27 Keys to Monthly Giving Program Success, Part 4 (20-27)

[Editor's note: This is the fourth and final part of a four-part series on the session "25 Proven Monthly Giving Tools & Ideas Packed in 50 Minutes" held at the 2012 Washington Nonprofit Conference. Click here for part 1, here for part 2 and here for part 3.]

At the Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation's 2012 Washington Nonprofit Conference, five fundraising pros shared their secrets to implementing and running a monthly giving program in their session, "25 Proven Monthly Giving Tools & Ideas Packed in 50 Minutes." Here are tips 20-27 of the 25 — actually, 27 (two bonus tips!) — provided by the presenters: Mary Arnold, president of Mary Arnold Enterprises; David Glass, director of online marketing at World Wildlife Fund; Karen Kennedy Downs, direct marketing manager of monthly giving at CARE USA; Nicole Weidokal, vice president of client services at DCCi; and moderator Erica Waasdorp, senior fundraising consultant at DMW Direct.
20. Set a goal for your sustainers
Glass said setting goals can be really impactful, especially since monthly donors can drive a lot of revenue. He said that 1 percent to 2 percent of members as sustainers can drive 5 percent to 10 percent of your annual revenue, with minimal ongoing expenses, because they are loyal and continually giving.

21. Test your monthly giving program on your homepage
Put a link and description of your monthly giving program on the homepage of your website, highlighting an offer or benefit of joining.

"If your site simply asks for single gifts, you'll continue to get single gifts," Glass said. "If you ask for monthly gifts, you'll get them."

Glass suggested doing an A/B split using Google Website Optimizer to track the results. He said that the World Wildlife Fund tested this with the goal to increase sustainers without harming overall revenue. The test revealed a decrease of about 15 percent in one-time donors but increase in monthly donors of about 117 percent. As we know, the lifetime value and annual value of a sustainer is a much greater than that of a one-time donor. The result then is if the value of a sustainer is three times more, return is 4.5 times higher.