Fundraising Growth Agency
Generosity grows when you understand why donors give.
We help nonprofits change the way they find new donors, retain them longer, and grow lifetime value. Our approach focuses on building meaning and belonging, and creates a pipeline for monthly, mid-level, major, and legacy giving—all while growing durable revenue.
- Fundraising Growth Strategy
- Donor Acquisition & Retention
- Integrated Campaigns (Direct Mail + Digital)
- Mass, Midlevel and Monthly Giving Growth
We’re Growing Generosity With
The Modern Fundraising Dilemma
Donor expectations have changed, but fundraising models haven’t.
Many nonprofits are stuck in a cycle of outdated fundraising strategies that are focused on getting louder instead of getting closer to donors.
Rising Donor Acquisition Costs
Finding new donors is getting harder. It takes more time, more effort, and more money to reach future donors.
Declining Donor Retention
Many donors give once and never give again. Without a sense of connection, supporters often drift away after their first gift.
Campaign-Driven Fundraising
Many fundraising programs are built around a calendar of appeals instead of a system designed around donor motivation and behaviour.
Stagnant Donor Growth
Even when revenue grows, the number of active donors often stays the same—or most likely, shrinks year after year.
How Nonprofits Actually Grow
Fundraising doesn’t grow through one great campaign. It grows through a system that creates moments of generosity—from first-time giver to legacy leaver.
Our approach helps nonprofits grow by reaching new people, building connection with donors by meeting their need for belonging, and giving those donors a specific and meaningful role to play as an important part of the team.
Brand
Reach future donors and build familiarity and mental availability with your mission that makes your organization an easy choice when generosity is activated.
Measured by:
- Branded search volume
- Direct and organic website traffic
- Surveyed awareness
Are more people thinking about your organization when they think about giving?
Demand
Capture giving intent by converting interest into donations. Run targeted appeals, campaigns, and acquisition programs that invite people to take the first step and become a donor.
Measured by:
- Number of new donors acquired
- Donor acquisition cost
- Donation conversion rate
- New donor revenue
Are people raising their hand and making a gift?
Expand
Deepen connection with tailored communication, cadence, stewardship and opportunities to lead donors toward greater generosity.
Measured by:
- Retained revenue and donors
- Monthly giving growth
- Recurring revenue growth
- Upgrade/downgrade rate
- Mid-level giving growth
- Legacy intent growth
- Lifetime value
Are donors renewing and increasing their commitment?
When all three work together, generosity compounds.
A Different Philosophy of Fundraising
Most fundraising agencies optimize campaigns, ads and landing pages.
We build an operating system that makes generosity grow by optimizing for donor connection and motivation.
- Focus on isolated campaigns
- Focus on a unified revenue pipeline
- Create more volume
- Create emotional value and connection
- Optimize tactics
- Optimize donor experience
- Assume what motivates donors
- Donor research and zero-party data
- Fundraising is a funnel
- Fundraising is a flywheel
- Push for the next gift
- Build donor identity and belonging
- Campaign metrics (response rate, ROI)
- Donor economics (CAC:LTV)
- Measure success by campaign revenue
- Measure success by donor lifetime value
- Treat donors like transactions
- Treat donors like partners
- Revenue fluctuates campaign to campaign
- Revenue grows through compounding donor value
- Controls your channels, data and production.
- Collaborates with your team and teaches everything we know.
Traditional Agency Model
The BuildGood Difference
Our Focus On Donor Understanding
People give, and stay connected, when their connection to cause is nurtured and they feel:
Autonomy
Their giving is meaningful and voluntary.
Competence
They see the impact of their gift.
Connection
They feel part of something bigger.
This is known as Self-Determination Theory, one of the most widely researched frameworks in human motivation, and at the core of our own research with thousands of donors across North America.
We design fundraising systems that strengthen all three of these fundamental human needs.
What to Expect With BuildGood
Most of our partnerships begin with a deep understanding of your donor file, your economics and the motivation that drives your supporters.
Our 7 step approach →Understand the donor
Model the economics
Design a fundraising flywheel
Set the strategy
Test and optimize
Build connection
Expand lifetime value
Our Services
How We Help Grow Generosity
As an agency partner for clients across North America, we combine donor research, fundraising strategy and multi-channel campaign implementation to help nonprofits grow revenue from new and current donors—from first-time giver to legacy leaver.
Donor Insights
Each gift is a story of self. We start by learning why your donors give and what matters to them.
- Donor research
- Zero-party data collection
- Surveys and interviews
- Donor segmentation and insight
- Financial modeling (CAC: LTV, retention, upgrades and downgrades)
Growth Strategy
We work with you to build a fundraising system that is built for acquisition, connection and retention (in that order).
- Donor journey design
- Cadence planning (behaviour-based, not calendar)
- Integrated channel strategy
- Brand → Demand → Expand architecture
- Fundraising program design
Implementation
We run campaigns across channels to bring in new donors and help them be generous again and again.
- Donor acquisition
- Digital fundraising
- Direct mail
- Multi-channel campaigns
- Midlevel programs
- Monthly giving
- Legacy giving
- Upgrades and donor experience
- Reporting and analytics
We do our best work when we’re collaborating and building with you.
Together, we learn from your donors and create a fundraising approach designed for the wonderful humans that believe in your cause, leading more people toward greater generosity.
Explore our services →Ready For Your Next Phase of Growth?
Schedule a consultation and find out how we can grow generosity and revenue together.
Get The Growth Letter
Ideas for growing generosity, delivered the old-fashioned way.
Every quarter we send a printed letter about fundraising strategy, donor motivation, top tactics and the systems that help nonprofits grow.
We source the content from real-world tests and our work with clients. If it works, we break it down, write it up and turn it into bite-sized actionable plans you can use.
Just a thoughtful letter in your mailbox, 4x per year—for free.