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Creating a Loyal Donor Base:
3 Strategies From the
Banana Ball Baseball Craze |
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What does a baseball team have to do with building a loyal donor base?
Let’s discuss. 😎
Jesse Cole is the owner of the 🍌 Savannah Bananas, a baseball team with a waitlist of hundreds of thousands of fans and a following that most organizations can only dream of.
His secret?
He stopped thinking about the baseball business and started thinking about the fan experience business.
The results speak for themselves.
That’s why, in this week's Changemaker Mondays ☀️ ☕ 🌍, I'm sharing 3 ideas from the Savannah Bananas playbook to help inspire you to think outside the box for your donor retention strategy.
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Changemaker Mondays is brought to you by:
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Strategy 1: Create an Experience Donors Love
Jesse Cole built the Savannah Bananas on one simple idea: when you create an experience people love, they keep coming back.
The Bananas put this into practice by looking at their own friction points. Cole identified ticket prices and traditional fees as something fans genuinely disliked. So they flipped the model entirely. For just $15, fans got all-inclusive access to food and drinks, hot dogs, popcorn, soda, and more. The goal? Make fans feel like they're getting more than they paid for. That mindset changed everything.
Obviously, we’re not giving away hot dogs here. 🌭
(I mean, unless you want to.)
But how might this translate to the donor experience?
Some thoughts:
- Create a donor “team identity” - instead of calling them donors, call them something fun or brand-aligned (“animal avengers”, “bravery builders” – you get the idea!) that makes them feel like part of the club.
- Create an engaging, human-sounding donor welcome sequence for first time donors, formatted like a normal email to a friend. Throw in a voice message for something different!
- Instead of a typical donation receipt, create a “choose your own adventure” experience with a message like “You just helped power learning for kids. What would you like to see next?” – Then give them options like, “a story from the field”, “ways to volunteer with my family”, or “a breakdown of why this issue matters.”
Every day, your organization has an opportunity to improve the donor experience. It could be a complicated donation process, receiving generic thank-you emails that feel impersonal, or never hearing from you again after their first gift.
💡Try this: Ask one donor this week what made them give to your organization and what could make the experience even better. Their answer might surprise you! Strategy 2: Turn Your Donors Into Your Best Marketers
The Savannah Bananas don't spend much on traditional advertising. Instead, they focus on creating moments so remarkable that fans can't help but share them with everyone they know. Their fans become their best marketers.
The Bananas take this seriously. From resort-inspired cooling towels handed out to fans to "parking penguins" passing out popsicles, their culture of ideas draws inspiration from everywhere. They also think about every single touchpoint a fan experiences. The stadium entrance, the concourse, the grandstands, even the bathrooms. Every space is an opportunity to create a lasting impression.
✨ People LOVE talking about their experiences.✨
So what might this look like for a nonprofit on a budget?
A few ideas:
- Send out a “emergency mission broadcast” announcing an impact milestone: “Breaking News: 500 Meals for Families now funded. Local Kindness levels on the rise!” Make it an email or social media message donors can forward or share.
- Give donors a reason to talk about the issue you tackle (not just your organization). Share data points and surprising misconceptions about the issue donors can share with friends.
- Give donors an easy and fun way to invite their friends to learn more – without a donation ask involved. This could look like livestreaming a 20-minute virtual tour of your behind-the-scenes work, hosting a “mission salon” where people can learn and discuss your mission at a coffee shop, or other engaging, low-key formats.
When donors have an experience that genuinely moves them, they tell their friends and family and that guy from the office. They post about it on social media, and that kind of word of mouth is more powerful than any ad you could run.
💡Try this: Think about one upcoming donor touchpoint and brainstorm one way to make it truly remarkable and worth sharing. Strategy 3: Listen Carefully, Respond Creatively
One of the things that makes the Savannah Bananas so remarkable is that they pay close attention to what their fans say, and then they respond in ways that go above and beyond what anyone expected.
The Bananas take this even further by mapping out every single moment of the fan experience, from first impression to last. For example, when a fan buys a ticket, instead of a standard confirmation email, they receive an outrageously over-the-top video that immediately sets the tone for a unique and unforgettable experience.
Small creative touches like these make donors feel truly seen and keep them coming back. A few thoughts rolling around my head…
- Make it welcoming, and fun, to give feedback with an “idea lab” at your next event or gathering. Ask donors to brainstorm openly with you: “What is one thing we could make easier, warmer, clearer, or more joyful?”
- When someone sends you helpful feedback, send a genuine, hand-written thank you note – nobody expects that, and it would leave an impression!
- When you make changes to a process, webpage, or system based on feedback, let folks know with a humble-but-humorous update message. “You told us our donation form was a little… much. We agreed. Meet the new 1-minute version.”
💡Try this: After your next donor interaction, jot down one thing they shared with you. Then use that note to personalize your next follow-up. Small details like these go a long way! Try it this week 🚀
Pick one of these three strategies and apply it to one donor relationship this week. The Savannah Bananas didn't build a waitlist of thousands overnight. They did it one remarkable moment at a time. You can too!
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- Open Aug. 1 - Sep. 30: The MOORE Equity in Mental Health Community Grants Program supports organizations with "innovative awareness programs" or providing mental health services to young people of color. Funding is $10,000 over a two-year period. To apply, organizations should have at least two years of completed operations.
- Every Third Thursday: A monthly opportunity for "open-access, low-barrier, no-reporting grants." This opportunity is hosted by Emergent Fund, a "rapid response fund" and supports Black, Indigenous, and people of color-led social justice movements.
- Coming Soon: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is scheduled to open three different grant opportunities very soon (2 this summer, and 1 this fall) - but you can take their eligibility test now to plan ahead. Depending on the grant you choose, proposals may support projects, capacity, or collective impact. They aim to "support local, regional, and national changemakers to unlock learner potential, clear the path and remove barriers, and rethink the future of work and learning." Strategic focus areas are "college access and completion, workforce and career development, and entrepreneurship."
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Keep an eye out for future workshops and events open to the public! In the mean time, need an event speaker or workshop trainer? Learn more about my workshops and other services. |
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Enjoy this week's newsletter? You might find this video helpful, too.
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3 more ways I can help you
- I have lots of free content for you! Check out my library of 400+ educational videos on nonprofits, social entrepreneurship, fundraising, and more on my YouTube channel. If you like what I'm trying to do, help me reach more people like you by subscribing to the channel and sharing it with a changemaker friend! 😁
- Need extra support to build or grow a nonprofit or social enterprise? Check out my Changemaker Accelerator membership or my Zero to $100,000 Fundraising Starter Toolkit.
- Need a speaker or training workshop for your social impact event? I'm currently booking 2026-2027 speaking engagements -- check out my speaking and workshop opportunities to learn how I can help you make your event inspiring and actionable!
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Hey, Changemaker!
I'm Amber, writer of the Changemaker Mondays newsletter! I'm a nonprofit founder, speaker, and social entrepreneur on a mission to equip you with the tools you need to create positive change where ever you live -- whether you're starting a nonprofit or socially-conscious business, looking for a social impact job, or leading a volunteer project in your city. Don't hesitate to connect (socials below), or reply to this email if you ever have any feedback on how we can make Changemaker Mondays the best newsletter for supporting changemakers in the world!
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