Moves management is a way to be systematic about cultivating your donors. At its heart, it\u2019s simply a fundraising plan<\/a>, but it\u2019s one that allows you to replicate the same steps for each donor. It is a way for your nonprofit to create a set of predefined steps (or moves) that will shepherd your donors to give more often or higher amounts. It also lets you map out what a typical donor journey will look like, so that you can understand what you need to do to cultivate a relationship with your donor, whether they\u2019ve just learned about your organization or they\u2019ve been a donor for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because moves management relies on a very specific method mapped out by an organization, it\u2019s usually reserved for key donors, such as potential first-time givers or major donors<\/a>. It\u2019s also a great way to think about each category of donors and where they could move next: can a one-time donor become a recurring donor<\/a>? Can a recurring donor increase their gift<\/a>? Can a long-time supporter become a major donor?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re not sure if your actions are part of the moves management process, ask yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some great examples of moves could be a social media shout out, a handwritten thank you note, a phone call, or an in-person meeting. For plenty of inspiration, check out our donor recognition ideas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course moves don\u2019t have to be simply recognition. They can include any action<\/a> you take that builds a relationship with your donor. You could invite them to join your newsletter email list, offer resources, or share success stories. A great place to start with moves management is to brainstorm your list of potential moves.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n It might sound a bit overwhelming to put together a full moves management plan, so you may be asking yourself why you\u2019d want to do it. There are some major benefits to moves management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Basically, moves management lets you take all the mess and guesswork of fundraising and organize it into a single plan that is easy to follow, data-driven, and donor-centric. When you put it like that, who wouldn\u2019t want it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first step in your moves management journey is to identify your target audience<\/a>. For example, if you struggle with recruiting new, first-time donors<\/a>, then consider targeting this audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, if you know there\u2019s potential for some of your recurring donors to transition into a major donor role, focus your efforts here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Potential audiences include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may identify multiple audiences you\u2019d like to grow. To start, pick one and focus on them. Once you\u2019ve set up a plan for this first audience, you can always go back and work with another audience. But trying to create multiple plans at once is a way to get overwhelmed and lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, build out your list. Start by jotting down the names of some prospective moves management candidates and then outline your mutual relationship. Note some of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If possible, do a bit of digging. For instance, some donors with the potential to be major gift givers own businesses or give to other charitable organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Research your candidates<\/a> to determine if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you already have a CRM or database<\/a>, this is a great time to start using it. You can pull reports of folks who have donated year over year, those who have made donations over a certain amount, or first time donors. As you do the work of researching potential donors, you can also keep track of that information in your CRM.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n After you narrow down your audience and propensity to give, note any particular goals<\/a> you hope to achieve by using moves management. Goals take many forms depending on who you\u2019re targeting, and they can range from engagement-based to financial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, goals are based on the entire group of prospects, while other times, they\u2019re targeted to each individual. You should also try to think \u201coutside the box,\u201d choosing goals that are related to your donor\u2019s influence on others like using peer-to-peer fundraising<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you start to craft your plan, you\u2019ll find what works for you. A few examples of goals include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n From these goals you\u2019ll be able to develop the metrics you want to track. If your goal is for a certain number of donors to host a fundraising activity, you\u2019ll want to make sure you have a way for them to tell you about their activity and somewhere to make a note of it. You may want to have multiple goals: a certain number of new donors as well as a dollar amount. Try not to take on too many at once as it can dilute your message and leave you moving in too many directions at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that you know what you WANT to accomplish, it\u2019s time to formulate a plan around these goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How are you going to get a donor in the position to agree to become a major donor? What are the techniques you want to use to convert annual givers into monthly givers? These strategies are what make moves management a streamlined, traceable process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A stellar moves management strategy includes a number of action-items performed on a regular basis, such as monthly or quarterly, to encourage consistent participation in the donor engagement cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep in mind: every action item is meant to educate your donor about your cause and cultivate your mutual relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The actions you take will look something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each fundraiser in your organization bears a responsibility to implement the plan. However, your development team isn\u2019t the only group that needs to get on board. Keep everyone in the loop, especially the marketing department, program coordinators, and volunteer coordinators who work directly with and\/or communicate with donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep your strategy document open, both figuratively and literally. This will help to keep the whole team accountable and constantly looking to revise and improve on current methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When it\u2019s time to make the \u201cask,\u201d<\/a> make sure it\u2019s made by someone the candidate knows. Remember, the \u201cask\u201d for your moves management candidate is more personal than a traditional fundraising campaign ask. Take your major donors or prospective board members out for a meal, meet at their place of work, or schedule a phone call. Don\u2019t just send an email\u2014make it special.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With everyone organization-wide focusing on the moves management plan, there\u2019s bound to be overlap in communications and responsibilities. To keep everyone informed and on the same page, data tracking is key.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Document all interactions and track donor movement on your nonprofit CRM<\/a> or even a spreadsheet. Any method is better than no method at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of the year\/quarter or whenever you see fit, schedule a meeting to go over your moves management plan. Note what worked, what didn\u2019t, and how you can improve to continue meeting your strategic goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, create next steps for your moves management candidate, including ways you will continue to inspire and activate them to become even more connected with your cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that you have all the steps to start your own Moves Management strategy, you might think you\u2019re ready to go. But we\u2019ve got a few more pearls of wisdom to impart before you get started. Across all of these steps, there are some best practices that will help you to be the most effective with your moves management approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are plenty of different options when it comes to your CRM or database, but you do need some way to keep track of your donors and how you\u2019ve communicated with them in order to really do moves management well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As you start your moves management process, it\u2019s a great time to stop and really clean up your existing database, or select a new one (and clean all that data as you move it in to the new database). <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have multiple records of the same person, your moves management strategy is going to get messy very quickly, and people won\u2019t get the right moves, or they may receive them more than once. To keep that from happening, establish strong standards of how your data will be entered and how it will be kept clean over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is also helpful as you work on segmenting your lists to determine who will receive which types of outreach. If you know you can trust the historical data, you\u2019ll feel more confident dividing your lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experienced fundraisers know that our donors (and their gifts) move cyclically. The moves management process is built on those foundations. The steps in the donor cycle<\/a> are:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each individual gift also follows a “cycle\u201d<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you understand these cycles, you\u2019ll have a better handle on which moves to use for each person. It will depend on where they are in both donor and gift lifecycle. Know where each donor is on the cycle so that you can tailor your outreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re looking for more details about the donor lifecycle, you can check out our First 60 Days<\/a> plan for new donors. This is also a great place to look for inspiration about the types of moves you may want to incorporate into your moves management plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the best parts of moves management is that you can easily update it based on your real time data. When you set out your process, make sure you add in a date when you will review the process. Take a look at how well each step is performing. If a particular set of moves isn\u2019t getting you the ROI you\u2019d like, try swapping it out for something new. This is also a great time to step back and look at how well your team is keeping up with the steps and with their documentation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As we already mentioned, it\u2019s essential to have a way to track your donors if you\u2019re doing moves management. That\u2019s where technology comes into play. There are plenty of options when it comes to moves management software, and as you start to plan out your strategy, you\u2019ll want to decide what\u2019s important to you in your software. Have it set up before you start implementing your plan, and make sure that everyone on your team feels comfortable using it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is also a great time to think about how your software integrates. If you\u2019re using CauseVox, you can integrate with nearly anything through Zapier<\/a>. Try setting up a Zap that adds information to your database as soon as it comes in through your CauseVox page. With all the technology that exists, you can automate most of your moves management process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter what software you choose, there is some information that is essential to track. That includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So how do you decide which software to use? What types of software do you need? Let\u2019s talk about your tech stack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most important choices to make before you begin your moves management process is what software you\u2019d like to use. Software is what will help you track your donors, take payments, and segment your audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It can be helpful to think about what metrics and information you\u2019d like to track before you begin looking at softwares. That way you\u2019ll know what features you want and can pick a software that meets your needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your CRM<\/a> (or customer relationship management) database is where you can keep a contact record for each donor, along with all the information about that person you may need. Ideally, you\u2019ll want a CRM that has customization options so that you can tailor it to your needs. You\u2019ll also want to look for something that is easy for your staff to use and ideally something that integrates with the other software you use, so you don\u2019t need to manually enter data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You most likely already have some way to accept donations online, but this is a good time to think about whether your page and processor<\/a> have all the features you want. Think about looking for a donation platform that has a pledge feature<\/a>, that accepts mobile wallet payments like Apple Pay, and something that allows you to create descriptive tiers. You may also want to create multiple donation pages tailored to where donors are in the moves management cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While you can get a good deal of information about your donors through surveys and questions on your donation form, there are some tools out there to help you get details about their giving potential. Wealth screening is a service that many sites offer, and it can give you information about your donor\u2019s finances and giving potential. You\u2019ll get information like real estate ownership, stock holdings, and previous donations. If you\u2019re ready to really assess whether your donors are ready to increase their gifts, wealth screening can be a very helpful way to segment donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moves management is a tried-and-true formula to establish relationships with donors who ultimately feel closer to your cause and are more committed in terms of engagement and finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat Counts as a Move?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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What Are The Benefits of Moves Management?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Moves Management: How It Works<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"moves-management\"](\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/moves-management-410x1024.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n1. Identify<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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2. Gauge Interest\/Ability<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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3. Set Goals<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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4. Cultivate & Educate<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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5. Ask & Track<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Next Steps<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Moves Management Best Practices<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Have clear data hygiene procedures and keep your database clean.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Understand the donor and gift lifecycle.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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3. Review your moves management process regularly.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Solidify your tech stack and moves management software.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Using software to facilitate moves management<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
CRM<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Donation Processor and Page<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Wealth Screening<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Get Started With Moves Management<\/h2>\n\n\n\n