The Donor Cultivation Funnel

The Donor Cultivation Funnel

The amount of charitable contributions made through
online donations has been growing steadily for years.
Furthermore, because it is the preferred giving method of
millennials, online fundraising will only become more
important in years to come.
To maximize revenue, you should look closely at the
process by which someone discovers your organization
online and becomes a donor. This process is quite similar
to the sales funnel used by savvy businesses.
To help your nonprofit improve its donor cultivation
funnel, we’ve broken down the stages below

How it Works

The reason marketers refer to the process of nurturing
prospects into donors or customers as a funnel is that the
first stage includes the biggest audience. Each
subsequent part of the process narrows this pool of
people. For instance, you might get 10,000 visitors to your
website in a month, but only a fraction of them will
convert into email subscribers and only a fraction of those
people will make a donation.

Top of the Donor Cultivation Funnel:
Website Visitors

For nonprofits who want to grow their new online donors,
the funnel begins with website visitors. While this is the
most passive stage of the donation funnel, it also defines
what you can do at every other stage. The more website
visitors you attract, the more people you can potentially
convert into email subscribers, and eventually, donors.
At this level, your audience may be entirely unfamiliar
with your cause or organization. That means your goal is
to increase awareness, educate, and entice people to

submit their email addresses, usually by offering some
kind of content or other value.

Tips to Increase Top of Funnel Traffic

• Optimize for SEO. The more searchable your website
and content, the more likely people will find it when
they search terms relevant to you cause.

• Make a splash on social media. Post useful and
interesting content that delights your followers and
induces them to share. Include CTAs and links to
your website.

• You can pay to promote posts on social media, but you
should also take advantage of Google Ad Grants,
which offers nonprofits up to $10,000 in free
advertising each month.

Convert Visitors Into Email Contacts

• Include eye-catching CTAs on your website that ask
visitors to subscribe or submit their email addresses.
Test different color, copy, and placement to optimize
your CTAs.

• Offer valuable content to visitors. This could be the
regular updates or newsletters that you already send
out. You can also offer useful information or
interesting impact stories to visitors.

Middle of Donor Cultivation Funnel:
Email Contacts

The next step toward becoming a donor is to submit an
email address. Many people will not donate the first time
they encounter your organization, but if they submit their
email addresses, you can continue the conversation and
eventually guide them to deeper levels of support.
At this level of the funnel, your audience has taken some
action to opt in to your communications. Although this
person has some familiarity with your cause or
organization, they probably don’t know a lot of details.
Your goal, then, is to educate this audience on your work,
build trust, and tell a great story. This nurturing will help
you convert email contacts into donors.

Convert Email Contacts Into Donors

• Build trust and familiarity through a welcome email
series. Make your communications beautiful, to the
point, and fun.

• Tell compelling stories about individuals affected by
your cause and programs.

• Include links to your website and blog, along with
donation CTAs.

• Following your welcome series, keep your email list
updated with your active fundraising campaigns.

Bottom of Donor Cultivation Funnel:
One-Time Donors

Now things are getting exciting. The people who reach
this level of the funnel are not only familiar and
interested in your cause, but they have also taken
concrete steps to help you make change.
But what you do at this stage can either help your
fundraising grow and thrive, or it can force you to
constantly start over. Your goal now is donor retention
and converting people into recurring givers.

Convert One-Time Donors Into Repeat and
Recurring Donors
• The first and most important step to retain donors is to

thank them and thank them well. Remember that
an automated donation receipt is not a thank you.
• Update donors and show the impact their gift is
making.
• Give them the opportunity to give again by keeping
them updated on new campaigns.
• Promote your recurring giving program. Invite them
to become a part of this special group of supporters.

Nurture Your Sustaining Donors

Now that you have guided your donors through this
process, the smartest thing you can do is hold onto them.
Continue to nurture and appreciate your supporters with

periodic thank yous and delightful impact stories and
updates.

A few simple things you can do to steward these repeat
or recurring donors are…

• Notify recurring donors when their credit cards are
about to expire and send them a link to update it.

• Segment monthly donors and create email updates
and appeals tailor-made for them.

• At year’s end or on their monthly giving anniversary, ask
them to upgrade their gift.

And remember, it’s always a good time to say thank you
to your donors. Consistent communication and
appreciation will keep your bond with them strong.