In this blog, you'll learn how to build and optimize a fundraising pipeline that transforms prospect management into a strategic revenue engine.
Anwesha Kiran
Published:
June 24, 2025
Discover AI Summary
• Make it easy for donors to double their impact: Integrate matching gift tools directly into your donation forms and follow up with automated emails to remind them about their eligibility. This significantly boosts completion rates and brings in more revenue without asking donors for more money.
• Get your team on board first: Ensure everyone, from development to communications, understands how matching gifts work so they can confidently promote the opportunity and answer donor questions effectively. This sets your fundraising campaigns up for success.
• Weave matching gifts into all your outreach: Don't let matching gifts be an afterthought; consistently highlight them across all your fundraising campaigns, appeal letters, and social media to encourage greater donor participation. Repetition helps the message stick and drives engagement.
• Personalize your messaging for eligible donors: Use tools to identify which donors work for matching gift companies and tailor your messages specifically to them. This makes it incredibly easy for them to complete the match and amplify their gift.
• Share real-world success stories: Showcase the tangible impact of matched donations with compelling narratives, like how a doubled gift funded a full month of tutoring for a child. These stories inspire greater giving and deepen donor connection to your cause.
• Track, measure, and optimize your strategy: Keep an eye on key metrics like initiation and completion rates to find out what's working best and where you can improve. This data-driven approach helps you refine your approach and unlock even more potential for your fundraising.
For nonprofits and institutions looking to raise funds, every dollar counts. So what if you could double or even triple your donations without asking your supporters to give more? That’s the power of matching gifts. Despite the enormous potential of corporate matching gift programs, billions of dollars in eligible donations go unclaimed each year. Why? Donors either don’t know their gifts can be matched or don’t know how to complete the process.
Integrating matching gifts into your fundraising campaigns is one of the most effective ways to increase revenue, deepen donor engagement, and amplify impact. But it doesn’t happen by accident—it requires strategy, timing, and the right tools.
Below, we’re sharing 10 actionable tips to help your team fully leverage matching gifts in your fundraising efforts. Let’s begin!
Before you can promote matching gifts to donors, it’s essential that your internal team understands how they work. From development staff to communications professionals, everyone should be familiar with the basics of corporate matching gift programs.
Therefore, it’s a good idea to hold a short training session or workshop to explain:
When your team is well-versed in all things matching, they can confidently communicate the opportunity to donors and answer questions effectively as they arise.
Many organizations send out generalized appeals without knowing which donors work for matching gift companies. That’s a missed opportunity. Using tools like matching gift software or employer appends, you can identify where your donors work and flag those who are likely eligible for a match.
Once identified, tailor your messaging for each individual. For example, after a donation is made, you can send a targeted follow-up like: "Thanks for your gift! Did you know your employer, XYZ Corporation, may match your donation? Here’s how you can double your impact in just a few clicks."
Personalized messaging increases the likelihood that donors will follow through, and makes it even easier for them to do so.
The fewer steps a donor has to take, the better. By embedding matching gift tools directly into your donation form, you make it easy for donors to check their eligibility and start the matching process instantly.
Software like Double the Donation (which integrates seamlessly with your Almabase fundraising tools) allows donors to search for their employer as they’re making a gift. It even provides forms, guidelines, and contact information in real time, streamlining the process dramatically.
This simple integration has been shown to significantly increase match completion rates and grow fundraising revenue with ease.
Even if a donor skips the matching gift process during checkout, you can still guide them afterward. Automated email follow-ups are a highly effective way to remind donors about their match eligibility.
Consider setting up a series of emails timed to go out after a gift is made. Here’s an example sequence:
In each message, make sure the language is friendly, encouraging, and focused on impact. Include clickable buttons or links to company lookup tools to remove friction and drive supporters through the process.
Your organization’s website is an essential resource. Hosting a dedicated landing page for matching gifts can serve as a central hub for all your related outreach efforts.
For the best results, this page should:
From there, you’ll want to link to this page from your main website navigation, donation forms, confirmation/thank-you pages, email footers, and social media posts. In other words, make it easy for donors to find and refer back to when they’re ready to learn more or initiate a match.
Matching gifts shouldn’t be an afterthought—they should be baked into the DNA of your campaigns.
Whether you’re running a year-end appeal, Giving Tuesday initiative, peer-to-peer fundraiser, or capital campaign, consistently highlighting matching opportunities goes a long way. Phrases like:
…can prompt curiosity and inspire action.
Add matching gift language and tools to appeal letters, emails, event materials, digital ads, and more. Repetition helps donors absorb the message, making them more likely to participate when the time comes.
Acknowledging and stewarding donors doesn’t end after the first thank-you. In fact, you can build stronger relationships by keeping them informed about the matching gift process.
If a donor completes a match request, send a separate thank-you noting their extra effort and impact. If their match is received, send a special acknowledgment with updated gift totals and a story about what that additional funding made possible.
You can even tag matched donors in your CRM and invite them into higher-touch stewardship journeys or giving circles, reinforcing their sense of value and connection to your cause.
If your nonprofit or institution has corporate sponsors or partners, work with them to educate their employees about matching gifts. Many employees aren’t even aware that their companies offer these programs, and a simple nudge from HR or internal communications can spark significant action.
For example, consider asking your corporate partners to:
This not only drives more matching donations but also deepens your relationship with the company—a win-win on all fronts.
People are inspired by stories. When you share a real story about a donation that was matched—and the tangible impact it created—it makes the concept of matching gifts come alive.
Here’s an example: "When Rachel donated $100 to support local tutoring programs, her employer matched it, bringing her impact to $200. That covered an entire month of tutoring for one child."
Include stories like these in newsletters, appeal emails, social posts, and annual reports. It helps donors visualize the extra power they have, simply by checking a box and requesting a match from their employer.
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Therefore, try tracking key metrics related to matching gifts, such as:
Percentage of match-eligible donations
Match request initiation rate
Match completion rate
Total dollars matched
Fundraising increase due to matching gifts
From there, you can use this data to find gaps and opportunities. Are donors dropping off after the first email? Are small-dollar donors getting their gifts matched more often than major givers? Are some campaigns more successful than others?
By analyzing trends and experimenting with language, timing, and placement, you can continually refine your strategy for better results overall.
Matching gifts are one of the most underutilized fundraising tools available to both institutions and nonprofits. With a thoughtful approach and a few strategic integrations, you can unlock a hidden revenue stream that requires no extra money from your donors—just a little extra effort.
By educating your team, leveraging technology, telling powerful stories, and weaving matching gift opportunities throughout your campaigns, you’ll increase participation, raise more money, and deepen donor engagement.
Don’t let matching gifts be an afterthought. Make them an integral part of your strategy—and watch your impact grow.
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See how modern advancement teams bring alumni engagement and fundraising together.
Advancement professionals understand that successful fundraising isn’t simply about donations; it’s about building lasting relationships with donors. This is where donor cultivation comes in—a proactive, intentional approach to developing meaningful connections with supporters over time.
In this blog, we explore what donor cultivation means, how it differs from stewardship, its key benefits, and the lifecycle involved. We'll also discuss several practical strategies to take your advancement team’s fundraising efforts to the next level, as well as tips for building your own donor cultivation plan.
Donor cultivation is the ongoing process of engaging, educating, and building relationships with current and potential donors before a gift is solicited. The ultimate goal of donor cultivation is to create a sense of connection and commitment to your institution’s mission, making donors more likely to give and continue supporting you in the long term.
Cultivation is not just a fundraising tactic but also a critical element in sustainable advancement work as it paves the way for more support. A well-implemented donor cultivation not only gains and retains its donors but also empowers them to become valuable assets of their institution or cause.
While both donor cultivation and stewardship are crucial elements of fundraising, they refer to distinct phases of the donor relationship. Cultivation typically occurs before and up to the point of making a gift, focusing on building awareness, interest, and excitement around your mission. It includes outreach, education, and connection activities designed to encourage a prospective donor to contribute for the first time or to increase their giving.
Stewardship, on the other hand, begins after a donation is made. It centers on showing appreciation, ensuring donor satisfaction, and demonstrating the impact of gifts. The goal of stewardship is to foster continued and increased support over time. Simply put, while cultivation is about earning a donor’s first or next gift, stewardship is about thanking them and keeping them engaged for the future.
As you can see, the two are far from exclusive and on the contrary, are best used to complement each other to both gain and retain donors.
Investing in donor cultivation offers several important advantages to advancement teams, including:
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The donor cultivation lifecycle outlines the stages that prospects move through, from first contact to becoming a loyal supporter. While there will be variations between donors in different institutions and nonprofits, it mostly follows the stages of:
To build a robust donor pipeline and grow long-term relationships, try these proven donor cultivation strategies:
Every advancement office is unique, but certain cultivation strategies consistently deliver the highest return on investment. Below, we explore ten in depth, each accompanied by actionable examples.
Personalization is not just about using a donor’s name; it means tailoring messages to interests, giving history, and engagement preferences. For instance, referencing a donor’s support of a specific scholarship in a thank-you letter creates a sense of individual recognition.
Example: Sending a note about campus news related to the exact project a donor previously funded.
Sharing compelling stories about your institution’s impact helps donors see themselves as catalysts for change. When you relay a student’s success thanks to a funded scholarship, it illustrates the real results of generosity.
Example: Featuring a short video testimonial from a student who benefited from donor-supported programs.
Smaller, mission-focused gatherings cultivate deeper engagement by allowing donors greater access to leadership and beneficiaries. Such settings foster meaningful exchanges and feedback.
Example: Organizing a dinner for science program supporters to meet student researchers and faculty innovators.
Utilize data from your CRM to segment donors, predict giving potential, and optimize outreach. Data-driven insights inform when and how to engage each segment.
Example: Using analytics to identify lapsed donors and launching a targeted re-engagement campaign.
Inviting donors to serve as event hosts, mentors, or advisory board members strengthens their ties to your organization. Active roles often lead to increased sense of ownership and higher giving levels.
Example: Encouraging alumni to speak at career panels for current students.
Exclusive tours or previews make donors feel like insiders, offering a tangible sense of impact and belonging. These experiences create lasting memories and stories to share.
Example: Hosting a guided tour of a new research facility before its public opening.
Keep donors informed about the results of their contributions with regular, clear updates. Reports should tie outcomes directly back to donor support to reinforce their value.
Example: Sending a detailed impact report showing scholarship recipients’ progress at semester’s end.
Use a mix of phone calls, handwritten notes, emails, and social media to maintain connection without overwhelming donors. Multi-channel touchpoints accommodate diverse engagement preferences.
Example: Following up an in-person event with a social media post that tags and thanks attendees.
Acknowledging anniversaries of giving, birthdays, or other life milestones demonstrates genuine care beyond financial support.
Example: Mailing a birthday card or small gift to a long-time donor, expressing appreciation for ongoing partnership.
Encouraging donors to share their thoughts and preferences positions your institution as a true partner. Two-way communication builds trust and surfaces new ideas for engagement.
Example: Sending a survey after major events to ask donors what resonated and what could be improved.
While even seasoned teams strive for excellence, pitfalls are common and can undermine even the strongest cultivation plans.
Focusing exclusively on major gift prospects risks neglecting the broader donor base, which collectively offers immense value and potential for growth. For example, loyal annual donors can often grow into major contributors over time if properly engaged.
Mass, impersonal communications signal a lack of investment in individual relationships and often lead to disengagement. For example, sending the same form letter to every donor, regardless of past giving or interest area, misses crucial opportunities for connection.
Advancement teams that don’t systematically track interactions lose valuable insight into donor journeys and can easily miss timely follow-ups. For example, failing to record attendance at events can lead to missed thank-yous or future invitations.
Teams sometimes forget that collaboration across departments can deepen donor engagement and streamline outreach. For example, event planners sharing donor preferences with communications staff can help tailor invitations and follow-ups more effectively.
Failing to re-engage lapsed or inactive donors can lead to long-term attrition. Proactively reach out to those who have stepped back, and offer pathways for renewed involvement.
Now that you have the what, why, how and how nots of a donor cultivation plan, here are some things to keep in mind when building (or reworking) your cultivation plan:
Having a robust and well-maintained strategy for your database/CRM straight from the get-go will save you weeks of headaches and manual work when you eventually want to scale your fundraisers or incorporate more tools to complement your donor acquisition and retention.
Include a mix of personal outreach, digital communications, and live or virtual events. Use your data to schedule when and how you’ll engage prospects throughout the year.
Set up systems to acknowledge milestones, celebrate donor achievements, and collect feedback regularly. This creation of genuine two-way communication cultivates loyalty and trust.
With the number of individual donors falling consistently for the past 4 years, it is important that your long-term donor cultivation hinges on meaningful engagement that will resonate with your donors and keep them coming back in one way or another. Have your fundraising and cultivation strategy be diverse, flexible, and transparent to engage any past, potential, and current supporters.
Fundraising success grows from genuine relationships and thoughtful engagement. By understanding the stages of donor cultivation and applying strategies tailored to your audience, your advancement team will be well-positioned for sustainable support and long-term impact. Start building your customized donor cultivation plan today to foster partnerships that fuel your mission.
If you’re looking for a platform that covers your entire fundraising journey from cultivation to stewardship and everything in between, give us at Almabase a try and we’d love to help!
Donor Cultivation Strategies for Advancement Teams: 10 Useful Ideas
Explore 10 proven donor cultivation strategies for advancement teams. Build stronger relationships, improve retention, and grow mission-driven support.
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The importance of fundraising needs no introduction. However, with social, political, and economic elements proving increasingly tricky to predict, institutions of all sizes need to consider how they can make their fundraising strategy resilient to policy changes or the possibility of economic uncertainty.
Even before the sweeping education policy changes, fundraisers were proving increasingly reliant on large donors. According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, the dollars raised increased every quarter throughout 2024, but there were fewer donors at every turn. It goes without saying that an increasing reliance on large donors at a time of declining donor retention runs a huge risk.
In this blog, we’ll guide you through some key points you should look to integrate in order to futureproof your fundraising strategy.
Your large donors are undeniably your biggest champions. However, a future-proof fundraising strategy requires all its donor segments to believe in your cause. You should look to:
Some donors may simply not have felt as connected to your cause as your larger donors. Keeping in mind that every $10 or $50 donation adds up over time, have specific segments and nurture processes for your small and mid-sized donors with a focus on donor retention and long-term community building.
Data is the backbone of modern advancement and fundraising. A well-maintained data system ensures you know who your donors are and how to engage them meaningfully.
Knowing is half the battle, and CRMs should be the knowledge hub to drive your current and future fundraising strategies.
Trust is the foundation of sustainable giving. Being upfront about how funds are used can inspire trust to snowball your donors’ perception of your cause.
Transparency builds credibility, making donors more likely to continue supporting your initiatives.
Corporate entities, especially those associated with your alumni provide great scope for collaborations and can significantly expand your fundraising impact.
There is no guarantee that your emails and events will be noticed by your alumni and donors at the perfect time. Providing a multitude of giving options not only increases the timeframe for donors to contribute but also attracts smaller and irregular donors.
Fundraising goes beyond monetary gifts. Non-financial contributions foster the culture of giving back and are crucial to building your donor community.
These contributions build community goodwill and often pave the way for future financial support.
While your institution would obviously have some common points of contact, you’ll need to go further to inspire donor loyalty. Your institution needs to feel approachable, and your donors need to feel heard. Here are some things to keep in mind:
At the end of the day, fundraising relies on your donors and their willingness to support your cause(s). By focusing on sustainable practices, your institution gains the flexibility to adapt to donor trends and economic shifts, essentially future-proofing your fundraising strategy.
If you’re looking for a long-term partner for your fundraising efforts, do give us a shout and we’d love to answer your questions and show you how we can help!
Sustainable fundraising focuses on creating long-term financial stability for an institution by diversifying revenue sources and fostering regular contributions. It ensures that you maintain consistent supporter engagement while adapting to changing economic and political dynamics.
While building a sustainable fundraising strategy requires effort, it becomes manageable with the right tools and approaches. Leveraging data, fostering trust, and offering flexible giving options can simplify and strengthen your efforts.
Start by identifying companies that share your institution’s values. Reach out with a concise and clear proposal that highlights mutual benefits. Focus on co-branded initiatives and emphasize the positive publicity their business can gain through the partnership.
Sustainable fundraising reduces reliance on unpredictable sources of income, enables long-term planning, and fosters stronger donor relationships. It ensures financial stability, even in uncertain times, and allows institutions to focus more on their mission.
Sustainable fundraising: Future-proofing K-12 and Higher-ed fundraising
Discover actionable strategies for sustainable fundraising to secure long-term support for K-12 schools and higher-ed institutions.
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The non-profit quarterly states that keeping a donor is five times more cost-effective than finding a new one. Loyal donors are like a circle of friends you can always rely on. However, for institutions, building that circle requires a proactive approach and genuine commitment that can sometimes prove difficult. This is why donor retention has steadily become more important over the years.
In this blog, we’ll take a fresh approach to defining donor retention and engagement that goes beyond the traditional ask. We’ll dive into creative strategies that truly integrates donors into your goals to make a permanent part of your journey.
Basically, donor retention is the ability of an institution to keep its donors coming back to contribute over the years. It is not just the numbers but also the genuine long-term donor relationships with people who appreciate your mission and enjoy being a part of that mission. It involves understanding their motivations, doubts, and the personal connection they feel as a giver and as an individual.
Making a habit of measuring your donor retention rate allows you to spot trends early and find new ways to keep supporters engaged. The data from the most recent Fundraising Effectiveness Project report shows that the first-time donor retention rate is 26%. In comparison, the average donor retention rate is around 46%, meaning most donors stop after contributing for the first time. Considering the unpredictable nature of the world today, keeping donors on board will be even more essential for the long-term success of K-12 and higher education institutions.
Several factors can influence donor retention. Let’s take a look at some of them to understand what motivates long-time donors—big or small—to stay:
Engagement is one of the key pillars for long-term donor retention. Your emails, newsletters, blogs, in-person events, and reports all play a key part in making returning and new donors alike feel connected to your institution. For past donors especially, continuous and meaningful interaction can reinforce their dedication to supporting your mission.
Trust and loyalty drive any fundraising effort. Your donors come with their own expectations This can be achieved by a transparent demonstration of the impact of their contributions.
💡Check out how Thomas Aquinas College holds one of the highest alumni donor participation rates across the country
For retaining donors, donor management matters even more as it involves how you collect and analyze their data, as well as what you provide through communication, recurring gift enrollment, etc., to keep them interested and in the loop.
To retain donors, you’ll want to be proactive in collecting and acting on feedback to show your commitment to how donors feel as well as what they can expect by sticking around. It will also help returning or past donors develop a sense of community and progress, making them feel like a vital par of your overall fundraising efforts.
Understanding the components of a well-rounded donor retention strategy is necessary to create a pathway for first-time donors to walk on and become repeat donors. These can include:
Your efforts to reach out to the donors should go beyond fundraising needs. Send them timely thank-you emails, curate programs to identify and honor long-term donors for their valuable contributions, and conduct community meet-and-greet events that strengthen your bond and forge a trustworthy relationship.
💡Check out these 6 ways to take your donor relationships to the next level
Try to get the most out of your donor management software for real-time engagement metrics, deep integrations, live dashboards, automated communication tools, etc., to create an environment where donor interactions are recorded and analyzed to power future outreach and fundraising efforts.
💡If you’re looking for a new donor management tool, give Almabase a try
Tailor your communication to each donor to make sure you communicate your goals, acknowledge their impact, and make them feel appreciated. Emails, phone calls, handwritten notes, gifts, and event invitations are all viable communication channels to show how you can personalize your outreach to each donor.
Keep your donor informed and engaged by providing updates on where their donated funds are being spent, any achievements arising out of them, and acknowledging their generosity whenever possible. Depending on how your donors use social media platforms, you can consider forming groups of similar donor segments to form giving communities.
Annual reports are a time-tested way to communicate the impacts the beneficiaries achieve. These longer reports and real-life success stories inspire donor loyalty to the institution and the cause as they allow your donors to zoom out and view your overall fundraising mission as you do.
You can also provide subscription and recurring donation options or welcome different kinds of donor engagement through volunteering, referrals, and advocacy. At the end of the day, there are countless ways to retain donors, and what works for one institution may not work for you. Always consider your donors and how they they prefer to contribute to your cause.
You can take a quick look at your overall donor retention rate using the formula below.
Donor retention rate = (Number of Donors who gave again / Total number of donors in previous period) × 100
With the wide array of tools available today, however, tracking your donor retention rate is a lot more extensive than it used to be. Making detailed segments of various levels of donor retention, however, will require more effort.
At its core, donor retention will take more time and investment from your team to get started and you’ll want to make sure you get a good ROI from your efforts. For this, you’ll first want to consider all donor retention expenses such as:
It may be a bit difficult to narrow down your exact expenses for retaining donors but once you have a somewhat reliable estimate, you can use the following formula:
ROI = (net gain from retained donors / cost of retention efforts) x 100
where Net Gain = Total donations from retained donors - Costs of retention efforts
Keep in mind that these are rudimentary calculations meant to give you a simplistic idea of your donor retention efforts. No two donors are exactly the same, and one retained donor might just be the right person who can snowball your efforts into a large giving community later down the line.
Keeping the donors around throughout is not an easy task. Some of these challenges include but are not limited to:
Consider these key questions to improve donor retention strategies:
Almabase offers digital engagement tools with features such as dynamic event management systems, personalized donor portals, and automated communication workflows to foster stronger donor relationships. Institutions such as the Merchant Taylors’ School and the Alumni Association of the School of Medicine at Loma Linda University have not just increased their donor base but have formed active online communities to power future fundraisers.
Finding the right tools to balance technology with a personal touch is crucial. That’s where Almabase’s engagement solutions come in—helping organizations offer both a personal and digital experience that makes donors feel valued, keeps them engaged, and drives sustainable long-term giving.
If you’re interested in learning more on how we can help, we’d love to not just tell you about us but also hear your problems and show you how we can help! Request a personalized demo and we’d love to get in touch with you ⬇️
What is Donor Retention? Top Donor Retention Strategies
Learn what donor retention means and explore top strategies to build lasting donor relationships, improve engagement, and boost fundraising success.
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April 11, 2025
12 minutes
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