Where can I find new donors?

Ah, the mythical new donor. You imagine them out in the world, just waiting to give to your nonprofit. But you’re not quite sure where to find them or how to connect.

When you’re running a nonprofit, you know that a steady stream of revenue from individual donors can help you build a strong foundation for your programs. If you want to raise money for your nonprofit, and especially if you’re brand new to fundraising, one of the first things you need to do is build your list of prospective donors.

These are the people close to you and who are likely to care about—and give money to—your cause.

But they’re not just anyone!

Finding new donors is all about quality over quantity.

While it might be tempting to build a campaign and blast it out to every person you can, you’ll have better results if you curate a list and connect individually with potential donors. In this post, we’ll look at who should be on your prospective donor list and walk you through how to build a list from scratch.

1. Begin by asking: who do you know?

When you’re building your first prospective donor list, start with the people you already know.

Joe Garecht, fundraising consultant and former President of The Fundraising Authority, emphasizes two key characteristics that the people on your prospective donor list should have: closeness and affinity.

So why is closeness important?

We’re much more likely to give to friends and family than to people we don’t know. Which is actually good news. Because even if you don’t have a list of current donors to work with, chances are you do have a personal network of connections; your relatives, your spouse, close friends, or even professional connections. In other words, the people who are close to you.

While you might feel uncomfortable asking them for money…you shouldn’t. The worst-case scenario is that they say no. And as Joe Garecht explains, it’s unlikely that any of your close connections will be worried about you asking them to support a cause you care about (even if they’re not able to donate). Of course, you should always be considerate about whether or not the people you know are in a financial position to give. But those who do have the means will usually be excited to get involved.

2. Focus on People who already care about your cause

The second characteristic that defines a prospective donor is affinity. You might not have a super close connection with some of the people in your network, but if your mission speaks to their personal values they’ll be more likely to donate.

When you’re putting together your prospective donor list, think about whether or not the people you know are actively interested in your cause. Those people who are both close to you and have an affinity for the work you do should be at the top of your list.

3. work with your staff & board to identify new donors

As the saying goes: many hands make light work. By engaging everyone who works with your nonprofit, you’ll be able to create a healthy list of prospective donors.

Keeping in mind the characteristics mentioned above, you can start building your prospect list the old-fashioned way with pen and paper. Gather your staff & board and have them complete the following exercise from Amy Eisenstein to build your prospective donor list:

1. Draw a circle with your name in the middle.
2. Draw several spokes to represent your different personal networks. For each spoke, write the name of a different group of people you know. For example, “friends,” “family,” “professional connections,” and “former classmates.”
3. Think about each of these groups and come up with the names of people who are both close to you (you should be able to get in touch with them) and who have an affinity for your cause. You’ll also want to consider whether or not they have the means to make a contribution right now.

When you’re done, you’ll have your first prospective donor list. When you’re ready to launch your next online fundraiser, you’ll have a list of contacts who you can reach out to personally.

Perhaps one of the best parts about this exercise is that it’s not only for nonprofits that are just getting started with fundraising. Chances are that if you’re looking for new donors, there are plenty of people within your personal network who aren’t yet connected with your cause.