Whether you want to call it social proof, a testimonial — it doesn’t really matter. Donor’s love hearing from other donors. It helps give them that "extra" little push or nudge if you will. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Monthly Donor Motivator
Erica Waasdorp is one of the leading experts on monthly giving. She is author of the book “Monthly Giving. The Sleeping Giant.” She is the president of A Direct Solution, a company serving nonprofit organizations with fundraising and direct marketing needs, with a focus on monthly giving and appeals.
She just co-authored the “Monthly Giving Starter and Marketing Kit” with Donor Perfect, and she’s working on her next book called “Monthly Giving Made Easy.” She regularly blogs and presents on fundraising, appeals and monthly giving—in person and through webinars. She is happy to answer any questions you may have about this great way of improving retention rates for your donors.
Erica has over 30 years of experience in nonprofits and direct response. She helped the nonprofits she works with raise millions of dollars through monthly giving programs. She is also very actively supports organizations with annual fund planning and execution, ranging from copywriting, creative, lists, print and mail execution.
When she’s not working or writing, Erica can be found on the golf course (she’s a straight shooter) or quietly reading a book. And if there’s an event with a live band, she and her husband, Patrick, can be found on the dance floor. She also loves watching British drama on PBS. Erica and Patrick have two step sons and cat, Mientje.
You can reach Erica at erica@adirectsolution.com or by phone at (508) 776-1224.
Amanda L. Cole is the editor-in-chief of NonProfit PRO. She was formerly editor-in-chief of special projects for NonProfit PRO’s sister publication, Promo Marketing. Contact her at acole@napco.com.
Donor advised funds are all the craze lately. Now is the time to motivate those donors who want to optimize their tax deductions this year to consider a gift from their donor advised fund. But did you know that you can ask donors to consider recurring gifts from their donor advised fund?
As recurring gifts have no end date, so this is not like your typical pledge where you get big amounts over a limited period.
Over the years, I’ve worked with nonprofits of all sizes — small, midsize, large — when it comes to monthly donors. A few of those smaller organizations started out earlier this year with 15 monthly donors. Now, a few months later, they are at 65 by introducing just a few additional ways to generate new monthly donors.
What’s the first nonprofit you think of with a huge sustainer program? Did you guess your local public broadcasting station? Probably not. But yet, most public TV and radio stations are leading the pact when it comes to sustainer giving. They started asking for monthly gifts many years ago.
The theme of the exhibits at the Wright Brothers National Memorial visitor center focused on several wonderful motivational messages, which helped to motivate the Wright brothers. But those are also oh so true when it comes to monthly giving...
More Blogs
