B Generous is a powerful tool that inspires your donors to give, and give significantly more generously. But to unlock the benefits, it needs to be used in an effective way.

This article summarizes much of the research we've done, as well as learnings from organizations who have used this tool successfully to raise more funds. 

Make your invitation to give tangible, urgent and generous

Make your ask tangible and specific. For instance, instead of asking for $1,000 to “help families in need” you might consider saying “$1,350 can provide shelter for 1 month for a family who needs help, please consider supporting one family”. Providing very specific ideas for what a donation can accomplish is one way that you can inspire people to give.  You can also leverage features in B Generous to help you with this, including use the “Ask Banner” in your portal when creating a form to reiterate your ask, and setting suggested giving amounts that align with your ask. 

Ask for between $500 and $10,000 dollars. This is a general rule of thumb, but it holds up across many different organizations and donor profiles. Ask for an amount that is larger than the donor typically gives at a single time, but around the size of what they give over the course of an entire year. 

Give your donors a good reason why giving more money now is better than giving that money later. There are several ways you can accomplish this. Offering a matched gift that is only available for a certain amount of time can be effective. Setting a dollar amount goal for the campaign can also be effective. Using B Generous to invite people to give towards urgent needs, such as a building campaign, a natural disaster, or to rescue or protect animals can all be examples of using urgency. 

Invite the right people to consider giving through B Generous

Using B Generous works best when you’re inviting the right people to consider using it. If you don't have the capability to segment your donors lists, you can widen the net on the items below - these are just helpful guidelines for understanding who would be an ideal fit as you choose who should be invited to participate.

Who to target for your campaign:

• Active - Focus on donors who have already given in the last 24 months. 
• Mid to Large Givers - This works best with donors who have given more than $500 and less than $20,000 in the previous year.  
• Online Oriented - Consider focusing on donors who have previously given an online donation (as opposed to only giving by check or cash).
• Not Recurring - choose donors who are not recurring monthly donors.

Choose the right fundraising and marketing channels

Communicate this campaign through the channels that are most effective for you. 

Inviting donors to give doesn’t necessarily have to happen through “marketing." For many organizations, effectively communicating this often means direct conversations between a development officer and a donor, inviting them to give with this method. Consider personalized email messages, phone calls, or coffee meetings. 

But don’t forget about marketing either. Email blasts, direct mail, and phone-a-thons can be effective tools for getting the word out. Just like any fundraising campaign, you will reap what you sow. Every organization is different, so leverage the channels where you’re currently getting the most traction. A word of caution about social media; these days, it is very difficult to reach a lot of people through organic social media posts, even if you have a large following. However, you can still leverage social media features like Facebook events, direct messages, and well crafted video content to connect with donors. 

Connect with us for help

If you're interested in running a campaign leveraging B Generous, we would love to help you be successful! Reach out any time to success@Bgenerous.com to schedule a chat and see how we can support your efforts.