Erica Waasdorp

I just got back from the 14th Bridge Conference, energized by new ideas, case studies and proven fundraising “old” basics that still work and will continue to work as long as donors are human beings. I was privileged to co-present a first sustainer, full day, pre-conference workshop with the “Sustainer Brains.”...

If you’ve been following me for a while, you already know that monthly giving is not a one-shot deal. It’s an ongoing promotion of the concept. It’s literally planting of the seeds and watering. It’s always reminding donors how easy it is to give monthly and how easy it is on their budget...

Good news! Monthly giving is one of the few groups of small donors that is (still) growing. Not surprisingly, because organizations have started focusing on it over the past few years...

I just came back from a conference in New Orleans. It was my first time visiting, so I had planned a little bit of time to see the sights and “soak up the culture.” It inspired me to write about monthly donor motivation...

I just attended Fundraising Day in New York. One of my favorite sessions was about sustainers, of course! It was led by great moderator Paul Habig from Sanky; and two experienced monthly donor fundraisers, Luke Franklin from the ASPCA and Emily Stevenson from EDF...

What’s the monthly donor secret sauce? This was one of the questions that came up in a recent podcast I recorded. The answer is that there really is no secret sauce for generating more monthly donors other than...

I challenge you to take a look at those little donors and see how many times they’re sending you their pennies or quarters. I bet it’s probably quite often! So all in all, those many little gifts make up for much bigger ones...

Of course in your organization, nothing ever goes wrong with your monthly donors. But what would you do if something did? Would you hide? Would you stick your head in the sand and let someone else handle it? Or would you consider your donors and confess?...

I know most fundraisers first want to think about creative, but the reality is that monthly giving especially is much more about systems, analysis, being proactive and collaboration. It’s about being willing to solve problems and create opportunities...

As I’m working on my presentation for the Bridge Conference on “Flip or Flop,” what has worked and what hasn’t worked in monthly giving, I came across a few examples of what not to do...

When I teach webinars aimed at growing monthly giving programs, I typically do some polls. One of the questions I have asked is, “How often do you ask your donors to give monthly?” The sad reality was that 35% said they never asked. My obvious response is, “How do you expect to grow your program?”...

Make this your new mantra when it comes to monthly donors: TRACK. ACT. REPEAT. KEEP. Just consider the amount you’ll be able to retain. Credit card updater, a call, an email and a letter are tiny investments compared to what these monthly donors are worth in the long run...

Surveys are a great way to connect with your monthly donors, and you’ll find out some things you’d otherwise never uncover. You can use those learnings for future fundraising, and you may uncover some wonderful nuggets...

I love Netflix. It helped us do away with cable TV 10+ years ago. Now we live stream our favorite movies on our “older” TV. We still get Netflix DVDs in the mail, and we choose our favorite shows to binge-watch when we’re in that binge-watch mood. We’re in control of what we watch, and there’s always something on...

A received a very excited call from a client: “We got several monthly donors from the tick box on the special appeal! But how do I now report this? Our finance folks want to attribute this for the calendar year only.”...