Last week at the 2025 Bridge Conference, I had the privilege of presenting with two incredible fundraising professionals – Renee Brueckner, CFRE from Association of the Miraculous Medal and Lynn Cansler from Sacred Heart Southern Missions. 

If you missed it, our session was titled “Approaching the Leaky Bucket: Keeping up with Donor Counts and Donor Dollars,” and these two organizations blew me away with their creativity, persistence, and results.

Let’s start with the obvious: the leaky bucket is real

Average gift sizes are going up, but donor counts are going down. Second gift conversion is getting harder. Sound familiar? Yeah, we’re all living this.

Both organizations I presented with are watching their active donor files shrink. Association of the Miraculous Medal has gone from 270K+ donors in 2021 to about 210K in 2025. Their acquisition cost per new donor? Tripled since 2022, from $12.52 to $36.86.

The challenges for both organizations, and many other nonprofits, include:

• Production costs up across the board – paper, premiums, postage
• Budgets that aren’t keeping pace
• An economy that hasn’t been kind to small-dollar donors
• Digital competition for attention everywhere
• Faith-based orgs seeing fewer donors of faith

So how do you hold a fundraising program together when the fundamentals are shifting under your feet? Patch the holes. 

Two organizations, two philosophies

Here’s what’s interesting about these two nonprofits – they’re taking completely different paths to the same destination. Both are working. Both are worth studying.

Association of the Miraculous Medal: testing everything, everywhere

Renee’s team has embraced what I’d call “omni-channel curiosity.” They’re not just testing – they’re testing across every possible touchpoint, format, and channel.

Their multi-channel testing strategy:

Traditional mail with creative twists

• Testing envelope textures and scented cards (yes, scented!)
• Experimenting with different paper weights and finishes
• Trying new vendors (saved $16,700 on their membership campaign alone)

Digital innovation

• Website redesign boosted online giving by 31%
• Checkout page optimization added 60+ monthly donors in just 2 months
• QR codes with wildly mixed results – video prayer card got 8 views and $0, but spring gift flyer generated 454 views and $19,683

Mobile & texting evolution

• Started MMS campaigns at $0.15 per message, negotiated down to $0.018
• Generated $127,906 across nearly a million messages (1.05% response rate)
• Sometimes texting just to connect, not always asking for money

Social media mastery

• COVID-era campaign added 48,000 names with no budget
• Over 11% converted to active donors through traditional mail and email follow-up
• Total net return: $500K+ (only 17% from online gifts – 83% through mail/email)

AI and data mining

• Using AI to mine inactive donors with mixed but promising results in top segments
• Recently tested AI models – performed better in first 3 segments, but lower overall

Personal touch at scale

• Birthday cards to members
• Reaching out when members are sick
• Human responses on social media
• Good customer service – staff answers phones, returns calls within 24 hours

Why this approach works: They’re not putting all their eggs in one basket. Every channel informs the others, and they’re constantly learning where their donors want to engage. As Renee puts it: “Always keep testing!!”

Sacred Heart Southern Missions: direct mail mastery through precision

Lynn’s team represents something beautiful – deep expertise in direct mail executed with precision. They’re perfecting what works.

Their clear philosophy is based on this stat: 73% of consumers say they prefer direct mail for brand communication because it’s more tangible than digital ads.

Their direct mail excellence:

Four-track systematic approach

• Mission Oriented Package (straight letter)
• All Occasion Card Package
• Premium Package
• Mass Card Package
• Each track has its own testing protocols and optimization strategies

What they test (everything)

• Mission packages: Tested bigger envelopes vs. standard – bigger increased response slightly, became their new control
• Card packages: Fewer cards per package, moved production overseas to reduce tariffs, tested letter rate vs. flat rate packages
• Premiums: Several letter rate premiums, color changes (gold vs. silver), variations on follow-up letters
• Mass cards: More data processing to filter higher dollar donors, refinements to gift floor thresholds

Practical examples of their testing philosophy

• Increasing font size on letters to improve readability
• Testing fewer cards in packages due to rising costs
• Changing outer envelope designs
• Testing premium colors (gold vs. silver)

Why this approach works: They’ve chosen their lane and they’re dominating it. While others chase digital trends, they’re extracting maximum value from direct mail through disciplined testing and optimization. Their November 2020 Mass Card mailing generated 7,500 initial gifts worth $115,037 – but the lifetime value? 30,889 total gifts worth $506,561.

What both approaches teach us

Watching these two organizations, clear patterns emerge that work regardless of which path you choose:

Test with purpose: Whether you’re testing across channels like Association of the Miraculous Medal or drilling deep into direct mail like Sacred Heart Southern Missions, testing has to be systematic, not random.

Know your donors: Both organizations mine their lapsed donors carefully, segment thoughtfully, and invest in personal touchpoints that build real relationships.

Measure what matters: Association of the Miraculous Medal tracks everything from QR code views to texting costs per message. Sacred Heart Southern Missions monitors BRE vs. CRE responses and lifetime value metrics. Small wins compound.

Stay true to mission: Every tactic, every test, every channel decision flows from mission, not from what’s trendy.

Celebrate small victories: As Lynn puts it perfectly, “Stay Positive – Celebrate small wins and look for success each day!”

What stuck with me

These organizations reminded me that fixing the leaky bucket isn’t about finding one perfect solution. It’s about persistent, methodical work. Testing. Measuring. Adjusting. Celebrating small wins.

Most importantly, they’re letting their missions guide every tactic, every tweak, every test. That’s what makes the work worth doing.

If you’re facing your own leaky bucket challenges, remember: the patches exist. They’re not flashy, they’re not one-size-fits-all, but they’re working. You just have to be willing to test, adapt, and stay true to why you’re doing this work in the first place.

Want to connect and talk about your patching strategies? You know where to find me.