The problem: you're on a treadmill.
Big donors are great, of course. Who wouldn't take a no-strings million dollar check and just focus on their movement? But those checks only come around so often. When they do, they usually come with strings. You want financial independence, and small, incremental donations feel like the way to get there. You want a movement powered by normal folks, after all.
But you're stuck. You can't seem to break through to real revenue. So you send more fundraising emails. And more. What's worse: the more you ask for money, the more annoyed your supporters seem to become. Your metrics back this up: your email open rates fall, your donations slow to a trickle. A few emails do alright, but you've only sped up your problem: your engagement is plummeting. You invest in digital ads to expand your prospect pool, but those leads aren't generating the kind of revenue you need to stay afloat.
The math seems points to one reality: small dollar fundraising might have worked for Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama, but it's just not working for you.
The solution: get your supporters working for you.
No one likes being a name on a list. Your donors want to be treated like valuable leaders in your movement. They want to be spoken to personally, about topics they care about. Most importantly - and most often overlooked in small dollar fundraising programs - they want to feel empowered to make a real difference. The way to double fundraising isn't treating $10 donors like future $20 donors. It's by treating them like leaders.
At Conway Consulting, our recipe for success is threefold:
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We treat your supporters like individuals, not names on a list.
- No more "arbitrary fundraising deadline at midnight tonight!" emails. This means more personal, specific and human communication, speaking to what each of your supporters individually care about. It's harder work, but the results are clear.
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We treat existing donors like leaders.
- A small donation opens the door to a whole new ecosystem of donors - you just need to provide the empowerment and resources to elevate your supporters. Conway Consulting does this, at scale, across thousands and hundreds of thousands of supporters.
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We offer value in exchange for money.
- We don't bully your supporters into giving. You'll never see "we were surprised you haven't yet given for our quarter end campaign" email from us. You'll see invitations to events, opportunities to lead, and deep-dive insight about core issues that provide your community real value.