Moving Out of a Membership Mindset

Nothing But Major Gifts

Many non-profits have a membership model as a key part of their fundraising strategy. And while membership donors can be some of the most loyal and consistent in their giving, a membership model can also be limiting. Donors are going to give what you ask for. If you ask donors to give $120 a year (for a free tote bag!), that’s what people will give you.

But your donors have the capacity and the desire to do more – if you bring them an offer that matches their passions and interests. If you’re not incorporating relationship-based fundraising into your strategy, you aren’t tapping into your donors’ potential to give transformationally.

On today’s podcast episode, we’re doing a deep dive on this topic, and we’ve invited a special guest. Joining us today is Joyce MacDonald, CEO of Greater Public. She’ll share what happened when organizations she worked with shifted from basically a membership-only model to invest in mid and major gift fundraising programs. Listen to find out the results!

And if you’re looking for support in starting up or growing your major gifts program, check out our Certification Courses for Major Gift Fundraisers and for Fundraising Managers and Leaders.

Show Highlights: In this episode, you’ll learn about…

· The history of membership models

· How to move from a membership mindset to a mid / major gifts approach

· What you can learn from the success of public media stations in developing major and mid-level gift programs

· How to get started on this path and make the case for change using real numbers to gain buy-in from leadership

Veritus Group is passionate about partnering with you and your organization throughout your fundraising journey. We believe that the key to transformative fundraising is a disciplined system and structure, trusted accountability, persistence, and a bit of fun. We specialize in mid-level fundraising, major gifts, and planned giving, helping our clients to develop compelling donor offers and to focus on strategic leadership and organizational development. You can learn more about how we can partner with you at www.VeritusGroup.com.

Additional Resources:

· Take the Next Step: Request Your Free Donor File Assessment

· The Problem with Giving Societies and Membership Programs

· Do Membership Programs Suppress Giving?