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How to segment your appeal with a gift pyramid

Posted October 19, 2021 by Virginia Davidson

segment appeal with gift pyramid

A gift pyramid is a useful tool to help you set realistic goals for your fundraising appeal. Once you’ve set those goals, don’t put your gift pyramid away just yet. You can also use it when you’re ready to start segmenting your appeal.

How to use your gift pyramid to segment your appeal

Appeal segments refer to groups of constituents within your appeal who share a commonality. Some examples are donors whose total giving amount is above a certain threshold, first-time donors in the last year, or board members.

Let’s say that you used a gift pyramid to set your goals. You determined that to meet your goal, you need to receive five gifts of $1,000. What constitutes a major donor will vary for each organization, but in this case we’ll call this your major donor segment.

Thanks to your gift pyramid, you know that you need to build an appeal segment with fifteen to twenty constituents. If you’re using Little Green Light, you can add this segment to your appeal and set an appeal ask amount for these donors, so you’re sure to specifically ask them for $1000. You can also modify the text of your appeal letter for this segment so it’s targeted to this group of constituents.

As you consult your gift pyramid and consider the number of gifts of each size that you need to reach your fundraising goal, you can build your segments accordingly. By getting specific about who you’ll solicit and for what amount, you can ensure that you’re soliciting a healthy number of constituents in your appeal and that your appeal letters are targeted to each segment.

Conclusion

Though segmenting an appeal might sound like a lot of work, using a gift pyramid to guide your decisions strips the guesswork out of your efforts and sets you up for fundraising success.

Looking for more tips on how to launch a successful appeal? Check out our free ebook, Six Steps to a Successful Appeal.

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