What if your wealthiest donors — or those who you believe are the wealthiest — are just not that into your organization?

Too often in non-profit organizations, we are focused on capturing the richest individuals as donors. However, you may miss the mark if you rush into gift solicitation with donors simply because you believe they have the most money. In fact, by doing so you may be alienating less wealthy donors who can provide more impactful gifts — whether due to “hidden wealth” or alternative and above-and-beyond philanthropic efforts.

Donor qualification enables you to determine who is supportive of your organization in more ways than financial support and identify the various facets of philanthropy that enable your non-profit to fulfill its mission.

Use a custom rubric to measure donor engagement against the metrics that matter most to your organization.

When working to qualify your donors, first identify engagement metrics that include both financial and non-financial efforts and develop a rubric. Consider including items such as: toured the facility, met with the organization’s Executive Director, attended or sponsored an event, given more than once per year, increased average gift over time, and indicated the organization is in their estate plans. Once you’ve identified the metrics that indicate philanthropic engagement, rate your all donors or a subset of identified donors accordingly. 

Analyze the results presented in your rubric to strategically cultivate relationships with your donors.

As you complete the rubric, you can easily identify gap areas that provide opportunities for you to better engage your donors. Invite donors who have provided financial support but who have minimally engaged to participate in some of the identified activities, such as touring a facility or meeting with your organization’s Executive Director. Alternatively, invite individuals who have engaged with your organization to provide financial support in addition to their other efforts. 

Ultimately, this rubric development and donor analysis enable you to qualify your donors. You can fairly easily identify individuals who have somehow contributed to your organization’s mission and work and enhance that relationship so that you can grow a donor or volunteer into a valuable organization advocate.

About the Author

Michael J. Buckley, CFRE is a career fundraising professional and Founder and Managing Partner of The Killoe Group. His firm assists nonprofit organizations increase revenue, exposure and capacity through smart, data driven, successive decisions and effective planning. Mike’s experience and passion for the profession of fundraising have made him a sought-after speaker, consultant and presenter. The Killoe Group’s broad experiences include annual campaign audits and management, capital campaign leadership, feasibility studies, interim program leadership, board governance, strategic planning and capacity building.