Welcome! We’re glad you’re here. Whether you are curious, just getting started, or looking for a specific resource, we have explainers, templates, and lists for wherever you are in your donor organizer journey! Let the roadmap below lead you to the information that you need.
Want a resource that’s not yet here? Let us know!
How does fundraising = activism?
Learn how and why donor organizing is effective activism.
We focus on organizing donors who don’t consider themselves in the major donor “class.” We believe that means you! Fundraising is organizing and anyone can do it.
We think that the resources below will answer many of your questions and inspire you! And then move to our Get Started Now page.
Whats and Whys of Political Donations
5 Facts about U.S. Political Donations (credit: Pew Research)
10 Reasons Why Donors Give (credit: Bluem Ventures)
Whats and Whys of Donor Organizing
The Movement’s Invisible Army (it’s volunteer donor organizers) (credit: Bluem Ventures)
A Volunteer Fundraiser’s Journey from Anxiety to Action (credit: Vera Sandronsky)
Viva La Causa: Fundraising Lessons from the United Farm Workers Movement (credit: Rona Fernandez, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Impact of Your Influence and Asks
3 Min Video: You Have More Influence Than You Think (credit: Vanessa Bohns, Cornell social psychologist that studies help-seeking and social influence)
Anyone Can Be a Relational Fundraiser (credit: Bluem Ventures)
Why Volunteers Make the Best Fundraisers (credit: Andy Robinson, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Why Focus on the Middle Class?
Get started now
Yes, really start here!
You know that donor organizing can be the most impactful work you can do as a volunteer. Here are resources to help you get the groundwork set up.
Once you’ve gone through these, you can dive into the Fundraising Tactics page to learn different ways you can reach your network and raise funds!
Reflect on Your Relationship with Money
Decide What to Raise For
Common Types of Organizations for Political Giving (credit: Resource Generation Action)
How to build relationships with the organizations for which you are fundraising
Craft Your Story/Pitch
Build Your List & Track Your Progress
Flower Diagram Exercise (creative/getting started)
List Builder Exercise (comprehensive)
Donation Logistics
Create ActBlue fundraising page(this allows you to track who has donated, when, and how much)
Gratitude Practice
Ready for fundraising tactics?
Discover different ways you can reach your network and raise funds.
You’re ready to raise some funds for a cause you care about! Below provides common tactics that volunteers raise funds, trade-offs for each tactic, and resources to support those tactics.
If you’d like to do this work in a team, you can head to the Build a Volunteer Fundraising Team page. Everything’s more fun when we do it together!
Overview of Fundraising Tactics
10 Fundraising Tips (credit: Jeff Blum, All In for North Carolina)
Finding Your Inner Fundraiser: A Self-Assessment Tool (credit: Kim Klein and Stephanie Roth, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Fundraising Guide (credit: Seed the Vote)
Direct Asks
Getting Over the Fear of Asking (credit: Kim Klein, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Resourcing Fundraising as Part of Supporting and Building Community (credit: Susan Raffo, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Visit a Donor - Not an ATM (credit: Stephanie Roth, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
House Parties
House Meeting Handbook (credit: Leading Change Network)
Sample Invitations, Polls, and Thank Yous (credit: Flip the Vote)
Host a House Party Guide (credit: Flip the Vote)
Host a House Party Resources (credit: Movement Voter Project)
House Party Toolkit (credit: Walk the Walk USA)
Community Events
Event Planning Checklist (credit: Jody Lerner, Neighbors for Progressive Action)
Fundraising Event Toolkit (credit: Walk the Walk USA)
Email + Social Media
Welcoming Your Friends’ Friends (credit: Nzinga Koné-Miller, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Let’s build a fundraising team!
Everything’s more fun when we do it together!
Teamwork makes the dreamwork! But how does one make a team? This page offers a 5-step process to start a team, an overview of common donor organizing team models for volunteers, and resources and activities for team support and reflection.
Once you have your squad organized, you can enter Advanced Mode in the Experienced Tips & Tricks page.
5 Steps to Start a Team
Donor Organizing 101 Overview (credit: 18 Million Rising)
Overview of 5 Steps to Start a Team
Identify Your People
Define Your Why
Make Asks
Primer on One on Ones (credit: Montgomery Education Association)
Host a Kickoff
Provide Support & Community
Common Team Models
How do we make decisions and work together?
Common Donor Organizing Models
Resources and examples of these models in the wild:
Giving Circles
Giving Circle Resource Library (credit: Philanthropy Together)
Giving Project Money for the Movement Workbook (credit: North Star Fund)
House Parties & Community Events
House Meeting Handbook (credit: Leading Change Network)
Sample Invitations, Polls, and Thank Yous (credit: Flip the Vote)
Host a House Party Guide (credit: Flip the Vote)
Host a House Party Resources (credit: Movement Voter Project)
House Party Toolkit (credit: Walk the Walk USA)
Event Planning Checklist (credit: Jody Lerner, Neighbors for Progressive Action)
Fundraising Event Toolkit (credit: Walk the Walk USA)
Membership
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Programs
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Overview: Tools, Recruitment, Goal Setting, Planning
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Guide (credit: Showing Up for Racial Justice)
Template Donor Tracker for peer-to-peer campaigns (credit: In Our Name)
Volunteer Fundraising Team
Team Support and Reflection
How to we build our team, develop an engagement ladder, and ensure that we incorporate our learnings into future efforts?
Get Started
Resources to Design, Launch, and Support Teams (credit: PowerLabs)
Team Charter Template (credit: PowerLabs)
Build a Member Engagement Ladder
Build Community
Group Exercises
Who Do You Know? Exercise (credit: Sha Grogan-Brown, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Asking for a Major Gift: A Team Training Exercise (credit: Priscilla Hung, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Reflect on Learnings
Retrospective Templates: Before Action and After Action Reviews, Sailboat, 4L (credit: PowerLabs)
The Power of Reflection to Develop Long-Term Motivation and Capacities (credit: PowerLabs)
Stay as a Ragtag Group vs. Become a Formalized Organization
When Everyone is a Volunteer (credit: Kim Klein, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Is Fiscal Sponsorship Right for You? (credit: Priscilla Hung, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
No Staff? No c3 Status? No Problem! (credit: Kaytee Riek, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Not new and want to level up?
Topics and tips for experienced donor organizers.
This isn’t your first rodeo with donor organizing, and you know that being a donor organizer means a journey of lifelong learning! Here are some templates, articles, and resources to continue honing your craft.
Make the Case for Early Giving
Why Early + Sustained Giving? (credit: Movement Voter Project)
By Memorial Day, your political gifts lose half their value (credit: Bluem Ventures)
Build a Fundraising Plan
Donor Privacy
Donor Best Practices
Tech Tools
Streak: Free Gmail integration for mail merge; allows up to 50 sends per day free
YAMM: Google Sheets integration for mail merge; allows up to 20 sends per day free
Donor Prospecting and Cultivation
Prospect Identification: You Already Know All the People You Need to Know to Raise All the Money You Want to Raise (credit: Kim Klein, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Using Surveys to Strengthen Donor Relationships (credit: Stephanie Roth, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Donor Stewardship, Anchoring and Upgrade Asks
Primer on Donor Meetings (credit: Kim Klein, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Running Effective 1:1 Conversations Training + Worksheets (credit: Nic Bennett, Science in Solidarity)
Back to Basics: How to Build Relationships that Last (credit: Kim Klein, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Nurturing Relationships Today and for Years to Come (credit: Kevin Johnson, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Building Authenticity in Major Donor Relationships (credit: Tanya Mote, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
The Spirituality of Fundraising (credit: Henri Nouwen)
Donor Segmentation
Recurring/Sustaining Donors Program
Building People-Powered Organizations through Sustainership (credit: Kristin Campbell and Allison Budschalow, Grassroots Fundraising Journal)
Sustainer Best Practices: Top 11 Tips (credit: Resource Organizing Project)
Sustainer Program Planning Template (credit: Resource Organizing Project)
Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)
Donor-Advised Funds: A Tool for Redistribution or a Vehicle for Wealth Hoarding? (credit: Resource Generation)
#HalfMyDAF Instructions for Donors (credit: #HalfMyDAF)
Donor Surveys
2022 Political Donor Survey Debrief by Donor Organizer Hub and Blue Tent
Treasure Troves of Resources
Blue Tent: donor advisory site that provides recommendations grounded in research and due diligence to build an inclusive and enduring progressive majority
Bolder Advocacy: free hotline and resource library on nonprofit advocacy and compliance
Grassroots Fundraising Journal Archive: journal for social change fundraisers on creative ways to raise money in alignment with their mission and values
M+R Benchmarks: benchmark data on results from emails, SMS texts, social media posts, and website visits from hundreds of nonprofits