Your Donor Acquisition Guide: 8 Ways to Find New Nonprofit Donors

Acquiring new donors is an investment. It can cost nonprofits $1.50 to raise $1.00 from a new supporter. On top of this, economic uncertainty, changes in donor behaviors, and a shift in trust from institutions to individuals emphasize how critical it is for nonprofits to adapt their strategies to align with today’s best practices.

In the current climate, getting donors to donate must involve a multichannel approach and efforts to meet them where they are. To help identify prospective donors and cultivate your next wave of lifelong supporters, we’ve rounded up eight techniques to expand your donor base and foster loyal relationships. 

Explore effective ways to source donations across various giving levels and learn how GoFundMe and Classy from GoFundMe’s innovative tools can help make outreach easier. 

1. Conduct prospect research

Prospect research involves gathering and analyzing detailed information about potential donors to understand who they are, what drives them, and how they might connect to your cause. Information you may collect in your donor database includes:

• Philanthropic history: Investigate past giving behaviors for insights into future generosity, such as monetary and in-kind donations to other nonprofits, participation in volunteer opportunities, political giving, and other support of similar causes.
• Wealth screening: Identify financial capacity with wealth markers, such as net worth, real estate holdings, stock holdings, and business affiliations.
• Charitable motivations: Delve into the “why” behind a prospective donor’s giving. Which causes do they care about? What inspires their generosity?
• Personal backgrounds: Get to know individual donors to tailor your approach by gathering information on demographics, hobbies, marital status, communication preferences, and professional and educational backgrounds.

Nonprofits can tap different databases, historical records, and other research methods to collect specific information, storing it in their customer relationship management (CRM) platform to create complete donor profiles. This approach to donor management can help:

• Drive hyperpersonalized content.
• Inform major donor outreach.
• Identify planned or deferred donors.
• Discover new donor cohorts.

Prospect research is the first step toward expanding your nonprofit’s reach and impact. Classy’s comprehensive suite of tools can then help turn your research into action with options like flexible donation pages and donation forms tailored to your unique brand, goals, and donor preferences. Plus, gain access to in-depth fundraising intelligence and analytics to keep your finger on the pulse of your campaigns and make refinements as needed.

2. Leverage peer-to-peer fundraising

The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer report found that 48% of people trust recommendations from friends and family when making decisions compared to 33% for ads and 17% for the news.

GoFundMe’s The Social State of Giving report supports this, finding that most Gen Zers and Millennials follow impact creators online. In fact, one in four Gen Zers said they donated as the result of a social media creator, and 51% said they would trust impact creators to make donations on their behalf. 

Given that people trust other people more than organizations, leveraging current donors’ interpersonal relationships to cultivate interest and support for your nonprofit is an excellent avenue for donor acquisition. One of the most effective ways to do this is through peer-to-peer fundraising, which allows supporters to advocate for your cause and expand your reach in a cost-effective way. 

Encourage long-time supporters to assist you with this type of gift fundraising, letting them know how much of an impact it can have on your organization.

Once individuals give a one-time donation through a friend’s peer-to-peer campaign, use their contact information to send a welcome series. Offer quick ways they can continue to engage with your cause and tell compelling stories that drive them to take further action.

3. Connect through social media

Social media continues to be a powerful tool for finding nonprofit donations. GoFundMe’s The Social State of Giving report found that 40% of respondents share causes or fundraisers by posting about them on their social media channels. This is particularly true for younger generations, with half of Gen Zers posting about fundraisers weekly. 

Nonprofits can leverage this enthusiasm to expand their message’s reach and acquire new donors.

First, gauge your staff’s capacity to expand your social media presence and identify which social media platforms best align with your goals and supporters’ preferences. For example, you can:

• Capitalize on the traffic potential of Facebook to boost cause awareness.
• Share campaigns on LinkedIn for higher conversion opportunities.
• Unlock traffic with a multiplatform approach spanning popular channels like TikTok and Instagram.

To encourage online donations, follow social media best practices, such as:

• Create social media business profiles.
• Schedule posts around the times and days your audience is most active.
• Stay ahead of new trends and algorithm shifts.
• Prioritize brand and posting consistency across platforms. 
• Emphasize short video content and powerful imagery.
• Incorporate digital advertising into your strategy when budget allows.

Additionally, leverage Classy’s social sharing integration with Meta, which makes it easier for donors to find, share, and support causes on their preferred social channels. You can use the integration to:

• Inspire donor action through Instagram stories and in-feed Facebook posts that have a donation button and dynamic progress metrics.
• Stand out in the feed with a fresh, polished look.
• Gain access to rich donor data and insights with funds processed exclusively through Classy.
• Increase credibility among donors with posts that render as official fundraisers.

4. Engage corporate partners

In addition to providing major gifts, sponsorships, and grantmaking opportunities, corporate partners can allow access to their networks, offering introductions to a receptive audience. For example, corporate partnerships can include:

• Connections to board members with philanthropic interests
• Highlights about your nonprofit’s work at corporate events
• Opportunities to share your work during networking opportunities or lunch hours
• Introductions to other companies, philanthropists, or prospective donors within the corporation’s network
• Matching gift programs for employees to encourage new donors through the chance to have an even greater impact

Classy’s corporate giving software bolsters the donor acquisition potential of corporate partnerships with co-branded giving pages, partner-driven events, peer-to-peer fundraising opportunities that inspire friendly competition between departments, and more.

5. Optimize donation experiences

Smooth donation experiences encourage new supporters to complete their transitions. They can also build trust and confidence in your brand. 

In an increasingly mobile world, one critical element is streamlining your campaigns for use on phones, tablets, e-readers, and other mobile devices. Invite people who aren’t familiar with your campaigns to test the mobile journey to your donation forms from various social media platforms and email requests. 

Note points of friction, load times, clunky formatting, or broken links that may impact your donor acquisition efforts. You may also want to: 

• Reduce the number of required form fields.
• Increase font and donation button sizes.
• Eliminate unnecessary text and competing calls to action.
• Compress image sizes to reduce loading times.

Classy Studio, our easy and flexible campaign builder, takes donation experiences to the next level. With the ability to customize your story, brand, and campaigns, you can create hyperpersonalized, connected experiences across various interactions that activate your community at scale.

To ensure our customers’ success, we released a campaign catalog of Studio templates that have been tested for effectiveness and engagement. Simply request the template of your choice, and we’ll upload it directly into your account.

Additionally, Embedded Studio enables nonprofits to incorporate pop-up and in-line donation forms directly on their websites, allowing supporters to donate without leaving their current page. According to our internal platform testing, the approach has shown a 28% lift in revenue per site visitor.

6. Time your campaigns effectively

Once you develop your fundraising campaigns and identify which distribution platforms will best support your donor acquisition goals, schedule your content for when donors are the most likely to engage with it. 

Use data from your past campaigns—as well as the latest best practices for email and different social media channels—to determine the optimal send times for the highest engagement and donation volume. You can also use weekends to share touchpoints that keep donors connected to your cause when they’re more likely to have some downtime.

To ensure your acquisition initiatives get in front of the right audiences at the right times:

• Review campaign traffic daily, weekly, and monthly to tailor promotions.
• Compare email open rates to send time to target engagement.
• Plan a midyear analysis to optimize your fundraising strategy ahead of the peak year-end giving season.

Between the season’s spirit of generosity and potential tax advantages, year-end is a particularly potent time to acquire new donors. Ramp up your end-of-year donor cultivation efforts with more frequent social media updates, personalized thank-you notes to lapsed donors, and small gifts or swag to motivate new donors to engage with your nonprofit. 

You’ll also want to participate in Giving Tuesday to get your giving programs in front of prospective audiences. 

7. Expand your reach through diverse channels

While acquisition channels like social media, direct mail, and email are tried-and-true options, it’s crucial to expand your reach wherever you can when looking for new supporters. 

Update your information on nonprofit rating sites like Charity Navigator, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, and Candid’s GuideStar. This way, when prospective donors search for details about your nonprofit, they’ll get a complete look and a vote of confidence for your brand.

Another effective strategy is claiming your Nonprofit Page on GoFundMe. These pages enable supporters to easily find, donate, and fundraise for nonprofits on the GoFundMe platform. Your team can easily onboard and manage your organization on the site and access relevant supporter data to improve your discoverability, find new potential supporters, and benefit from more supporter-led fundraising efforts.

It’s also worth checking out GoFundMe’s new streaming widgets, which integrate seamlessly with platforms like Twitch, TikTok, and Instagram, allowing you to collect donations in real time from your viewers. Fans can actively contribute to causes while enjoying your live content or that of impact creators or other supporters. 

8. Use events to build donor relationships

Fundraising events are an excellent way to build relationships with first-time donors. They provide a memorable introduction to your cause. Plus, Classy’s Fundraising Event Experience report found that 91% of fundraising event attendees will likely take further action with a nonprofit organization after a positive event experience. 

A great way to acquire new donors through events is to let current supporters bring a plus-one. You can even offer discounted ticket bundles to encourage members of your community to bring their friends. 

Other ways to get the most out of donor acquisition efforts at events are to:

• Foster in-person networking between attendees and staff members.
• Host fun activities in trendy or attractive venues to draw in new supporters.
• Gift attendees with free branded swag or perks.
• Send thank-you notes, make phone calls, and offer other stewardship after the event, like a post-event survey, to show how much you value new attendees’ input.
• Make sure new supporters know their next opportunity to give or get involved. 

For hybrid events, ensure your virtual component thoughtfully complements your in-person efforts. Classy Live can enhance attendee involvement, boost fundraising efforts, streamline event communications, and increase revenue for your cause, whether in person, hybrid, or virtual.

Rocky Mountain Public Media used Classy Live to improve event processes for its annual Live at the Vineyards event, raising 30% more than the previous year from over 1,400 attendees. Peloton4Parkinson’s also used the platform to host its yearly day-long spin ride, which engages virtual and in-person attendees, surpassing its fundraising goal by 14.4%.

Try new strategies to find donors for nonprofit organizations

Knowing how to find donors for a nonprofit is a critical first step to building an effective fundraising strategy. With these multichannel approaches that meet donors where they are, you can be confident that your nonprofit maximizes key and untapped acquisition opportunities.

Once you feel confident about securing donations for your nonprofit, explore donor retention strategies to maximize your acquisition investments and build an ever-stronger community of support for your cause.

Copy editor: Ayanna Julien