From Awareness to Retention: How to Create a 'Full-Funnel' Fundraising Strategy

Fundraising is a journey for both your nonprofit and your supporters. It's not just about getting donations; it's about building relationships with the people who share your vision.

That’s where a full-funnel fundraising strategy comes in. It's a structured approach that guides supporters from discovering your organization to becoming long-term advocates. And it's one that your nonprofit can use in its own outreach to drive incredible results.

What Is a Marketing Funnel?

A "marketing funnel" is a way to describe the journey someone takes from first hearing about your organization to becoming a loyal supporter. It breaks that journey into stages — from raising awareness to building trust, inspiring action, and encouraging long-term involvement. Each stage involves specific strategies to help guide supporters along the way.

For nonprofits, a full-funnel approach means thinking beyond just asking for donations. It's about creating meaningful connections over time — whether through storytelling, targeted emails, or donor appreciation efforts — so supporters feel informed, inspired, and valued every step of the way.

The four stages of the conversion funnel: Attracting new donors, building trust, inspiring action, buidling donor loyalty. Click for larger.

STEP 1: BUILD AWARENESS
Attracting New Donors

Before you can ask someone to donate, they need to become aware of your organization and its work. The awareness stage is all about visibility — introducing your mission to new audiences and sparking their interest.

Many nonprofits struggle with this because they jump straight to "the ask" before building credibility and connection.

How to Build Awareness

Social media marketing: Use organic and paid campaigns to reach new audiences.
SEO and content marketing: Create blog posts, thought leadership, and keyword-rich content.
Partnerships and PR: Collaborate with like-minded organizations, influencers, or media outlets to expand your reach, build credibility, and introduce your mission to new audiences.
Event promotion and storytelling: Share emotional, mission-driven stories that resonate with potential donors and first-time supporters.

Use Case: Vituity Cares Foundation, a nonprofit that provides healthcare access and support to underserved communities, needed to reach a broader audience and build momentum leading up to its Annual Virtual Fundraising Event. We supported the team with a targeted awareness campaign that included social media promotion, email outreach, and PR to expand their reach and drive traffic to their event page.

STEP 2: EDUCATE AND NURTURE
Building Relationships and Trust

Once people know who you are, the next step is to educate and engage with them. Your potential supporters need to understand your mission and feel confident that their contributions will make a difference. Your website, email campaigns, and storytelling all play a role in nurturing this trust.

How to Educate and Nurture Supporters

Website redesign and optimization: Communicate your mission clearly and create a smooth user experience.
Automated email campaigns: Share updates, impact stories, and ways to get involved.
Webinars and live Q-and-A sessions: Host interactive events that allow potential supporters to learn more about your work, hear directly from your team or beneficiaries, and ask questions in real time.
CRM and donor segmentation: Personalize outreach based on supporter behavior and interest.
Peer-to-peer fundraising: Activate supporters to fundraise on your behalf.
Engagement campaigns: Run targeted email and social media campaigns to re-engage previous website visitors or email subscribers with educational content, impact stories, and clear next steps for getting involved.

Use Case: Vituity Cares Foundation's original website didn’t effectively communicate its mission or impact. We redesigned its homepage to better tell its story, highlight results, and guide supporters toward deeper engagement with the organization and its work. At the same time, we launched a series of emails that included storytelling emails and virtual Q-and-A sessions to build stronger connections with potential donors.

STEP 3: CONVERSION
Inspiring Action and Making Donating Easy

At this point, you've captured attention and built trust. Now it's time to inspire action. Donating should be easy, intuitive, and compelling.

How to Drive Conversions

Optimized donation pages: Keep forms simple, fast, and mobile-friendly.
Personalized outreach: Follow up with high-value donors directly via personalized emails or one-on-one meetings to deepen the relationship and encourage giving.
Automated follow-ups and retargeting ads: Re-engage those who showed interest but didn't donate.
Create urgency: Matching gifts, time-sensitive campaigns, or calls to action can prompt action.

Use Case: For their event, Vituity Cares Foundation focused on a seamless donation process. We helped them launch an optimized donation page, develop strategic messaging for email and social media, and use retargeting ads to remind supporters to complete their gifts, making it easier for interested donors to follow through.

STEP 4: RETENTION AND GROWTH
Turning One-Time Donors into Long-Term Supporters

The first donation isn’t the end of the journey — it's the beginning of a relationship. Retaining donors through thoughtful communication and continued engagement is key to sustainable fundraising.

How to Keep Donors Involved

Personalized thank-you campaigns: Show genuine appreciation for your donors' generosity.
Impact reports and email storytelling: Keep supporters informed on the difference they’re making.
Exclusive donor events or webinars: Create ongoing opportunities for donors to learn more about your work and to deepen their connection with your organization.
Recurring giving programs: Offer special recognition or membership for monthly donors.

Use Case: Vituity Cares Foundation raised over $350,000 through their virtual event but didn't stop there. They continued to engage donors with thank-you messages, impact updates, and invitations to stay involved, transforming one-time donors into long-term supporters.

Your Next Steps

Vituity Cares Foundation's success shows how powerful a full-funnel fundraising strategy can be. By building awareness, educating supporters, inspiring action, and retaining donors, you can create a sustainable fundraising model for your nonprofit.

Ready to take your fundraising to the next level? TechSoup can help you implement a full-funnel fundraising strategy tailored to your nonprofit’s goals. Let’s build something great together.