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How to Find Donors When You Don?t ?Know Wealthy People?


One of the most common things I hear from nonprofit leaders is: ?We just don?t know wealthy people.?

It's understandable why this feels so discouraging.


When you?re planning a gala, trying to increase sponsorships, or hoping to grow your donor base, it can feel like everyone else somehow has access to rooms full of major donors while you?re trying to figure out where to even begin.


But successful fundraising usually isn?t about already knowing wealthy people. It?s about getting intentional about who you?re seeking, where they are, and how you?re inviting them into your mission.


Your Current ?Giving Trees? Aren?t the Whole Forest


I started this video by talking about The Giving Tree. It?s a painful story when you think about it.

But it reminds me so much of what happens inside nonprofit organizations when they?re trying to think of new donors.


The first people who come to mind are usually the same people who always say yes.

The board member who never misses an event.

The sponsor who increases their gift every year.

The volunteer who supports everything.

The donor who already buys a table every gala.

Those are your current giving trees.


And because they?re the people already deeply connected to the organization, our brains naturally go there first whenever we think about fundraising.


But the opportunity is realizing there are many more people out there who would genuinely love to support your mission. We just have to become more intentional about finding them.


Start With Your Target Donor


The first step is identifying your target donor.


A target donor is someone who, if you had 25, 35, or 45 of them in the room, could make a meaningful financial impact on your event.


But it?s not only about financial capacity.


These are also people who genuinely care about your mission and want to feel connected to the impact your organization is creating.


This is one of the most important exercises you can do because your target donor becomes the center point that informs almost everything else.


It shapes:


It also helps you understand deeper things like fears, motivations, and emotional payoffs.


For example, some donors deeply want to feel like they?re using their success, privilege, or resources to make a meaningful impact in the world. Your gala becomes an opportunity for them to step into that identity. That understanding changes how you communicate with them.



A Target Donor Doesn?t Exclude Other Supporters


One concern I hear a lot is: ?If we focus too heavily on one type of donor, won?t other people feel excluded??


Not at all.


Having a target donor simply helps focus your strategy.


I gave the example in the video that my target client is:

?The spread-thin and overwhelmed nonprofit leader facing the daunting task of planning a gala.?


That absolutely describes many of my clients. But not all of them.


I also work with schools, volunteer-led committees, and organizations with larger teams and more resources. Having a target simply helps me create better tools, better videos, and better support for the people I most commonly serve.


The same is true for your gala. A focused strategy helps guide your efforts without limiting who gets to participate.



The Mental Rolodex


Once you understand your target donor, the next step is understanding the mental rolodex. (I learned this from Brand Builders Group)


Here?s what I mean.


If you sit down with someone and ask:

?Do you know anybody with money who might donate to our gala??


Most people?s brains won?t know how to answer that question. That?s not how we mentally organize people.


But when you get specific, everything changes.


If your target donor is, for example:


Now we can ask much better questions.


Questions like:


Those types of questions help people access their mental rolodex in a much more natural way.

And then, introductions and connections begin appearing everywhere.



Build a Big List


The final step is creating a large list of potential donors through the lens of your target donor. This is a memory-jogging exercise.


You can look through:


The goal isn?t perfection. The goal is momentum.


You?re simply trying to identify as many people as possible who feel aligned with the type of donor you?re seeking.


This is also an incredible exercise to do with your board so that together you can create a much larger pool of potential connections and invitations.


There Are People Looking for What You Offer


One of the biggest things I hope nonprofit leaders take away from this conversation is this:


There are people out there who genuinely want to support meaningful work.

There are people who want to feel connected to impact.

There are people who have financial resources and are actively looking for places where those resources can matter.

Your role is not to convince people to care about something unimportant.

Your role is to invite the right people into something deeply meaningful.


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