Most nonprofits we meet and work with are not short on passion. They are, however, often short on a system for turning first-time givers into lifelong supporters.
This gap is one of the most expensive problems in the sector, and it is also one of the most fixable. Over the years, we’ve watched organizations pour real money into campaigns that bring donors in the front door, only to lose them out the back because nobody built the follow-up, the stewardship, or the relationship that keeps people giving.
The good news is that donor development is a discipline. It can be learned, planned, and executed, and that is exactly what this series is about.
What this series will cover
Starting this month, we will publish a new post on the first of every month, each one tackling a different stage or aspect of the donor journey. Over the coming months, we will work through topics including:
- Why donor acquisition costs money up front, and why you can’t afford to wait to start
- What happens when marketing and fundraising are treated as two separate departments
- How to actually keep the new donors your campaigns work so hard to attract
- Building a case for support that unlocks grants, corporate partners, and major gifts
- Collecting and cultivating names the right way
- Segmenting your donors
- Making a confident ask
- Stewarding with gratitude
- Winning back the donors who lapse
Why Anchor, and why now
At Anchor Marketing, we work with nonprofit and mission-driven organizations across Canada. Donor development is not a side offering for us. It is central to how we help our clients grow, and this series distills the strategy we use in that work into something any organization can learn from.
Canadian giving is changing fast. Fewer people are donating, giving is concentrating among older and wealthier donors, and the organizations that will thrive are the ones building broad, durable donor relationships now. This series is our contribution to helping the sector do exactly that.
We hope you will follow along. Bookmark the blog, and watch for the next post on the first of the month.
About the author
Rhoda Brooks is Anchor Marketing’s Senior Business Development Manager and Donor Specialist. With a foundation in fine arts and over a decade of creative entrepreneurship, including running a thriving photography and design business, Rhoda brings a rare blend of creative vision and strategic leadership to mission-driven work. Her nonprofit marketing career began at one of Canada’s leading charitable organizations in major donor engagement and event strategy, an experience that continues to ground her approach in empathy and purpose. At Anchor, she leads business development, high-level campaign and donor strategy, and client comms planning. Rhoda is also available for donor development and event consulting on an hourly basis.
