Your higher education fundraising team likely knows the importance of cultivating a strong supporter base for your university. Whether the goal is to fund a new scholarship, upgrade campus technology, or launch a renovation project, you need loyal donors in your corner to contribute to any initiative your university may decide to pursue.

You might also be aware of the great debate of donor relationship-building: whether prioritizing acquisition or retention creates the best foundation for supporting your university. Your team only has so much bandwidth for engaging donors, so you’ll typically need to focus on one or the other for each of your campaigns to succeed.

In this guide, we’ll review donor acquisition and retention essentials so you can make an informed decision about how to spend your team’s time and energy. Let’s dive in!

Donor Acquisition

Donor acquisition is the process of identifying, reaching out to, and securing new donors for your university. Acquisition aims to expand the available support for your initiatives and begins each individual’s donor journey with your institution.

Benefits

According to DonorSearch’s donor acquisition guide, this process enables your university to:

• ‍Expand its donor base. If you acquire donors strategically, you’ll gain more total supporters and bring different groups of prospective supporters into the fold who would be interested in supporting your work but haven’t yet considered doing so.‍
• Achieve higher fundraising goals. Naturally, a larger donor base allows you to bring in more total revenue, especially when you identify potential supporters who are able and willing to make major gifts.‍
• Build additional capacity for university growth. Over time, your expanded pool of donors can help your institution scale up its operations, launch new programs, conduct higher-quality research, boost its reputation among universities, and educate even more students!

These benefits often take time for your university to fully realize. In the short term, donor acquisition can be time- and resource-intensive, but it’ll be worth it for your university if the long-term outcomes above are part of your strategic plan.

Essentials

To successfully acquire donors for your university, you’ll need to:

• Identify your target audience. Be as specific about who you want to reach out to as possible. For example, don’t just say you’re trying to engage alumni in a campaign. Instead, narrow down your target audience by graduation year, degree program, campus involvement, location, or other criteria (e.g., alumni whose children currently attend your university). That way, you’re more likely to contact potential donors who want to support your current initiatives.
• Develop a marketing plan. Your target audience will influence both the content of your communications and the channels you use to send them. For example, younger donors are more likely to respond to text messages and actively use social media, while older donors often prefer more traditional outreach methods like direct mail. Time your messages to strike a balance between keeping your university top of mind and avoiding overwhelming supporters with fundraising appeals.
• Conduct prospect research. Comprehensive prospect research is critical for finding potential major donors who not only can give, but also want to. Use a prospect research database to assess potential supporters’ financial giving capacity, philanthropic history, and affinity for your university, which will help you determine whether they’re worth cultivating as a major donor.

Your donor acquisition process will look different based on expected donation size—for instance, major donors typically respond better to personalized outreach than mass marketing. However, developing a solid strategy and investing in the right software (donor database, prospect research tools, marketing platforms, etc.) are important across the board.

Donor Retention

Donor retention involves maintaining relationships with your higher ed institution’s existing donors to secure their long-term support. Donors who feel connected to, valued by, and satisfied with your university are more likely to give again.

Benefits

Retaining donors has its own unique set of advantages for your university, including:

• Saving time and money. Fundraising organizations can spend up to $1.50 per dollar raised to acquire a new donor, while the average cost of retaining an existing donor is just $0.20 per dollar raised. Plus, it takes less time and effort to ask an existing donor for a gift since they’re already familiar with your university and its fundraising department.
• Building stronger donor relationships. If you get to know your donors over time, you can better tailor your fundraising asks to their preferences. Donors also become more passionate about your university as the relationship develops, which motivates them to maintain (or even increase) their support as they’re able.
• Improving your fundraising team’s reputation. Longtime donors also become better fundraising advocates for your university, and this social proof can help you acquire new donors with less effort. You might even connect with new corporate partners through your retained donors (particularly their employers), expanding your institution’s community influence.

Generally speaking, donor retention provides stable support for your higher ed institution. No matter what challenges you may face or what new projects your university needs your team to fund, you’ll know your loyal supporters have your back.

Essentials

Here are a few practical tips for developing your university’s donor retention strategy:

• Thank donors for every contribution. Every gift—no matter how small—deserves a personalized thank-you from your fundraising team. However, the size of your appreciation should match the size of the donation. An email, text, or mass mailing is sufficient for a small-dollar donor, while major donors should get more recognition, like a mention in your annual report or naming rights to a space on campus.
• Demonstrate impact. Donors will only want to keep giving if they know their contributions are making a difference. Incorporate statistics, true stories, and images into your communications to show donors their impact. For example, if a major donor funded a study abroad scholarship, you could share a story about an English major who received the scholarship and had a life-changing experience spending a semester in London, along with some photos she took while there.
• Time further requests strategically. Like with potential donors, existing supporters will experience burnout and fatigue if every message you send them is a fundraising appeal. Mix donation requests with impact updates and invitations to get involved in other ways (attending events, volunteering, etc.). Then, use insights from these other communications to assess donors’ involvement potential, which can impact when and how much you’ll ask for in your next appeal.

As you can see, the best donor retention strategies also vary by gift size, but having a solid plan and the right tools are also critical for keeping supporters engaged with your university.

Should My University Prioritize Donor Acquisition or Retention?

The answer to this question depends on your goals. If you’re prioritizing sustainable fundraising, your university should focus on donor retention. If you’re planning for substantial growth, you’ll likely need to acquire new donors. In general, retention is a better day-to-day priority since it’s more cost-effective, but when your strategic plan calls for acquisition, you should switch your focus.

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About the author

Sarah Tedesco is the Chief Operating Officer and Part Owner of DonorSearch, a prospect research company that focuses on proven philanthropy. Sarah is responsible for managing the production and customer support department, which focuses on client contract fulfillment, retention, and satisfaction. She also collaborates with other team members in various areas like sales, marketing, and product development. Sarah holds an MBA from the University of Maryland and worked as a foundation prospect researcher before joining DonorSearch, providing her with industry experience that she applies to her responsibilities day-to-day.