What we knew
A national social justice organization working tirelessly to further reproductive rights had a relatively small pool of mid-level donors (about 500) and were keen on expanding it while also giving a boost to their pipeline for significant and planned contributions.
What we did
We kicked things off by taking a good hard look at their existing donor file.
After some solid number crunching, we zeroed in on a couple of key behaviors that hinted at a donor’s readiness and ability to up their giving game. If they had previously bumped up their initial gift of $50 or more to at least double in a follow-up gift, that was our cue. Likewise, if a donor made a grand entrance with an initial contribution of $100 or more, that was another signal. Spotting these behaviors was like hitting a ‘go’ button, pulling the donor into an upgrade group aimed at mid-level contributions. This group was given special treatment, with carefully tailored package and content, and a more ambitious dollar ask.
What happened
By cleverly using this ‘trigger strategy’, the organization saw their mid-level donor group swell by over 22% in just the first three years. This growth spurt also translated into some pretty impressive numbers, with an extra $175,000 in gross revenue during the same period.
As an extra sweet cherry on top, three generous major gifts of over $10,000 each were also added to the pot, all from the original low-dollar trigger group.
