Working Thoughtfully with Mid-Level Donors
I am obsessed with thoughtful mid-level donor cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. But then again we all should be. These are our best donors they give a substantial amount, and they do it regularly. They may not give as much as your major donors, but you can count on them year over year. But who exactly are they? Statistically, you can figure out who these thoughtful donors are based on a few basic data points.
First, and most obviously, their giving level. This level is specific to your organization. At one organization the range could be from $100.00 to $200.00 at another organization, it might be 250.00 to 499.99. It could be 1,000 to 4999.99 at another organization.
So the first thing you need to do is figure out what is your mid-level donor range. Segmentation is the key. I suggest that you look at your donors in two ways and then chose the donors that fit both ways. I recommend running two reports to figure out your mid-level donors. For an average organization, you can create a "consecutive years given" report that pulls people that give between $250.00 and $999.99. I recommend three years as the number of consecutive years. Then create a "total year's given" report. I this report look at people who gave in at least 3 of the last five years for the same gift range.
You should be able to figure out from these reports the cluster that contains the majority of your mid-level gifts.
Now to cultivate and solicit theses thoughtful mid-level donors. Cultivating and soliciting these mid-level donors is, actually, pretty easy. These people already like your organization and donate to you. What I would do is up my game on how I communicate with them. They should get a different letter from you lower level donors. It should be more personal. Now I don't particularly, mean merging more in formation about the donor into the letter. What you should do is talk more in-depth and thoughtfully about how their support is affecting your programming. Give them some specifics about how their commitment is changing lives.
Let them know they are important to you. Prepare a stewardship plan just for these supporters. This means going a few steps beyond just sending them a single thank you letter. What about giving them a call or writing them a quick note. Also, sending them material about your organization that DOES NOT ASK FOR MONEY. Not even a soft ask. These are important for the donors at the top of your mid-level range. That is how you move them to major donors.
Also, don't forget these supporters are great planned giving prospects as well.
They key are knowing who your mid-level donors are and treating them thoughtfully like they matter - because they do.
