In the great world of donor development, there are four actions that a donor or potential donor can take that should change your organization’s behavior. They are actions that often deepen the relationship with the donor or take donor engagement to the next level. Let’s explore these four actions and what you should do in response.

1. Individuals provide contact information but don’t give.

When a lead is generated but the person has not yet become a donor.

When someone new interacts with your organization and takes an action where they give you their contact information (like subscribing to your newsletter or registering for an event), but haven’t yet given, we qualify them as a lead. Having a new lead means it’s the perfect time for you to use your marketing smarts to welcome them to the organization and cultivate in them a deeper interest in your work so that they begin feeling loyalty to your brand and willingness to consider the possibility of giving. Earlier this week, we talked in depth about how to turn a lead into a giver—check out that post for more tips of how you can engage these people and change their preliminary interest into one of dedicated engagement.

2. Giving for the first time.

When someone becomes a first-time donor. 

When someone gives for the first time, you have to capitalize on that interest momentum and engage them to stay connected—especially if they just gave to a special project. It’s easy for people to feel inspired to give a one-time gift of $10 or $20, but it’s all about the welcome process that keeps them tuned into what you’re doing and converts them from a one-time giver to a recurring one. You can learn more about how to welcome new donors to your organization in one of our recent posts.

3. Start giving monthly or give a major gift.

When someone changes giving levels.

This is the gold mine—that sweet spot that every organization wants to be in where their donors are consistently moving up giving levels, begin giving monthly, or even give a major gift. But as an organization, you cannot let these actions go unnoticed. Your donors need to know that you are aware of what they are doing and that you’re grateful for their participation. Remember, as people move up your donor levels, you need to make sure that you start communicating with them differently. A higher giver needs more intentional and specialized communication. If you’re unsure of how to define donor levels, you can reference one of our recent blog posts for more information on the three levels of donors and the kind of communication that each one needs. 

Lastly, people who give a major gift should be thanked in a major way, especially for their first big gift. Invite them to a dinner or, at the very least, an informal coffee meet-up with a major gifts officer where they can learn more about the organization and be thanked properly for their contribution.

 4. Lapse.

When a donor stops giving.  

This is the most disheartening change of them all. But when donors lapse, that could be an indicator that something is going wrong within your organization. Either communication lapsed somewhere or the appeals lost their inspiration or donors got offended, etc. Whatever the reason, pay attention to these. Dive into the analytics and seek out any patterns that might be pointing to a reason why donors are leaving. And remember, you can still try your hand at reactivating them. They believed in your cause once, they might believe in it again if you go about it the right way. Check out some more reasons on why donors lapse and what you can do about it.