How to Raise More from Your Mid-Level Donors - Part 2

Laura is a writing wizard with over a decade of experience in higher education and medical philanthropy.

We’ve covered what a mid-level donor is and why they're so important. Now let’s look at the hallmarks of a successful mid-level giving program and how to improve your own.

Practically, this involves validating your mid-level donors’ increased commitment, offering direct access, increasing touchpoints, emphasizing impact, decreasing the frequency of asks, getting to your donors better, and playing with tailored solicitations.

1. Validate their Ideal Identity

The first step toward improving your mid-level giving program is changing the way you think about and engage with your mid-level donors.

A few years ago, I made a spontaneous and larger than usual mid-level gift to a charity. In my mind, the organization and I reached a new level in our relationship. I was even considering going steady. But after receiving a generic thank you email, communication went silent.

How did this charity miss the mark?

While I hoped my increased gift would lead to a closer connection with the cause, the organization didn’t respond to my bid for connection. They missed the chance to solidify my identity as a “special friend” and make my upgraded support a regular thing.

Mid-level donors are committed to your cause and see themselves as your close friends. They’ve made a decision to engage in a philanthropic relationship with you, and it’s your job to treat them in a way that reflects their higher level of commitment.

Eric Frans, Vice President Philanthropy for International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, reaches a similar conclusion on Episode #49 of Frontier FM. As donors increase their giving, they start to see themselves in a different way. They move closer to their “ideal identity,” or the person they want to be.

But this new identity will fade unless their experience is validated. By telling them how much you appreciate their commitment, you reinforce their identity as a special donor. And “when you thank donors, thank their ideal identity, and remind them of who they are.”

2. Assign a Donor Concierge

Giving your mid-level donors direct access to their own contact person at your charity is one of the best ways to roll out the red carpet and make your donors feel important. Unlike annual donors who call the general line for inquiries, direct access gives your mid-level donors’ preferential treatment and shows them they matter to you.

Their personal contact, also known as a donor concierge, is there to answer questions, provide information, or facilitate gifts. They’re also responsible for calling to thank donors when gifts are made, sharing impact stories, and offering other high-value touchpoints like inviting mid-level donors to events. The role of donor concierge is often assigned to a junior or mid-level fundraiser, like a development coordinator or officer.

In many ways, this mid-level offering resembles how charities engage with major donors. Mid-level donors show a stronger commitment to your charity, and your charity reciprocates by investing in a relationship with them. And while you're not going to travel across the country to meet your mid-level donor, you are providing a personal contact they can get ahold of anytime they have a question.

In addition to managing a pipeline of 400 to 800 mid-level donors, a donor concierge is also tasked with getting to know donors better and identifying potential major gift prospects. Through relationship-building efforts, an officer can gather all the information needed to determine whether a mid-level donor is likely to make a future transformational gift.

3. More Touchpoints, Less Asks

Along with more personalized attention, mid-level givers want and need a different communication strategy than your annual donors. In practice, this looks like increased high-value touchpoints and fewer asks.

In Ep #49 of the podcast, Eric recommends a minimum of seven touchpoints between each funding request. Every concierge on his team at IFCJ makes at least four calls to their mid-level donors each year and thank you calls after gifts are made.

Other high-value touchpoints include writing personal letters or emails, mailing newsletters or articles of interest with hand-written notes, sending cards on birthdays or milestone giving anniversaries, or inviting donors to tours or events.

4. Emphasize Impact

Mid-level donors give at a higher level, so they have a greater interest in knowing how their money helped your charity make a difference. Exceptional mid-level giving programs respond to their donors’ loyalty with more frequent and detailed impact reporting.

Middle donors want to hear before and after stories. They want to see the work come full circle and know how their gift helped shape outcomes. And if you nail your donor stewardship, your mid-level donors will be perfectly primed to give again and again.

5. Thank, Shut Up, Listen

“The most important thing you can do is thank a donor and then shut up and listen.”
Wes Moon, COO and Co-founder, Wisely (Frontier FM, Ep #50)

Thank you calls are the perfect opportunity to get to know your donors better. And knowing your donors well is key to figuring out whether to transition them to a major gift pipeline or keep them right where they are.

When you or your charity’s donor concierge calls to thank supporters, give your donors time and space to talk to you. Most will share everything you need to know to figure out whether they are major donors in the making.

If your donor doesn’t share, try asking a few questions to warm them up. Here’s a cheat sheet to get you started.

Donor Conversation Cheat Sheet:

I noticed you increased your giving significantly this year – thank you so much! May I ask what inspired you to go above and beyond?
You’ve been a supporter for XX years now. Thank you for your incredible loyalty to our cause. I’m curious – what motivates your commitment to our organization?
There are so many worthy causes to support. Thank you for choosing to give to our charity. What is it about our work that makes you donate?

Ideally, their answers allow you to ask further questions about their family, vocation, beliefs, lifestyle, and interests. After each call, take detailed notes in your CRM and refresh your memory each time you reach out to a donor. The goal is to build a friendly relationship with as many of your mid-level donors as possible. In addition to gathering intel on their major gift potential, building relationships with mid-level donors leads to more frequent and larger gifts.

6. Customized Asks

As you get to know your mid-level donors, their motivations, and interests better, you can start to tailor your asks. As Frontier founder Ben Johnson says, annual offers appeal to special projects while mid-level asks appeal to special donors. This approach reminds your mid-level donor of their “ideal identity” as a generous giver. And it’s the frame of mind you want them in as they consider their next gift.

When solicitations align with interests and motivations, donors also give more and your chances of securing gifts increase. Connecting with a donor’s deepest motivation, or their “why,” unlocks their greatest giving potential. And while you’re unlikely to get there with mid-level donors, tailored asks are ideal to test how mid-level donors respond to requests that look more like major gift solicitations. If you “shut up and listen,” your donors will let you know whether they’re comfortable at the mid-level or made for more.

It’s a Bridge Journey

Mid-level programs are often referred to as the “bridge” between annual and major gift programs. But viewing mid-level programs as a separate entity may be what makes middle donors go “missing” in the first place.

To quote Eric, “you can't look at [mid-level giving] as an independent thing. When you silo it, then you have cracks, and donors start to fall through.” Instead, he recommends a holistic view, where a donor’s movement from annual to major giving is “one single journey.”

This inclusive perspective creates space for a more seamless donor experience, allowing supporters to move fluidly across internal giving thresholds as their interests and financial capacities fluctuate. And it reminds us that an organization’s most invested donors often give across multiple channels. For example, a donor may give annually, sponsor an event at the mid-level, and make major gifts every few years.

Finally, a holistic view helps us value mid-level donors, not for what they could be (major gift donors), but for what they are right now – a highly committed cohort of givers who contribute 40-50% of a typical charity’s annual revenue.

If charities focus solely on upgrading mid-level donors to major givers, they risk losing this special group along the way. For many middle givers, a mid-level donation will be the largest contribution they make to your charity, but their journey with you is far from over.

Sources

Johnson, Benjamin. (2020-Present). Frontier FM [Audio Podcast]. The Psychology of Philanthropy with Eric Frans, Ep #49 — Frontier Marketing Co.
Johnson, Benjamin. (2020-Present). Frontier FM [Audio Podcast]. Stewardship and Board Talk with Jocelyn Kwok, Ep #47 — Frontier Marketing Co.
Johnson, Benjamin. (2020-Present). Frontier FM [Audio Podcast]. Wes Moon, Wisely, and the Missing Middle of Annual Giving, Ep #50 — Frontier Marketing Co.
Ralph, Laura. (2022, July 13). How to Improve Your Donor Stewardship. Frontier. How to Improve Your Donor Stewardship — Frontier Marketing Co.