GUEST POST // Understanding the Nonprofit Donor Lifecycle: 6 Steps to Know
By Sarah Tedesco of DonorSearch
To inspire donors to support your nonprofit, they need to have a positive experience from the moment they find out about your organization to the moment they give for the first time—and beyond. This is true no matter how much someone contributes, from the smallest online donation that helps you keep your lights on to the largest major gift that lays the foundation for a successful capital campaign.
The donor lifecycle, also known as the donor management cycle or the donor journey, is a helpful tool for evaluating donors' experiences with your nonprofit. This model shows how individuals go from unengaged prospective donors to loyal supporters of your organization.
In this guide, we’ll walk through the six steps of the donor lifecycle and explain how you can help supporters progress from one stage to the next through a process known as moves management.
1. Acquisition
The first step in the donor lifecycle, acquisition, involves identifying and initiating contact with potential new donors. If a donor is likely to make a small or midsize gift, they’ll usually start engaging with your nonprofit via your mass marketing materials. For instance, they might:
Visit your website upon recommendation or via organic search.
Click a digital ad on Google or another website.
Like or comment on one of your organization’s social media posts.
Scan a QR code on a flyer or mailer you distribute in the community.
With prospective major donors, your nonprofit is typically responsible for acquisition through direct outreach. Before you take this step, conduct thorough prospect research to identify individuals with the financial capacity, philanthropic tendencies, and affinity for your mission that would make them able and willing to make a major gift.
As soon as you acquire a donor at any level, create a profile for them in your nonprofit’s database. According to DonorSearch, “Donor profiles allow you to distill everything you know about a current or potential donor into a collection of actionable information that guides your interactions with them.” So, the sooner you create these resources, the more useful they’ll be for tracking donors’ engagement throughout their entire journey with your organization.
2. Cultivation
Cultivation is the process of building a relationship with a newly acquired supporter before they make their first gift. With low-level donors, you may need to answer some questions or direct them to resources to help them learn more about your mission. But if they’re going to give, they’ll usually do so quickly.
For prospective major donors, cultivation often takes many months, during which you’ll:
Meet with them one-on-one to get to know them better.
Establish a regular communication cadence to keep your organization top of mind and help them understand your initiatives more deeply.
Offer other engagement opportunities like volunteering, attending events, or consulting on a project to show them your work firsthand.
Your cultivation strategy will look different for every prospect, so keeping their profiles updated is critical. Track what moves they responded well to and which ones didn’t land so you can build on your success and improve as needed.
3. Solicitation
When a donor reaches the solicitation stage, you’re ready to ask them for a donation! This step is also quickest for lower-level donors—after all, it’s much easier to convince someone to give you $20 than $20,000. Once they land on your well-formatted and user-friendly online donation page or have a return envelope for a check in hand, they’re usually good to go.
Requesting a major gift should be more personalized. Set up a meeting with the donor and create a unique presentation that appeals to their interests. Suggest a gift amount and designation based on what you’ve learned about them through research and cultivation, but have backup ideas in mind in case they turn down your initial ask. Once you’ve reached an agreement you’re both happy with, work with them to create a payment plan—very few donors will give you tens of thousands of dollars upfront.
4. Stewardship
The stewardship stage begins as soon as you receive a donor’s contribution and primarily involves thanking them for their gift. While you should acknowledge all gifts within 48 hours of receiving them, larger donations deserve more recognition.
Here are some ideas for appreciating donors at different giving levels, depending on their personal preferences:
Low-level: Thank-you email, text message for mobile gifts, end-of-year mass mailing
Mid-level: Handwritten thank-you note, phone call, small gift (branded merchandise, gift card, etc.)
Major: Annual report mention, donor appreciation dinner invite, inclusion on a donor wall or other recognition display
No matter what method you use, eCardWidget’s guide to thanking donors recommends personalizing your appreciation messages with at least the donor’s preferred name and gift size, if not more information about their history of involvement with your nonprofit. This shows donors that you value them as individuals, not just revenue sources.
5. Retention
At the retention stage, your goal is to prevent donors from lapsing after just one gift. But this is more challenging than it sounds—as of 2023, the average donor retention rate in the nonprofit sector was less than 35%.
To retain donors, your organization has to strike a delicate balance. Ask for too much, and donors will become fatigued or burnt out. Communicate too little, and your nonprofit will no longer be a priority in donors’ minds.
Fortunately, there are tools you can use to encourage donors to stay involved with your organization, including:
Welcome email series. Set up your donation page so that after a donor gives, they automatically receive one or two emails per week to help them learn more about everything your nonprofit has to offer.
Recurring communications. Once the welcome email series ends, encourage supporters to sign up for your email newsletter or follow your organization on social media to stay up-to-date on your initiatives.
Engagement requests. Instead of asking for more money every time you contact donors (an easy way to foster burnout), mix up your communications with asks to volunteer, attend events, or advocate for your cause so they can contribute to your work in other ways.
Feedback collection. Gathering donors’ input on your donation process and communications not only helps you improve for the future but also reinforces that you value them as individuals.
Through these communications, keep donors posted on the impact their contributions have on your mission. Donors are more likely to stay involved with organizations they know will empower them to make a difference in their communities.
6. Upgrade
As donors continue engaging with your nonprofit over time, your next step is to use the data you’ve collected on your donors to encourage them to grow their giving. The upgrade could look like:
Going from a one-time or sporadic donor to a recurring donor
Moving up a giving level (i.e., low-level to mid-level donor or mid-level to major donor)
Giving a larger amount within the same level
Making a planned gift, which most nonprofits consider the highest giving level
Keep in mind that the stewardship, retention, and upgrade steps of the donor journey are cyclical. After a donor increases their support, promptly thank them for their gift and restart your retention cadence with the eventual goal of another upgrade.
This guest post was written by Sarah Tedesco.
Sarah Tedesco is the Chief Operating Officer and Part Owner of DonorSearch, a prospect research company that focuses on proven philanthropy. Sarah is responsible for managing the production and customer support department, which focuses on client contract fulfillment, retention, and satisfaction. She also collaborates with other team members in various areas like sales, marketing, and product development. Sarah holds an MBA from the University of Maryland and worked as a foundation prospect researcher before joining DonorSearch, providing her with industry experience that she applies to her responsibilities day-to-day.
