How to sell to Heads of Sales at Nonprofits companies
Heads of Sales at nonprofits are primarily measured on fundraising targets. They respond positively to outreach that shows a clear understanding of their unique challenges, such as donor retention and campaign effectiveness. Demonstrating familiarity with their mission and specific fundraising cycles can make your outreach more compelling.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 572 nonprofits company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- donor retention issues
- funding competition
- campaign effectiveness
- limited resources
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent campaign launches
Use platforms like Charity Navigator or Guidestar to find nonprofits that recently launched fundraising campaigns. These organizations are often in a growth phase and may be more open to new solutions that can enhance their campaign effectiveness.
- 02
Segment by donor retention rates
Research nonprofits based on their reported donor retention rates. Focus on those with lower retention, as their Heads of Sales are likely searching for solutions to improve donor loyalty and increase repeat contributions.
- 03
Mention specific fundraising challenges
In your outreach, reference common fundraising challenges such as donor fatigue or competition for funds. Tailor your message to address how your insights can help them overcome these specific obstacles, making it clear you understand their environment.
- 04
Leverage recent industry events
Identify nonprofits that attended or spoke at recent fundraising conferences or webinars. Mention these events in your outreach to establish relevance and show that you are engaged with their sector's current conversations.
- 05
Follow up after key deadlines
Schedule your follow-ups around common fundraising deadlines, such as year-end giving or Giving Tuesday. This timing can increase your chances of engagement, as Heads of Sales are likely reflecting on their performance and planning for upcoming campaigns.
Can nonprofits companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 572 nonprofits companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 11.5% of 1–10-person companies against 75% of the largest — 64 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Improving donor loyalty
- Boosting campaign results
- Insights for fundraising success
Questions
- Why do Heads of Sales at nonprofits ignore outreach about sales tools?
- Heads of Sales at nonprofits often prioritize mission-driven initiatives over sales tools, viewing them as non-essential. If outreach fails to connect these tools to their specific fundraising goals or challenges, it may be disregarded as irrelevant.
- What common objections do Heads of Sales have about new fundraising solutions?
- Heads of Sales frequently cite budget constraints and resource limitations as primary objections to adopting new fundraising solutions. They may also express skepticism about the effectiveness of new tools, preferring proven methods that align with their existing strategies.
- How can I demonstrate value to nonprofit sales leaders?
- To demonstrate value, focus on how your insights can directly impact their fundraising efforts. Share case studies or examples that illustrate improved donor engagement or retention rates, and relate these outcomes to their specific challenges.
- What are the key metrics Heads of Sales at nonprofits track?
- Heads of Sales at nonprofits commonly track metrics such as donor acquisition costs, donor retention rates, and overall fundraising performance. Understanding these metrics can help tailor conversations around how your insights can improve these areas.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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