Cultivating annual fund donors is an important part of the pipeline towards major giving. But some donors are only giving $20… how do you go from there to a gift of $10,000+?
Other than frequent, personalized appeals for support that encourage upgraded giving, one way to bridge the gap between your annual fund and major gifts programs is a mid-level giving society.
What is mid-level giving?
Many organizations define “mid-level” as gifts between $1,000 and $10,000, but some may place the threshold lower or higher depending on file make-up and donor average gifts. Some set the threshold at an amount with special significance—for instance, the year of the organization’s founding.
You may already have donors giving at that level, but a formal mid-level giving society can help you foster a sense of community among those donors, distinguish them as key champions of your mission, and give you a more concrete structure by which to upgrade donors through multiple giving levels to get them from that entry point to hopefully graduating into your major gifts program.
Components of a mid-level society
Identity
The first step of creating a mid-level giving society is giving it a name. You want to be able to refer to these donors as part of a group they can identify with. It’s a good idea to choose a name that relates to your mission or reflects your organization’s unique culture and identity.
You should also come up with a unique typeface or logo, something upscale and refined, that can be included on all outreach.
Giving Levels
Once you name your society, you should decide on a few defined giving levels to bridge the gap between your minimum and maximum giving thresholds. It’s a long way from $1,000 up to $10,000—it’s more effective to ask donors to upgrade by smaller increments.
Some organizations name each level, but that’s not necessary; the most important part is having clearly defined dollar amounts and specific benefits associated with each level.
Benefits
When defining mid-level benefits, think beyond tangible items like branded swag. These highly engaged donors are often more interested in exclusive experiences, information, and access. Mid-level benefits could include:
- Exclusive online or in-person events
- Content such as impact reports, special newsletters, and webinars
- Meetings with leadership at your organization
- Special access to tours or programs your organization offers
Events and materials that serve as membership benefits should feature your society’s unique branding, while cultivation and stewardship communications should foster a sense of exclusivity, emphasize the key role donors play for your organization, and engage them with your mission at a higher level.
Additional Considerations
Expense
As with any new program, building a new mid-level giving society will come with some expenses. In addition to the cost of mid-level mailings and fulfilling membership benefits, managing the program can take up considerable staff time. Ideally you will want one person in charge of the program, serving as the main point of contact for mid-level donors and overseeing upgrade strategies, benefits fulfillment, and the communications schedule for this unique audience.
However, once you’re able to build up your program, the expense and extra care that goes into cultivating and soliciting mid-level donors pays off in the long run! The group may only be a small percentage of your donor file, but some organizations end up seeing as much as 70% of direct response revenue coming just from their mid-level audience.
If the time and expense seems too high, start small—set up a simple program with a few giving levels, and review your current file for donors already giving at that level. Make your benefits simple, manageable, and inexpensive—we encourage donors at this level to be philanthropic, so the benefits are a perk, not the main point. Think of opportunities to deepen donors’ engagement by seeing your mission at work first-hand.
Communications
Your mid-level donors are huge drivers of revenue, potential future major giving and planned giving donors, and key advocates of your mission. It’s important to balance the communications they receive to make sure this audience is getting stewardship and cultivation touches in between appeals for support to show them that their support has and continues to make a difference.
But don’t forget to send them those appeals for support as well—at minimum, they should be asked every year to renew their membership (more than once if they don’t renew right away), but it can also be fruitful to ask for additional gifts at key times of year, such as year-end or during special fundraising drives.
Audience
Once you have the framework in place, you’ll need to define your audience! If you already have donors giving within your mid-level parameters, send them a mailing welcoming them to your new giving society. If you don’t—an initial assessment of your file and some simple modeling can help you identify great mid-level prospects to target for that initial invite mailing.
Below are some further considerations to take into account:
- Is membership based only on one-time gifts, or does cumulative giving throughout the year count?
- Will the timeframe for mid-level membership renewals be based on your fiscal year or the calendar year?
- You’ll want to regularly invite annual fund donors into the mid-level program. How will you define those donors? How often will you ask?
- When a donor “graduates” into your major gifts program with a gift of $10k+, what’s the process for assigning them to a staff person in charge of further cultivating and soliciting them?
Mid-level giving societies can be a powerful tool for building and cultivating a strong community of supporters who will become invaluable to your organization and your mission. There’s a lot that goes into setting one up and helping it grow—this just scratches the surface.
More questions? Reach out! We’d love to hear from you and help you build a mid-level giving society that can maximize your donor file’s true potential.
