Rethinking Donor Outreach: A New Era for Non-Managed Donors

The nonprofit sector has long relied on traditional outreach channels like direct mail, email, and phonathons to engage donors at scale. These methods are familiar and can be effective when done well.

However, these approaches were never designed to build genuine relationships with the many donors who are not actively managed by a fundraiser.

In most organizations, only about 2.5% of donors receive personalized attention from portfolio managers — a finding confirmed by a recent Givzey | Version2.ai survey of over 100 nonprofits. The remaining 97.5% — non-managed donors — typically receive batch communications, seasonal campaigns, and annual appeals. These donors are generous and loyal, but outreach to them often feels transactional rather than relational.

It is time to think differently.

A new opportunity to engage non-managed donors

This shift is not about replacing direct mail or email. It is about reimagining how we engage non-managed donors as individuals.

Imagine if every donor could receive timely, relevant, personalized engagement that goes beyond marketing and feels like genuine relationship-building.

Imagine expanding your fundraising capacity without expanding your headcount, by adding an autonomous AI teammate that can engage these donors intelligently and at scale.

This is the opportunity before us.

How a Virtual Engagement Officer (VEO) changes the equation

A Virtual Engagement Officer (VEO) is more than an automation tool. It is a fully autonomous digital fundraiser, designed to act as a trusted and accountable member of your team.

The VEO:

• Manages an assigned portfolio of donors, just as a human fundraiser would

• Engages each donor 8 to 12 times per year with thoughtful, relevant outreach

• Applies proven fundraising strategies and traditional moves management to cultivate, steward, and strengthen donor relationships

• Measures its impact using familiar metrics such as revenue generated, participation increased, recapture of lapsed donors, and overall engagement

By functioning as a true digital team member, a VEO allows your organization to manage far more relationships than would otherwise be possible, without adding staff or sacrificing quality.

Why rethinking donor management matters now

Direct mail and email remain important tools, but they were designed for broad outreach rather than individual relationship management. At the same time, donor expectations have changed. Donors expect timely, relevant, and personalized communication, and they respond when organizations meet them where they are.

For example, recent benchmarks show that nonprofit email revenue declined by 11% last year, while texting revenue grew by 37%. Text messaging is not only surging in effectiveness, but also delivers an astonishing 90% open rate within three minutes of delivery. This is where donors are paying attention today. [link in]

A VEO is built to recognize and act on these trends. It selects the best communication channel for each donor, including fast-growing channels like text messaging, ensuring that every outreach is as timely and relevant as possible.

A VEO allows nonprofits to offer this kind of relationship-oriented engagement at scale. It provides a strategy for your non-managed donor base that complements traditional channels while creating meaningful connections with more of your supporters.

The future of fundraising is about deepening relationships at scale

For decades, organizations have accepted a core limitation: that they could only build relationships with as many donors as their staff had capacity to manage.

That limitation no longer applies.

Autonomous Fundraising makes it possible to think differently. It helps organizations deepen relationships, improve retention, and inspire generosity across the entire donor base.

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Curious to see how it works? 

Request a demo of Version2.ai’s Virtual Engagement Officer to see how your organization can build lasting connections with every donor who supports your mission.