5 Tips For A Successful Door Campaign

Door-to-door fundraising is a personalized and effective way to campaign and acquire donors. Door campaigns provide an in person fundraising method that is meaningful and effective. And, done right, can help your charity build a funnel of donors for years to come. Here are our top 5 tips for your successful door campaign:

1. The right door team

To acquire a potential donor, canvassers should be passionate and engaged in philanthropic causes they represent. Going door-to-door is not an easy task. Canvassers need to be outgoing and personable – easy to talk to. Acquiring a donor is all about building relationships. Make sure to hire a door team that is experienced at this and experienced at delivering results. This will lead to a positive experience for potential donors on behalf of your charity at the door.

2. Integrate your marketing efforts

Leverage your direct mail, digital and online campaigns in order to build awareness and credibility for your door-to-door program. This can include geographically targeted direct mail drops, Facebook campaigns and out of home media, all leading to a dedicated landing page that warms up the donor, even before the canvasser knocks on the door!

3. Make sure your canvassers are well-equipped

To ensure a canvasser’s success it is important that potential donors know who is at their door and what charity they represent. Canvassers should present well, clearly branded wearing a charity t-shirt or vest, name tag and carrying a tablet to securely host donor information. But, prior to them knocking on a single door, prepare and deliver a training presentation for the canvassing team, to familiarize them with your cause and why monthly giving for your charity is so important, speaking directly to the impact of their gift! Conduct on-going training sessions to keep the canvassing team informed, as they become an extension of your cause.

4. IT & Security Integration

For a successfully integrated campaign, it’s important from the on-set to identify a single point of contact at the charity to coordinate the donor file and payment transfer. Identifying and notifying internal departments (such as: Data, Finance, IT, Donor Care and Communications) is an important step to ensure all teams are aware of the campaign – critical for ease of transition and external validation. Inform them on objectives, targets, implementation tasks and operational tasks post launch. Not only does this allow for a smooth and efficient campaign it authenticates the canvasser at the door and makes it easier and safer for them to do their job on your behalf.

5. Your campaign doesn’t end at the door…that’s just the beginning!

Once you have acquired the donor, be sure to have a thoughtful journey in place following a donor’s monthly gift. Door-to-door fundraising provides a face to your organization that profoundly boosts the donor experience. It is important to immediately follow up on that with a well thought out donor journey. People want to continue to feel engaged and know that their contributions are making a difference. By connecting with donors, it helps to cultivate a deeper relationship with your cause and support future donations.

People don’t generally wake up in the morning thinking “today I am going to donate to this charity”! It takes a well executed campaign with a professional door fundraising team to bring about results that will benefit the charity for years to come. When someone comes to your door, they want a positive experience even if they are not currently in a position to help. A well executed campaign from the start, with an organization that has years of experience in guiding and delivering results, will have a lasting impact on your charity and your donors! It all starts with a knock!

About the Author

Josh Dhanpal

Josh Dhanpal is the Director of Business Development for Globalfaces Direct and has been with the company since July 2015. Josh’ role is centered on building a robust business development department which focuses on new client acquisition, relationship building and strategic advancement across North America. Josh graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in 2013.

Reach out to Josh to learn more about Globalfaces Direct, and how we can build and support your monthly donor campaign.