Contact information such as mailing addresses, emails, and phone numbers
• Employer information
• Preferred communication channels
• Donation history and average gift amount
• Wealth indicators (such as real estate or stock holdings)
• Other engagement history (such as events attended and hours volunteered)

To organize this information, nonprofits typically store data in a donor database or a customer relationship management (CRM) system. Nonprofits can integrate external tools (such as online donation forms and event management software), so new donor details will automatically be added to supporters’ profiles within the main database.

Why Is Donor Data Important?

Data fuels today’s fundraising efforts. As we mentioned, you collect data at every turn. When you leverage this data thoughtfully, your nonprofit can experience these benefits:

• Cultivate donor relationships. The data you store for supporters gives you a better understanding of what types of engagement opportunities will resonate with them and what channels will help effectively deliver those opportunities to them. By knowing donors’ priorities, communication preferences, and behaviors, you can cultivate meaningful relationships that drive improved fundraising results.
• Prevent donors from lapsing. Jitasa’s guide to donor analytics explains that your donor data can help you monitor individual donors’ engagement. If someone stops giving, attending events, or reading emails, you can reach out to engage them before they lapse entirely.
• Demonstrate impact. By storing engagement history, you can track the impact of donors’ contributions on your organization’s mission and programs. In turn, you’ll be able to follow up and demonstrate the impact of your work when thanking donors and other stakeholders. That will help build credibility and trust with your community.
• Tap into corporate philanthropy opportunities. By gathering employer names and job titles, you can pinpoint which donors are eligible for their companies’ corporate giving programs, such as matching gifts and volunteer grants. Then, you can follow up and let eligible donors know about relevant opportunities. (Hint: If you don’t have this information on hand, you can invest in a matching gift solution or conduct an employer data append.)

Between highlighting the right engagement opportunities and communicating impact, your organization stands to gain a lot from effective donor data management practices. Of course, to properly manage donor data, you first need to collect the right details.

What Donor Data Should We Collect?

The more information you have about your donors, the better prepared your organization will be to tailor your fundraising efforts and communication strategies to meet individual needs and preferences. This ultimately fosters deeper donor engagement and maximizes philanthropic support for your cause!

Understanding giving histories, communication preferences, interests, and more enables your organization to craft targeted appeals that foster long-term donor loyalty. While we briefly touched on common types of supporter data nonprofits gather, it’s worth a closer look. NPOInfo’s guide to donor data management delves into a range of data you should collect to set your team up for success.

Some of the highlights include:

• Demographics: Get to know supporters based on their characteristics. Demographic donor data typically includes age, gender, location, and employment details.
• Contact information: Make sure you collect postal addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and social media handles. This will allow you to connect via multiple channels and ensure you reach out to the right people for your email solicitations, phonathon fundraisers, and other campaigns.
• Giving habits: Common giving data you’ll want to collect includes gift amounts, frequency, preferred methods, and recency. You can also track recent upgrades and downgrades in support to stay on top of lapsed engagement.
• Interactions: The types of interactions nonprofits record vary from organization to organization. For inspiration, you might track event attendance, social media engagement, volunteer activities, website visits, email open rates, and direct mail response rates.

Storing this kind of information will empower you to separate your community into meaningful segments and deliver targeted fundraising appeals to each group.

Knowing who your supporters are depends on your ability to collect and synthesize the right data. Doing so will ultimately empower you to experience the benefits we mentioned earlier.

How to Effectively Manage Donor Data

You know why you should collect details and have all the right information about supporters. Now, how can you leverage that data to drive deeper relationships?

Let’s take a look at three recommendations for maintaining a clean CRM and ensuring your donor relationships thrive.

Use Data Appends to Build Stronger Profiles.

You won’t know everything about your supporters. But did you know you can use reliable data sources to enhance your donor profiles and append missing or outdated data elements in your database?

When you leverage a trustworthy data append service like Double the Donation, you can pull details like these to inform your strategy:

• Employer information (to uncover matching gift and volunteer grant eligibility)
• Landline and cell phone numbers
• Email addresses
• Mailing addresses and updates
• Birthdates
• And more!

Then, backed with these fresh new donor insights, your team will be empowered to…

• Fill in data gaps: Fill in missing or outdated elements to establish a more complete understanding of who your donors are and what drives them to give.
• Enhance its fundraising strategy: Appending demographic and behavioral data can help your team understand donors’ backgrounds, values, philanthropic motivations, and giving capacities. This information can help inform your fundraising and engagement plans, leading to more effective cultivation and stewardship efforts overall.
• Stay in contact: Supporters move, get new email addresses, and change their phone numbers daily. Appending donor data means you can stay connected by filling in missing or outdated contact details.

Luckily, the appending process is fairly straightforward. Your team will send a file with donor data for each constituent to your appends provider. Then, the appending company matches the information you supply to a larger, external database with updated information. Some providers will even conduct manual checks to make sure the appended data is accurate!

Dive into the appending world with our data append starter guide. You’ll learn what types of information you can append and how to get started.

Use Your Donor Data to Personalize Communication.

Donor relationships are built on establishing personal connections. Show individuals that you care about them individually by using donor data to:

• Craft tailored messages for segments. Segment donors into different groups based on interests and engagement levels. Once you’ve done that, you can craft tailored messaging that speaks directly to each group’s interests and needs. This may include personalized emails, direct mail campaigns, or phone outreach specific to the group’s giving history or interests.
• Send relevant engagement opportunities. Store each donor’s past history with your organization, so you can reach out with applicable opportunities. For example, share information about corporate giving based on individuals’ eligibility, upcoming events based on past attendance, and certain programs based on recent giving history.
• Use the right outreach channels. Make sure you’re delivering these wonderful engagement opportunities through the right channels. By questioning each donor’s communication preferences, you can reach out using the channels they check most frequently, whether it’s email, text, phone call, or direct mail.

Your donor data can take your nonprofit marketing up a notch. Today’s CRMs allow you to store pretty much any information you want, so you can form meaningful segments and deliver the right messages to the right groups.

Protect Donor Data By Taking Security Precautions.

When someone gives to your organization, they’re entrusting you with their personal information. Failing to take proper security precautions can result in a violation of that trust. If your donor data falls into the wrong hands, you might even lose some of your donors altogether.

To avoid this, here are a few security steps any nonprofit should take when handling donor data:

• Implement access controls. Restrict donor data access to only those individuals who need to access it to fulfill their responsibilities. Access to any sensitive information should be granted on a need-to-know basis based on an individual’s job.
• Use reliable software. Any tools you use should exercise proper security practices. For starters, ensure any systems encrypt donor data. Encryption scrambles data, making it unreadable to unauthorized users.
• Regularly update and patch systems. Ensure your software systems are up-to-date at all times with the latest security patches to prevent vulnerabilities a hacker can exploit.

Increased reliance on technology can be a benefit and a challenge all at once for nonprofits. While you can gather more information than you ever thought possible, unauthorized users can exploit system vulnerabilities to steal that information. Make sure to take every precaution you can to protect your donor data, and it’ll pay off!

Other Resources to Explore

Nonprofit Basics – Learn more nonprofit management essentials by exploring other expert resources.

Wealth Screening for Nonprofits: The Definitive Guide – Interested in pulling wealth indicators for your donors? Read this ultimate guide to learn how wealth screening works for nonprofits.

Prospect Research: The Ultimate Guide for Nonprofits – Prospect research is the process of gathering information about your donors and prospects. Explore our prospect research guide to learn more.

Nonprofits are challenged to capture and maintain their supporters’ attention every day. If your standard development efforts aren’t measuring up to expectations, it might be time to rethink your online fundraising strategies. Try creating charity eCards to reinvigorate your supporters and provide an interactive way to support your work.

From environmental organizations to churches, any cause can get in on the action and create charity eCards. They’re a fantastic way to raise extra revenue and spread awareness for your mission without requiring too much extra work for your team.

If this sounds like an exciting opportunity, we’re here to help. Before diving into crafting your nonprofit eCards, let’s review the fundamentals!

What Are Charity eCards?

Charity eCards are digital greeting cards that supporters can send to loved ones to celebrate special occasions and spread awareness for an organization. Some nonprofits even create virtual greeting cards for staff to show appreciation for committed supporters and corporate partners.

Perfect for any organization, they’re a low-cost, eco-friendly way for donors to make a difference without having to spend a lot of money. They also serve as a powerful source of peer referrals. Whenever someone purchases a nonprofit eCard, they can create a personalized message to go along with it. This allows them to express their love for the cause and encourage their loved ones to look into the nonprofit, too. All you need to power these campaigns is an online greeting card website.

Types of Charity eCards

What makes nonprofit eCards so valuable is their versatility. Whether you’re creating a few for a cause awareness campaign or offering a year-round collection, there are countless ways you can incorporate them into your work.

Let’s take a look at a few ideas and examples that’ll supercharge your approach to nonprofit eCards!

Cause Awareness Campaign eCards

As explained in Fundraising Letters’ guide to digital cards, “Cause awareness days help nonprofits raise support for particular causes by engaging people in dialogue and inspiring them to take action. If there’s an awareness day associated with your cause, that’s the perfect opportunity to design an eCard that supporters can send to their loved ones.”

Environmental organizations can celebrate Earth Day. Mental health organizations can boost awareness during Suicide Prevention Week and World Mental Health Day. Homeless prevention organizations can amplify their work during Poverty in America Awareness Month or Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Do some research and see if there’s a day, week, or month connected to your work.

Even if there’s not one associated with your mission, you can launch an awareness campaign to gain support and credibility. This is a great way to position your organization as a pioneer in the space.

Either way, there are two approaches you can take when offering these nonprofit eCards:

1. Offer them for free. Create a collection of three or four eCards. Then, encourage your supporters to share their favorite designs with their friends and family.
2. Connect them to a fundraiser. Have supporters donate and then send eCards letting their loved ones know and encouraging them to do the same.

To spark inspiration, we’ve pulled an example from Peace Winds. For World Refugee Day, the organization offered a collection of Father’s Day cards that highlighted refugees’ situations. Since the two holidays fall near each other each year, supporters could select an eCard to send to a father figure in their life while also spreading awareness for the cause.

Invitations

When planning your next event, create virtual invitations your supporters can send to their loved ones. Invitations can help boost registrations, whether it’s a massively-attended 5K or a small volunteer appreciation event. Especially when sent by a loved one or someone at the organization, invitations can add a personal touch to your event promotion.

You’ll want to offer this type of nonprofit eCard for free. Include key details like the date, time, and location of your nonprofit’s event, either in the message that populates with each eCard or on the card itself. Make it incredibly apparent the event is associated with your nonprofit by using your nonprofit’s branding, such as your logo, colors, and fonts.

For this example, we’ve grabbed a church service invitation from Vineyard Vines. At any point during the year, church members can grab their favorites and send them to invite someone to the next service personally. The church keeps its strategy fresh by creating new nonprofit eCards for special services, like Easter.

Birthday and Holiday eCards for Nonprofits

Spread some birthday and holiday cheer with personalized eCards for your cause. Birthdays and holidays happen year-round, so you can create digital greeting cards for every occasion. Best of all, people already send personalized cards during these special days, making them the perfect fundraising opportunity. After all, who wouldn’t want to send a card that’s also associated with a cause the recipient cares about?

Beyond birthdays, some holidays that lend themselves well to cards include:

• New Year’s
• Valentine’s Day
• Easter
• Mother’s Day and Father’s Day
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas, Hannukah, and other year-end holidays

This strategy works especially well for holidays associated with gifts. Instead of finding the perfect gift to celebrate a birthday or holiday, the sender can simply donate in the recipient’s name. Then, they’ll select a nonprofit eCard, letting them know. Either create generic cards for holidays or tailor them to your cause.

Let’s look at a Valentine’s Day charity eCard example from One Tail At A Time. As an animal rescue organization that supports under-resourced animal shelters and pet families, they connected the holiday to their furry friends. As part of their Puppygram campaign, they created a series of charity eCards that featured One Tail’s rescue animals. Supporters could purchase each card for $25.

Supporters could also donate $500 to have a “puppygram” delivered directly to someone. With this option, the organization would show up with a couple of rescue pups directly to someone. To take the puppy cuddles up a notch, a donor could give $1,000 to have a whole litter of pups show up. What an innovative way to spread cause awareness and love on Valentine’s Day!

Appreciation Charity eCards

Thank-you cards are a time-tested tradition for expressing gratitude for someone’s generosity and growing relationships. There are a few approaches you can take with this type of nonprofit eCard:

• Create a simple thank-you card for your supporters to send to loved ones.
• Have your team use these cards to cultivate relationships with donors, sponsors, and volunteers.
• Have leadership and staff members express appreciation for hardworking colleagues.

As explained in eCardWidget’s guide to employee engagement, getting creative with your appreciation tactics allows you to form interpersonal connections and celebrate major milestones. It doesn’t matter if they’re donating, volunteering, or working hard every day as a staff member. Everyone deserves some recognition, no matter how they support your mission!

To get your creativity flowing, let’s look at an example from Youth For Understanding. This card was part of a collection that was launched for a specific appreciation campaign but offers a generic design you can emulate.

While each example we’ve explored has been tailored to each organization, this design is a great example of a generic charity eCard you can offer. It suits every occasion, no matter who’s sending it. Whether you send these greeting cards internally or let supporters get in on the action, a thank-you card is a must for your nonprofit eCard collection.

How to Create Spectacular Nonprofit eCards

Even if you’re not an expert graphic designer, you can create charity eCards that generate more awareness and donations for your cause. So long as you use an intuitive eCard service, you’ll have access to every design tool you’ll need, whether you want to work off a template or start from scratch.

Here are a few ways to make engaging eCards that excite your team and supporters:

• Infuse your nonprofit’s brand. Connect each nonprofit eCard to your mission by using your colors, logo, font, and graphics associated with your cause. Edit the message associated with each eCard to emphasize that all proceeds of the eCard purchase will go to your nonprofit.
• Add a call to action to each eCard. The best way to do this is to edit the message that will be sent with each eCard. Direct the recipient to your nonprofit’s website where they can learn more about your cause. Make it clear whether you want them to donate, volunteer, register for an event, or simply read about your work.
• Get creative with how you offer eCards. You might offer them for free or in exchange for a donation. Remember, you can also allow staff to send them to supporters or to their colleagues to recognize outstanding work. The right eCard platform will give you a few options. Some offer fundraising tool integrations, allowing you to integrate eCards into the donation process or sell them as fundraising products in your nonprofit’s eStore.

Other Resources to Explore

Nonprofit Basics – Learn more nonprofit management essentials by exploring other expert resources.

Donation eCard Examples that Share the Joy of Giving – Explore other charity eCard examples from real organizations and start brainstorming how you’ll use your cards to boost your fundraising revenue.

Birthday Fundraisers: How to Secure Year-Round Support – Birthday eCards are a great way to bring in donations. Get guidance for your birthday eCards and dive into some other tried-and-true birthday fundraisers with this guide.

To students, school is more than just a source of education. School is a nurturing place for intellectual enrichment, socialization, emotional development, and much more. Technology can empower the way you provide these essential resources to students.

These days, software solutions for schools help teachers and staff manage their day-to-day tasks, from facilitating fee payments to organizing parent-teacher activities. A comprehensive school management system houses the numerous processes you may be juggling under one platform, helping you devote more time and resources to your students and staff.

What is a school management system?

A school management system refers to the technology designed to help schools conduct their operations, administrative duties, and activities in a streamlined and efficient manner. After all, much planning, paperwork, and tracking goes into a successful institution.

Whether you’re trying to figure out a payment solution to collect field trip dues or track student attendance, comprehensive school management software can alleviate much of that burden. Having tools to organize initiatives and communicate with everyone involved can be rewarding for much more than just student management and academic planning.

The right school management software can be easily incorporated into your school’s financial processes, communication strategies, and sports and club activities.

What are the benefits of a school management system?

One of the most obvious advantages of school management software is efficiency. By incorporating all school-related duties and tasks onto one platform, you can optimize the productivity of your administrative efforts. With an effective school management system, your teachers and staff can build a collection of valuable data such as student information, parents’ financial details, and email lists.

Your school can benefit from school management software in areas such as:

• Students and Academics. To streamline the process of managing student data, look for software that integrates with your current Student Information System. Track attendance for classes and programs all with the convenience provided by your management software.
• School Fundraising. This software can help boost your school’s marketing and fundraising efforts with tools for sending out personalized emails to specific groups in your system. By establishing a communication strategy that is tailored to your supporters’ needs and preferences, you can encourage greater donor participation and contributions.
• Payments and Registration. For school-related events and activities, simplify the dues collection process to be more convenient and navigable for organizers and participants. Online registration payment processing through your school management system ensures that students and parents can complete any required tasks in a timely manner.
• Parent-School Communication. Keeping parents informed about relevant updates is fundamental to fostering trust and cultivating productive parent-school relationships. School management software can make sending out quick announcements easy and organized. Parents can also opt in or out of communications and reach out with questions or concerns at any time.

Keeping a school running smoothly requires overseeing many moving parts and tracking all sorts of data. The right school management software can be both labor- and time-saving, helping you eliminate any unnecessary roadblocks and maximize the efficiency of your efforts.

What other school-related programs can this software help with?

The advantages of a school management system can extend beyond basic school operations to the summer, when students are out of class.

Consider applying digital afterschool management tools to aid you in operating afterschool activities, summer school, clubs, and camps. Sports and library management duties can also significantly benefit from an integrated platform.

What are important school management features to consider?

When deciding on a school management system, focus on those with comprehensive features. Take stock of your school’s priorities and activities to make informed decisions on which software would work best for you.

Some essential features to look out for are:

• Online Attendance Tracking. Having detailed and accurate information about student attendance is crucial for both their safety and involvement in school. A digital attendance tracker can make this process as easy and accurate as possible.
• Fees and Dues Processing. Save time and resources by implementing online and contactless payment options. This will give parents the flexibility to conveniently and securely pay fees through their preferred payment method.
• Communication Management. Find software that facilitates communication between your school, parents, and staff. You should be able to create email and text lists to keep everyone informed and updated online.
• Reporting Statistics and Tools. Reporting is just as essential to your operations as planning and carrying them out. A school management system that offers statistics and reporting tools can provide important insights for improving your school’s administrative processes.

A 100% SaaS solution can free up any complications that naturally come with managing and keeping track of student, staff, and parent paperwork. For any school looking to optimize its processes and program administration, a school management system can significantly advance your efforts.

Other Resources to Explore

Nonprofit Basics – Learn more nonprofit management essentials by exploring other expert resources.

Nonprofit Basics: Read-a-thon Fundraisers – Fundraising is vital to every school’s educational, sports, and club activities. Learn more about how to organize a read-a-thon for your next school fundraiser.

School Registration Management Software: 2022 Buyer’s Guide – Read about the most effective school registration management software according to your school’s needs in this guide.

Nonprofits require consistent funding to work toward their missions, making effective fundraising campaigns crucial for success. Just having robust fundraising software isn’t enough—you need a compelling reason for people to donate. A well-timed, well-written donation request provides this reason—it can connect passionate supporters to giving opportunities.

What is a donation request?

When a nonprofit organization asks its supporters to make a donation, that’s a donation request. The request can be made in different ways, such as in person or by phone call, and the type of donation can also vary. Having compelling and thoughtful donation requests is crucial for nonprofit organizations to get the funds they need.

5 steps of the donation request process

Let’s review the steps to making a donation request.

1. Research who to ask

Here are the different groups you can ask for donations:

• Current donors. These are individuals who have previously made gifts to your nonprofit. Consider pitching a recurring donation plan to previous donors—recurring donors give 42% more per year than one-time donors.
• Prospective donors. Prospective donors are interested in your organization and your cause, but haven’t donated yet. Implement an emotional appeal in your donation request to these individuals to convince them to make a gift.
• Businesses. Businesses sometimes offer corporate philanthropy programs, encouraging their employees to give to nonprofits. According to fundraising statistics gathered by 360MatchPro, 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer matching gift programs and 40% offer volunteer grant programs. Reach out to a company that already offers a corporate giving program for a better chance at securing donations.
• Foundations. Large charitable foundations are often able to donate large sums of money to nonprofits. However, the process is more complicated than picking up the phone and asking an individual for a donation. Foundations often require applications to be submitted before they will even consider donating.

Interacting with so many donor groups can be confusing, especially when you consider that there are smaller subgroups with different interests. Consider donor segmentation to keep track of your different donor groups. This will allow you to easily tailor your content to each donor group, making the content more likely to resonate with them.

2. Decide how to make the donation request

After deciding who your donation request is targeted towards, you should choose how you will make your request. You can make your ask through a variety of means, including:

• Phone. Phone call donation requests are best made to current or prospective individual donors. These requests are a good opportunity to strengthen your connection with your donors and share your passion for your nonprofit’s mission.
• Email. While you can automate these emails to send them to a large number of people, make sure to personalize them by addressing the donor by their first and last name. This will help you bond with your potential donors and show that you care about them.
• Text. People nowadays spend large amounts of time on their mobile devices. Sending a text is a quick and inoffensive way to get someone’s attention. Before making your donation request via text, confirm that your online donation pages are mobile-optimized for your donors’ convenience.
• Social media. Asking for donations on social media allows you to reach a wider audience. Consider using fun graphics or even videos to appeal to followers.
• In person. In-person donation requests often occur when interfacing with major donors, businesses, or foundations. Because these groups can often make large gifts, practice your pitch. Confidence will encourage them to make donations.

Depending on which donor group you’ve decided to ask, these request methods will have varying levels of efficacy. Consider which method would work best for the donor group you’re targeting, and then make your ask.

3. Make your ask

When it comes to making your ask, feel free to get creative. There are many different types of gifts you can ask for, from financial to in-kind to challenge gifts.

Here are a few best practices for when you sit down to create your donation request. Each request should be:

• Inspiring. 90% of millennial donors are motivated to give when they connect with a nonprofit’s mission. Inspire your donors by telling the story of your mission and giving them compelling reasons for why your cause is important. You can include inspiring content like direct quotes from people your organization has supported or images of volunteers during a volunteer workday.
• Specific. Most likely, you’re fundraising for a particular event or goal. Be specific about what your goal is to help donors understand why you’re looking for gifts. You can also include donation amount suggestions, such as $10 or $25.
• Direct. Don’t beat around the bush—make it clear what you’re asking for. If your potential donors are confused by your request, the chance that they will follow through is very low.
• Personalized. You can personalize your donation request by addressing the donor by their first and last name. If they have donated to your nonprofit before, you might consider mentioning the amount they previously donated.
• Urgent. You can add urgency by including imperatives in your calls to action (CTAs). For example, your CTA might be “donate now” or “help puppies find a home today!” You can also increase urgency by informing donors that they have a limited amount of time to donate to help you reach a time-based fundraising goal.
• Creative. Having a creative request will make potential donors more likely to interact with it. For example, you might choose a creative subject line for an email request. Or, if marketing on social media, you could post pictures of volunteers or even videos to draw the eyes of potential donors.

Additionally, your donation software should make it easy for donors to make gifts to your nonprofit. Effective donation software will make donating streamlined and convenient, and will offer integrations that simplify your team’s workflow. For example, if your donations software integrates with your donor management system, you can automatically personalize donation requests with donors’ names and past gift amounts.

4. Accept rejection gracefully or say thank you

Keep in mind that what you’re asking for is a big deal: you’re requesting that your potential donors part with some of their hard-earned money. Although many people will be happy to donate, many people will not want to. That’s okay! Accept the rejection gratefully and thank them for their time. Remember that just because an individual doesn’t want to make a gift now doesn’t mean they won’t be open to it in the future.

On the other hand, if you do secure a donation, make sure that you say thank you! Your gratitude should be appropriate for the size of the gift made. Consider sending a letter or an email showing your gratitude and letting donors know what exactly their money is going towards. For major donors, you could host a thank-you party or gala.

5. Stay in touch

You should be communicating with interested individuals even outside of making donation requests. If a potential donor perceives your organization as only reaching out for funds, they might feel as though they are being taken advantage of. It’s important to offer your donors a sense of community and to show that you’re grateful for their support outside of donations.

Remember that people will interact with your organization if they connect with your mission and are interested in what you’re doing. Those people may not be donors now, but they can still be donors in the future. It’s important to cultivate your relationships by fostering ongoing donor engagement.

The donation request process may seem daunting, but at the end of the day, your supporters want to help you out. As long as you show that you appreciate them, they will be willing to make gifts to your organization. If you’re still feeling unsure, take a look at the donation request email template below for some inspiration!

Donation request email template

Dear [donor’s name],

My name is [name here], and I’m the [role] at [nonprofit’s name]. We at [nonprofit’s name] are dedicated to [nonprofit’s mission]. Through [actions nonprofit has taken], we are taking steps toward a better future.

[Write an emotional anecdote here about your nonprofit, perhaps giving one specific example of someone/something you helped. For example, if you run an animal shelter, you could add an image of a dog you helped find a home, and write a brief description of the process.]

While we’re making progress towards positive change, [nonprofit’s name] still has a lot to do. We need your support to [new goal, project, or event you’re asking donations for].

Would you consider donating [monetary amount, items, volunteer time, services, etc.] to help us with our goal? Your donation will be used to [state a specific action/goal that the donation will be used for and what the impact of the donation will be]. We would greatly appreciate it!

If you wish to help, please fill out the attached form or call us at [phone number]. If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them and give you more information about [nonprofit’s name].

Please join us! With your donation, we’ll be one step closer to [mission here]!

Sincerely,
[name]

[role]

[nonprofit website]

[email]

If you’re interested in other related resources, you can explore the ones below!

Other Resources to Explore

Nonprofit Basics – Learn more nonprofit management essentials by exploring other expert resources.

Corporate Giving Programs: The Ultimate Fundraising Guide – Interested in how businesses can help out nonprofits? Take a look at this guide to corporate giving programs.

215+ Amazing Fundraising Ideas for Your Organization – If you’re looking for inspiration for your next fundraising event, check out this article.

Fundraising campaigns are a nonprofit’s bread and butter when it comes to getting donations. Since these campaigns can last for days or weeks, donors and participants need to be able to track the progress made. Nonprofits use a variety of marketing tactics to promote their progress, including social media posts, email reminders, and other forms of outreach. A fundraising thermometer can be another effective tool to show your campaign’s progress and get supporters excited about helping to reach your goal.

What is a fundraising thermometer?

A fundraising thermometer is a graphic that represents the progress a nonprofit organization has made throughout a fundraising campaign. A fundraising thermometer can be a tangible visual, such as a poster or drawing on a whiteboard, that is updated as the fundraising campaign progresses. It can also be a virtual representation that is automatically updated as new donations come in.

Fundraising Thermometer FAQs

When can you use a fundraising thermometer?

Fundraising thermometers can be useful additions to your marketing strategy for almost any event. However, they can be particularly effective for events like:

• Auctions/galas. These events attract wealthy donors willing to make large donations to help your cause. Make the most of this and maximize auction fundraising by including a fundraising thermometer, incentivizing donors to make larger gifts. Or, incorporate a matching gift challenge to increase revenue for your nonprofit.
• Crowdfunding campaigns. In crowdfunding campaigns, nonprofit organizations create pages on crowdfunding platforms, and then share these pages on their website and through social media for greater visibility and outreach. Having a thermometer on your fundraising page will let potential donors see how close they are to reaching the next goal, which may prompt them to make a donation.
• Giving Tuesday campaigns. Giving Tuesday is an annual global giving movement that takes place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the U.S. Donations can be monetary or in-kind. Since these campaigns incentivize giving on one day, including a fundraising thermometer will allow people to see the impact they are making and encourage them to give more to fill up the thermometer.
• Matching gift drives. Corporate gift matching is a type of corporate philanthropy initiative where an employer matches the amount that their employee donates to a nonprofit organization. With a fundraising thermometer, employees can more easily understand your goals, and it will be easier for them to help you reach those goals when their employers are matching their donations.
• Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns. To support your nonprofit, individual supporters can create personal campaign pages to collect donations from family members and peers. Because this type of fundraising relies on individuals, it can be difficult for them to know how much money everyone has raised for the campaign as a whole. With a fundraising thermometer, all supporters will be able to easily find the total amount raised.

Fundraising thermometers can be used as an engaging visual for nearly any event to encourage greater giving. Regardless of whether the event is in-person or online, you can always find a place for your thermometer that will provide maximum impact.

Where can you display a fundraising thermometer?

Depending on the type of fundraising campaign you’re hosting, you might choose to display your fundraising thermometer in person or online. Here are a few options for where to showcase a fundraising thermometer:

• Your website. You might show the thermometer on your homepage or event landing page. Potential donors will easily see that you currently have a campaign running, and participants will have no trouble figuring out how much money has been raised.
• Your social media pages. Depending on the duration of your event, you might consider posting to your social media pages daily or weekly with an updated version of your thermometer. Participants will be able to accurately tell how much money they raised the week prior, and how much more they need to raise to hit your next goal.
• Your email newsletter. When holding a fundraising campaign, it’s a good idea to send an email newsletter informing constituents how the campaign is going. You can include the thermometer near the top of the email as an engaging visual, with a link back to your campaign page so interested parties can easily learn more. As the event progresses, you can send updated versions of the thermometer in your following newsletters.
• Your event space (for in-person fundraising events). Place the thermometer in an easily visible location and update it frequently throughout your event. You can consider doing small shoutouts when goals are met, perhaps even to the donor who made it possible.
• Your organization’s headquarters. Having the thermometer in your organization’s headquarters will inspire your employees to continue their hard work towards meeting your goal. Make sure that it’s easily visible and regularly updated.

Aside from encouraging greater giving, fundraising thermometers are a great way for viewers to quickly grasp how close you are to your next goal. You can make your thermometer as simple or as complicated as you want, depending on the tools you use to create it.

How can you create a fundraising thermometer?

Fundraising thermometers can be in person or digital. You have a few options for creating your thermometer:

1. You can use a free tool like Bloomerang’s fundraising thermometer template. You can use this type of graphic in your email newsletters to earn more clicks to your campaign page.
2. You can use a graphic design tool like Adobe Illustrator or Canva to create a thermometer graphic and update it as needed. Consider making an animated version that donors will be able to see filling up after they make their donation.
3. You can print out the thermometer on a large poster board or sheet of paper and use markers or smaller pieces of paper to fill it in. This type of fundraising thermometer is less formal than the options above and would be a great fit for your organization’s headquarters.

Making a fundraising thermometer doesn’t have to be difficult, and including one in your fundraising activities helps you garner more engagement and donations. It’s worth taking the time and effort to make one!

Other Resources to Explore

Nonprofit Basics – Learn more nonprofit management essentials by exploring other expert resources.

8+ Quick Fundraising Ideas that Work [Updated 2022] – Looking for a fundraising idea that might offer a good opportunity to make a fundraising thermometer? Check out this list.

4 DIY Fundraising Ideas to Boost Participation & Donations – Read more about DIY campaigns, one of the fastest-growing types of peer-to-peer fundraising.