{"id":1748,"date":"2015-12-26T17:37:05","date_gmt":"2015-12-26T22:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.qgiv.com\/blog\/?p=1748"},"modified":"2025-07-31T18:31:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T22:31:26","slug":"guest-post-3-tips-turning-one-time-donors-long-time-donors-prospect-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qgiv.com\/blog\/guest-post-3-tips-turning-one-time-donors-long-time-donors-prospect-research\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Tips for Turning One-Time Donors into Long-Time Donors with Prospect Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

A fresh point of view is always welcome here at Qgiv. With that in mind, we like to include posts by guest contributors that talk about fundraising, donor relationships,\u00a0and many other topics in the nonprofit sector. Today\u2019s guest post about donor retention\u00a0is by Ryan\u00a0Woroniecki\u00a0of DonorSearch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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How are your donor retention metrics? Do you worry that you’re not keeping enough of the donors you acquire?<\/p>\n

With modern technology, nonprofits are lucky to have so many avenues to ask for donations<\/a> and reach new supporters from text giving campaigns to donation tabs on social media. Nonprofits that want to account for this increase in acquisition channels and grow with that have to be able to effectively retain many of the donors from this influx.<\/p>\n

From donors who have given a major gift<\/a> to those who donated during the public phase of a capital campaign<\/a> and everything in between, retention has always been and will always need to be a priority.<\/p>\n

Put\u00a0these three ideas\u00a0into action\u00a0to increase your donor retention.<\/h2>\n

1. Habitually acknowledge past involvement.<\/h3>\n

The first step in turning a one-time donor into a long-time donor is acknowledgment. Your gratitude can be a pivotal part of a donor’s decision to make a second gift. Of course, you likely have an acknowledgment process for immediately after a gift has been made. But what is you acknowledgment process when you make future\u00a0appeals?<\/p>\n

As you ask for a donation<\/a>, make sure\u00a0that you open your appeal by thanking your supporter for what they have already given. Donors aren’t cash registers! They deserve recognition for their support before you jump back into another ask.<\/p>\n

If you’re going to acknowledge past giving (which you should!), you need to make sure you have a complete picture of a donor’s giving history. Whether you’re using a formal CRM or have staff dedicated to cultivating donor relationships, be careful to\u00a0research your donor’s involvement, history, and giving patterns. You don’t want to ask them for a donation too soon after they’ve already made a gift, and you want to avoid asking for a major gift right after they’ve already made one.<\/p>\n

2. Make sure you keep up-to-date contact details.<\/h3>\n

We don’t always gather a complete set of data on a donor — sometimes we don’t\u00a0collect their phone number<\/a><\/span>, email addresses, full names, or other pieces of information. Even if we do, contact details aren’t permanent! People move, get married\u00a0and\u00a0take their spouse’s name, or\u00a0switch phone numbers.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, sending appeals to donors and using incorrect information can make a huge negative impression on a donor. At best, you can come off as sloppy — at worst, you can seem unappreciative or neglectful. You need<\/span> accurate and up-to-date contact and personal data in order to successfully retain your donors! Account for any possible gaps and missing information with a prospect screening.<\/p>\n

A prospect screening can fill in relevant details such as:<\/p>\n