We are opening applications today for a free training/education effort to help your organization increase its donor retention rates.
Most nonprofits are in a constant race to find new donors because fewer than 25% of all donors give to an organization a second time. If you could increase that retention rate to, say, 30% (or even more!) then so many things become possible and easier for your organization.
We believe you can do that by pivoting away from traditional transactional fundraising (e.g. asking for donations in every communication) and developing real, meaningful relationships with donors at every level of giving.
We get that this may sound impossible. You don’t have any time to spare now. How are you going to build relationships with donors giving $25? That’s where our bootcamp comes in! It begins by debunking the conventional wisdom around fundraising, including the way your board measures results. And it includes the use of AI to free up time for you and your team to actually talk to donors and get to know them.
Applications are now being accepted for the summer cohort, which will include up to ten small nonprofit organizations. Interested nonprofits should apply here by June 12, 2024.
Organizations selected for this cohort will be open to experimentation within their organizations and with us (we are piloting this effort for the first time). If you’re curious about what is possible when donors are no longer seen as ATM machines but as real, interesting, whole individuals, please learn more and apply below.
This program is for you if:
- You would like to spend less time constantly asking for donations and more time getting to know your donors and raising more money.
- You are ready to rethink your donor retention strategies, particularly for low-dollar (below $1,000) online fundraising.
- You are wondering how AI and data can be used to make your organization more human (really, it can!).
- You are open to ideas like your donors getting to know one another rather than just being connected to your organization.
- You want to contribute to an active learning environment around online fundraising with peer organizations.
In particular, this program will help organizations:
- Better understand why current fundraising practices and norms are often counterproductive or even flat-out wrong.
- Build an understanding of what a deeply relational approach to fundraising looks like when instituted.
- Gain a greater understanding of the capabilities and risks tied to generative AI for productivity in the context of fundraising and how it can be used as a tool to facilitate more human-centered fundraising.
Program Components and Timeline
The bootcamp will consist of four 90-minute virtual workshop sessions over a 3-month period between July and September 2024. Your team must participate in all of these workshops:
- Aligning Values With Online Fundraising
Thursday, 7/18/24 11:00 am - 12:30 pm PDT - Defining & Operationalizing Relational Fundraising
Thursday, 8/8/24 11:00 am - 12:30 pm PDT - Understanding & Applying AI to Advancing Relational Approaches
Thursday, 8/29/24 11:00 am - 12:30 pm PDT - Sharing Your Experiments and Learnings
Thursday, 9/19/24 11:00 am - 12:30 pm PDT
In addition to the workshops, each participating organization will have access to up to 4 hours of coaching to apply workshop content and craft experiments to test more relational approaches to fundraising.
Meet the Facilitators
Program Eligibility
This program is specifically designed for organizations who fit the following criteria:
- Are US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations
- Have an operating budget between $1 and $5 million
- Have an operating history of less than 10 years
- Have a strategic focus on maintaining and/or building a larger, more sustainable individual donor base
- Are considering or are in the process of executing an individual donor campaign
- Have struggled to maintain and/or increase their donor retention rate
Expectations for Participation
To participate in this program, organizations will be expected to:
- Complete this short online application by June 12, 2024.
- Be willing to participate in a short interview (~30 minutes) between June 5th and 21st.
- Have at least 2-3 members of your organization attend every virtual workshop. Ideally, we hope your team includes your Executive Director, staff fundraising lead, and one Board member.
- Be willing to implement small experiments within your organization aimed at reducing administrative overload and reorienting your fundraising efforts from transactional to relational approaches.
Stipend
Assuming participants meet these expectations, each participating organization will receive a stipend of $2,000 total, with $1,000 paid after being selected for the program and the remaining $1,000 paid after completing the program.
How to Apply
If your nonprofit would like to participate in the summer bootcamp, please complete this short online application. Our hope is that this process will take you no longer than 15 minutes to complete. Applications are due by June 12, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. PDT. Organizations selected to participate in the summer cohort will be notified in late June.
About Us
Every.org is a tech nonprofit whose mission is to help nonprofits raise more money and strengthen their relationships with donors in order to create lasting change. Our platform makes modern fundraising accessible to every nonprofit, and online giving meaningful for every donor. Since 2020, we have facilitated $55 million in donations to more than 5,500 nonprofits.
Thank you to the Fidelity Charitable® Catalyst Fund
This program is made possible thanks to financial support from the Fidelity Charitable® Catalyst Fund, which provides grants to intermediaries like Every.org to help open more doors for small to midsize nonprofits, connect them to more philanthropic training and resources, and provide more collaborative spaces for nonprofits so they may learn from each other. The Catalyst Fund is led by the Fidelity Charitable board of trustees and is a separate program from Fidelity Charitable’s donor-advised fund work.
Have questions?
Please contact Dana Britto at dbritto@cultivarconsulting.com.