Last year, Americans contributed $143 billion, yes, billion, to non-profit organizations. Of that $143 billion, 85 percent was given by individuals, 9 percent by foundations, and 6 percent by corporations. Despite the fact that individuals are, by far, the greatest source of philanthropic dollars, many organizations continue to devote all their energy to securing grants. In order for a non-profit organization to create a secure and diversified base of funding, it must develop a loyal cadre of local, individual donors.

The following are some lessons we’ve learned at Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV).

Acknowledge from the start that acquiring and keeping individual donors is a long-term, time-consuming, but ultimately rewarding strategy.

Individuals give by responding to direct mail appeals, face-to-face solicitation, and fundraising events. The base upon which individual gifts are built is a list of prospective donors. I have heard non-profit professionals say things like “We sent out a direct mail appeal and we only received $2,000 so we haven’t done another one.” Your first attempts at raising money from individuals through direct mail may just break even or make a small profit. With individual gifts, the profit is in the long term. Your goal is to build a base of supportive individuals who will continue to give over a period of years. As you develop a more comprehensive fundraising strategy, you will find that your cultivation of individual donors will provide your organization with an important source of unrestricted income.

Building a mailing list
Creating a targeted mailing list is the same for a non-profit looking for donors as for a business looking for customers. There is always someone in your organization who thinks that getting one dollar from every person listed in the telephone book would be easy. Most direct mail campaigns generate a 1 to 2 percent response. A letter sent to previous donors might generate a 10 percent response. For that reason, you want to target the people who are most likely to give.

When we were starting out, I asked each of my board members to give me a list of their personal friends and close business contacts—their Christmas card list. I generated personalized letters to each prospect, signed by the board member. If you have 10 board members and they can each give you 50 names, you have a good start. The more personalized your letter is, the better the response will be. In the beginning, I signed every letter by hand—even if it meant signing 5,000 letters. I no longer sign each letter, but staff and board members go through each mailing and write personal notes on letters to friends and acquaintances. Donors are more responsive to a letter that looks as though it has been touched by human hands. Once, we went through 5,000 letters and highlighted, by hand, two or three key sentences.

As you build a donor prospect list, keep in mind that donors usually give to organizations with similar goals. If they support another women’s organization, they are likely to support yours. It is worthwhile to purchase such mailing lists either directly from an organization or from a professional mailing house. People who know and love your work are most likely to give. For that reason, be sure to include volunteers and former clients in your mailings. Also, give prospective donors an opportunity to learn about your organization through events such as networking luncheons and graduation ceremonies. Anyone who ever attends an event should be added to your mail list.

The message
Your fundraising letter should tell a story. Although statistics are important, a letter filled with numbers and no human interest is unlikely to motivate someone to pull out their checkbook. Use quotations from clients, tell client success stories, and include reprints of good articles about you from your local newspaper. Third-party testimonials are always more effective than your own description of your program. Ask your donors for specific amounts. At WEV, we calculate the cost of putting a student through our program and ask donors to give a full scholarship, half scholarship, etc. Make it easy for your donor to give—always include a pre-printed return envelope and response card.

Tracking and cultivating donors
Direct mail is just the first step in acquiring donors. Be sure to have a dependable database to track donations. Thank donors promptly. Saying “thank you,” no matter how small the gift, is critical. If you receive a large gift in response to a mail appeal, the thank-you letter should be followed with a telephone call and a request to meet the donor to tell them more about your organization and to learn more about them. Cultivate donors over the long term so that they will continue to give and increase the size of their gifts. A series of articles in the Los Angeles Times about philanthropy noted that a donor who gave $20 million to UCLA had been cultivated over 20 years. While some donors, once they give, will give every time you ask, others might give once. For that reason, adding new prospects to your list should be ongoing.

Create a variety of ways to give
Some donors, especially corporations, like a lot of recognition for their gifts. This recognition can be given in a variety of ways. Universities and hospitals have the advantage of being able to name buildings and colleges after their donors. Most small non-profits don’t share that advantage so we give donors the opportunity to sponsor events, large and small, where they get their names on invitations, programs, and in newspaper advertising.

Challenge grants
Several years ago, a local foundation offered to match our year-end fund appeal up to $10,000. We discovered that a time-limited match was a real incentive to donors. Now, we try to find a match for every appeal we send out. It also provides another way to publicize a corporate, individual or foundation gift—if the donor desires the publicity.

Frequency
How often should you ask for money? Churches receive 50 percent of all donations and they ask 52 times a year. We’ve experimented over the years and have found that twice a year works best for us. We send out an appeal for Independence Day and at year-end.

Events
Ten years ago we put a lot of time and effort into putting on a fabulous fundraising event—to which nobody came. We lost $4,000. We decided that in order to stage a successful event, we needed a much larger donor base. We also decided that all events should be consistent with our mission of helping women become economically self-sufficient through entrepreneurship. For the next few years, we sponsored quarterly luncheons with female keynote speakers from a variety of business fields. These luncheons were regularly attended by about sixty people. Eventually, through the luncheons and the reputation that our program had gained, we felt that we had built a sufficient base of support to launch another large event. Three years ago we inaugurated a signature event called “The Business of Fashion.” The first event earned $40,000, the second $50,000, and last year we earned $75,000 from the event. Its popularity has helped us to attract many new donors who also respond to other appeals.

There is much more to cultivating individual donors than can be described in one article. There are many excellent books available on the subject. I especially recommend Successful Fundraising: A Complete Handbook for Volunteers and Professionals by Joan Flanagan, and The Grassroots Fundraising Journal, Kim Klein, Publisher. (Go to GrassrootsFundraising.org on the Web.)

Marsha Bailey is Executive Director and Founder of Women’s Economic Ventures of Santa Barbara. She may be contacted through WEV’s website, www.wevonline.org.