5 Steps to Build Your Donor Pipeline

While nonprofits aren’t looking to close “sales” in the same way as for-profit businesses, nonprofit organizations still need processes in place to effectively identify, engage, and steward donors. Similarly to how a sales pipeline keeps sales teams organized and helps track potential customers as they move through the sales process, a donor pipeline helps organizations track donors as they move from potential donors to recurring, lifelong donors.

By tracking donors through each stage of the donor pipeline, organizations are better able to nurture donors, prioritize resources, and secure funds.

Learn the ins and outs, tips, and best practices around building a donor pipeline to help you drive more donations for your organization.

What is a donor pipeline?

The donor pipeline reflects the donor’s journey from first contact with an organization to donating to the organization and building a lifelong relationship. It is a structured method for organizations to transition potential donors to actualized donors and recurring donors.

Donor pipeline vs. donor pyramid

Often the donor pipeline and the donor pipeline go hand in hand when building your donor stewardship plan. The donor pipeline focuses on the journey donors take from first touch to a lifelong relationship, such as: identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship.

The donor pyramid, on the other hand, is a visual that breaks down your donor base by giving level. This often includes prospective donors, first-time donors, mid-level donors, major donors, and planned givers.

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5 Steps to Build a Donor Pipeline

Building a donor pipeline is a multi-step process that involves identifying potential donors, nurturing those relationships, and ultimately soliciting their support. Here's a breakdown of the key stages:

1. Identify prospective donors

The first step is to identify individuals who have the potential to support your organization. In for-profit organizations, this stage is typically called “leads” and the goal is to fill your pipeline with as many leads as possible knowing that not all will become donors.

• Start with your existing base: Analyze your donor data to find your most loyal and generous supporters. Look for trends in demographics, giving history, and interests.
• Network strategically: Reach out to board members, volunteers, and current donors to see if they can introduce you to potential donors in their circles.
• Research and target: Look for individuals with a history of giving to similar causes or with wealth indicators that suggest they have the capacity to donate.

Challenge: While you want to cast a wide net, too wide of a net can lead to a clogged pipeline with leads that aren’t interested in your organization.

Solution: Keep your target audience in mind and strive for high-quality leads (aka potential donors) that will have a greater likelihood of converting into donors.

2. Qualify and segment donors

Not all donors are created equal. Just because some potential donors seem to fit your target audience, it doesn’t mean they will actually donate. This is where it’s helpful to dig a layer deeper and use data to determine if a donor has the capacity to give, affinity with your cause, and engagement with your organization. Qualifying donors ensures that you don’t waste time on donors that aren’t interested or engaged in your organization.

• Wealth and Affinity Screening: Use data analytics and AI-powered identification tools to find individuals with not only the capacity to give but also an interest in the cause.
• Engagement Analysis: Look at current supporters who show strong engagement through digital communications, volunteer work, event attendance, or smaller donations.
• **Donor segmentation: Bucket your donors into different giving levels. While it’s helpful to track all levels of donors, major donors will need additional relationship cultivation and stewardship before converting.**

Challenge: It’s tempting to qualify as many donors as possible, but that can lead to poor targeting and a large number of potential donors who won’t have long-lasting relationships with your organization.

Solution: Set thresholds to help you qualify donors for each segment. For example, for major donors, their income must be at least $1M, the donor must engage with your organization at least 5 times, or donate a certain amount before moving to the relationship cultivation stage.

3. Cultivate relationships

Cultivation is what helps donors become more familiar with your organization and can help move donors from mid-level to major donors, or major donors to planned givers. When you’re building relationships, you don’t want to ask for donations (at least not large sums).

• Personalized Communication: Segment and tailor your communications to address the interests and passions of each donor.
• Regular Updates: Keep donors informed about the impact of their contributions and the ongoing needs of your organization.
• Engagement Opportunities: Invite donors to events, behind-the-scenes tours, or volunteer opportunities to deepen their connection to your mission.

Challenge: It can be challenging to prioritize relationship cultivation among all of the other to-dos on your list. But, building relationships is the heart of growing your donor base and upleveling donation amounts.

Solution: Donor engagement platforms can help fundraisers manage their donor stewardship plans by prioritizing and reminding fundraisers of the donors they need to connect with. Momentum, for example, sends an email daily of the donors that need to be connected with. Within the email you’ll find an AI-drafted communication that you can edit as you see fit and send to your donor.

4. Solicit contributions

As relationships develop, it’s time to make an ask. For first-time donors, the ask may occur after a few emails that share information about your organization. For major donors, the ask may take a few months of relationship building, in-person meetings, and phone calls.

• Matching Gifts to Interests: Propose projects or programs that align with the donor’s passions.
• Strategic Asks: Based on the donor’s giving history and engagement level, make asks that are ambitious but achievable.
• Thank You and Recognition: Always thank donors promptly and recognize their contributions publicly when appropriate.

Challenge: Knowing the right amount to ask feels like an impossible task. You don’t want to ask for too much and push donors away, and you don’t want to ask for too little and miss out on additional dollars.

Solution: Use AI to draft the first ask. AI tools leverage data such as wealth screening and giving history to come up with an appropriate donation amount.

5. Stewardship and Retention

After a donation is made, the absolute worst thing you can do is not contact the donor. Stewardship is crucial to ensure continued support and a lasting relationship.

• Impact Reports: Regularly update donors on how their gifts are being used and the impact they are having.
• Ongoing Engagement: Continue to involve donors in the life of the organization, seeking their feedback and input.
• Recognition Programs: Develop ways to honor and recognize donors for their generosity, such as naming opportunities or exclusive events.

Challenge: Checking in with donors post-donation can fall to the bottom of the priority list, but recurring donors are arguably more important than first-time donors, offering sustainable revenue for your organization.

Solution: Lean on AI tools for nonprofits to create donor stewardship plans, draft communications, and remind you when it’s time to check in with a donor.

Manage your donor pipeline with ease

A thorough donor pipeline helps organizations structure outreach and see in real-time how their potential donors are progressing through each stage.

While it can be challenging to stay on top of donor outreach and relationship cultivation, it doesn’t have to be. With tools like Momentum’s AI Donor Engagement platform, fundraisers are able to leverage the power of AI to help identify potential donors, draft personalized communication, and keep up with donor relationships.

Explore the platform today.

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