The Donor Pipeline

Have you heard of “the donor pipeline”?

It’s the idea that donors move through your organization on predictable pathways at predictable rates.

• Of your first-time donors last year, a predictable percentage will give you a second gift this year.
• Of your mass donors, a predictable percentage will become major donors.
• Of all your donors, a predictable percentage will leave you legacy gifts.

And of course there are outliers.  The nonprofit world is full of stories of receiving legacy gifts from people they’ve never heard of, and first-time donors giving several thousand dollars.

But those are remarkable because they are rare.  You can’t build a lasting organization on gifts you don’t expect.

So, growing nonprofits actively manage their donor pipeline so they know what to expect.  Not enough mid-level donors to feed the major donor pipeline?  Time to work on your upgrade strategies.  Too low a percentage of donors giving legacy gifts?  Time to increase marketing of the legacy giving program!

This is hard for smaller nonprofits.  You’re already wearing too many hats; do you really have room for a new “Donor Pipeline Manager” hat, too?

But just the idea that you have a pipeline – and it can be managed – helps smaller nonprofits.  The amount you raise each year can sometimes feel totally out of your control, but when you realize fundraising is a knowable system you begin to have more power over it.   

So, how’s your pipeline?

Even just asking yourself that question starts you thinking about your fundraising operation in a more systematic way.

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If you’d like help managing your pipeline, or knowing which parts of your system are in need of help, get in touch!