Ep. 117 | Looking for More Donors? The #1 Thing to Do First in Your Fundraising

If fundraising feels awkward, uncomfortable, or you’re never quite sure what to say to potential donors, join me for my free live workshop, Fundraise with Confidence.

“Where do I find more donors?”

It’s one of the biggest questions I hear from missionaries and ministry leaders.

You’ve already talked to friends and family. You’ve gone through your network. You’ve reached out to churches, asked for introductions, sent emails, and maybe even tried cold calling people you’ve never met.

Eventually, you start wondering where all these new donors are supposed to come from.

There are plenty of people out there. The problem is figuring out how to find the ones who will actually care about what you’re doing.

But before you put more time and energy into finding more people, I want you to consider whether you’re asking the right question.

Because you may not need to start with “Where can I find more donors?”

You may need to start with “Who am I actually looking for?”

“Anyone Who Will Give” Isn’t a Fundraising Strategy

When your ministry needs funding, it’s incredibly tempting to think that everyone is a potential donor.

You need more support, so you cast the net as wide as possible. You share the ministry with anyone who will listen and hope some of them decide to give.

But think about what happens when you’re sitting in a busy airport.

You’re at your gate, probably looking at your phone, when someone across the terminal starts shouting, “Hey, everyone! Listen up!”

You might glance up for a second, but you’re probably going right back to your phone. They’re talking to everyone, which means you have no particular reason to think they’re talking to you.

Now imagine you’re sitting in that same airport and hear someone calling your name.

You look up.

You hear it again.

Now you’re looking around trying to figure out who’s calling you because someone knows who you are and apparently has something they want you to hear.

That’s the difference between ministry messaging designed for anyone who might give and messaging created with a specific donor in mind.

One is shouting into the airport.

The other is calling someone’s name.

Who Is Your Ideal Donor?

Think about some of your favorite donors.

I’m not necessarily talking about the people who give the largest amounts. Think about the people who genuinely care about what your ministry is doing.

They’ve stuck around. They want to hear what’s happening. They continue giving because they’re invested in the mission, and sometimes they’re so excited about the ministry that they naturally tell other people about it.

Those are the kinds of donors you want more of.

Now imagine having 100 people like that supporting your ministry.

That’s why identifying your ideal donor matters so much. You’re no longer looking for anyone who happens to have money. You’re looking for people who are naturally positioned to care deeply about the problem your ministry exists to address.

Get Specific About Who You’re Trying to Reach

This is where I see ministries stay far too general.

If I ask, “Who’s your ideal donor?” and your answer is something like, “Christians who care about missions,” we haven’t gone nearly far enough.

Start thinking about the actual person.

How old are they? Are they married? Do they have children? What stage of life are they in? What do they care deeply about? What problems bother them? What kinds of things get their attention? What would make the work your ministry is doing personally meaningful to them?

Depending on your ministry, some demographic characteristics may matter much more than others. The goal isn’t to create an arbitrary checklist of qualities someone must have before they’re allowed to give. You’re trying to understand the kind of person who is most likely to deeply connect with your mission.

For example, maybe your ideal donor is a father of a daughter because of the particular group your ministry serves. That doesn’t mean a mother of a daughter can’t become an incredible donor. It doesn’t mean someone without children won’t care.

You’re simply getting clear about the person you’re primarily trying to reach.

Knowing Your Ideal Donor Changes Your Message

Once you know who you’re talking to, the way you communicate starts changing.

You’re no longer standing in front of a church trying to say something that will appeal equally to every person in the room. You’re thinking about the specific people sitting in that congregation who are most likely to connect deeply with the work you’re doing.

You’re talking to them.

That changes the language you use. It changes the stories you choose. It can even change where you spend your time looking for new donors because you have a much better idea of where the people you’re trying to reach might already be.

Instead of spreading yourself incredibly thin trying to get your ministry in front of as many people as possible, you can become much more strategic.

And that matters because you don’t want to spend all your time trying to convince people to care about something they were never interested in to begin with.

You want to find the people who are already positioned to care.

More Donors Aren’t Always Better Donors

There’s another reason I think this distinction matters.

If you’ve been fundraising for a while, you probably already know that a donor isn’t automatically a great ministry partner simply because they’re willing to give money.

Sometimes someone’s giving comes with expectations about influence or control. Sometimes their motivations don’t align well with the ministry. And sometimes the relationship requires an enormous amount of energy despite the financial support they’re providing.

That’s why I don’t think the goal should simply be to accumulate as many donors as possible.

You want people who believe in the mission and genuinely want to partner with the work God has called your ministry to do.

When you know who those people are, fundraising becomes much more focused.

Before You Go Looking for More Donors, Do This

If you’re currently thinking, We’ve exhausted our network. We need more people, I want you to resist the urge to immediately start reaching out to strangers.

Spend some time defining your ideal donor first.

Look at the donors you already have who are deeply connected to the ministry. What do they have in common? Why do they care? What part of your work resonates with them? What matters to them personally?

Then go deeper. Think about the person you would love to have 100 more of supporting your ministry and begin developing a clear picture of who that person is.

Because once you know who you’re trying to reach, you can start making much better decisions about where to find them and what to say when you do.

Once You Find Them, What Do You Say?

Knowing your ideal donor gives you focus, but there’s still another important question: once you’re standing in front of the right person, how do you actually start the fundraising conversation?

That’s exactly what we’re going to work on in my free live Fundraise with Confidence Workshop on October 5th.

I’m going to show you the first thing I believe you need to communicate when talking with a potential donor and help you begin applying it to your own ministry. We’re also going to work through some of the mindset that can make fundraising feel awkward, tense, or uncomfortable in the first place.

If you’ve been looking for more donors but aren’t sure what to do next, I’d love to have you there.

Grab your free seat at irisstorytelling.com/fundraising.

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