5 Top Fundraising Management Techniques for Nonprofits

Fundraising management is a never-ending learning process. There’s always more you can do to refine your messaging, get to know your audience better, and make your outreach more efficient.

Luckily, fundraising managers have more options to learn and improve than ever. These five top fundraising management techniques are great examples. Making proactive use of fundraising management ideas can help ensure your nonprofit’s efficiency never wanes.

1. Develop a targeted content marketing strategy for fundraising

One of the most valuable ways to keep recurring donors and find new ones is to create a robust content marketing strategy.

Start by reflecting on your ideal donor. What do they care about? What would make them feel good about donating to you? How could you show them that donating to your cause matters?

Create content that speaks to this audience in these terms. Focus on raising awareness of the issues they care about and demonstrate your impact in these areas. A consistent guiding set of principles will help ensure your nonprofit’s posts and ads are distinct and recognizable.

Most importantly, watch the performance of your content closely. Which posts get the most engagement? Which are shared most frequently? Learn as much as you can about why your best content resonates with your audience. Use what you learn to constantly improve your messaging.

2. Experiment with audience and messaging

Start by figuring out the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will be most useful for determining your fundraising efficiency. Use these KPIs to determine which of your campaigns has been the most successful. What about that campaign made it especially effective?

Once you have a hypothesis about why your best campaigns worked so well, you can A/B test different aspects of your next campaign to prove it. Create two identical campaigns and then alter just the single aspect (such as targeting, messaging, or timing) that you want to test. 

If one campaign significantly outperforms the other, you can deduce that the element you’re A/B testing is having an impact. Keep conducting experiments like these to uncover new information about what your audience wants and how you can provide it.

3. Activate your staff’s networks

Make sure all of your nonprofit’s staff members have complete LinkedIn profiles and list your organization as their employer. Encourage them to follow your nonprofit’s LinkedIn Page and regularly share and comment on the content you produce. By engaging with your nonprofit’s content on LinkedIn, they can help give it visibility on the feeds of people in their networks — helping you reach more potential donors!

You could also ask your team to post about their own experiences working at your nonprofit, including why they’re proud of their work and the difference they’re making. Be sure to recognize and thank them for these efforts, and don’t forget to share and comment on their posts from your nonprofit’s LinkedIn Page. Hearing impactful stories from staff may be the nudge some supporters need to convert into donors. 

4. Make the most of “warm” introductions

Potential donors are more likely to respond to outreach if it’s coming from someone they already know. Cross-reference your employees’ and board members’LinkedIn connections with your list of potential donors to look for mutual connections. Whenever you find an overlap, set up a “warm” introduction by having your employee introduce your fundraisers to their connection.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator makes this easy. It can even show you all the connections your employees have from a single hub page via the TeamLink feature.

5. Try peer-to-peer fundraising

One of the fundraising management techniques that’s gained the most momentum in recent years is peer-to-peer fundraising. Peer-to-peer fundraising is when individual supporters of your nonprofit collect money on your behalf through personal campaigns. 

As a fundraising manager, you can encourage peer-to-peer fundraising in several ways. Offer incentives such as special recognition, access to exclusive content, or other rewards to supporters who encourage their contacts to donate. You could even host timed, gamified fundraising social media challenges. 

When engaging in peer-to-peer fundraising, emphasize how grateful you are to supporters who choose to help. By showing your supporters how much you appreciate them, peer-to-peer fundraising can be a great way to find new funding and retain existing donors at the same time.

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