Monthly Giving

Nonprofit monthly giving is awesome. It results in increased donor retention and loyalty. But here’s the drawback: If your organization is still in acquisition mode, instead of all-out gratitude mode, your program can end up being one big flop. As Joe Garecht notes, “Stopping a monthly giving relationship takes a proactive step from the donor, one they are unlikely to take unless they really mean to stop their support for a particular nonprofit.”

When you don’t love your monthly donors, you could end up with angry donors.

To increase the likelihood of turning your casual donors into recurring donors and, eventually, lifelong fundraisers and major donors, as well as build a recurring revenue model for you organization, consider the following six tactics: Create a hub of information, stories and recognition for the program. Recruit a group of highly engaged individuals before your public launch. Treat these individuals like investors, and make them feel special. Offer a low point of entry. Talk about the impact of your program. Create relationships and community.

During their session at the Association of Fundraising Professionals 51st International Conference on Fundraising in San Antonio, "How to Hang on to Your Donors: Successful Donor-Retention Strategies," Amnesty International Canada's Rosemary Oliver and Harvey McKinnon, president of Harvey McKinnon Associates, said the very best way to keep donors is to sign them up for monthly giving.

Launching a monthly giving program can be a powerful strategy for nonprofits both large and small. Studies over the past decade have shown that monthly givers give more money and stay with a nonprofit longer than non-monthly givers. Here are some of the reasons why monthly giving is so important for every nonprofit: Monthly donors give more, while monthly giving programs build strong relationships, provide a stable foundation for your nonprofit and lower fundraising costs.

In retaining your monthly donors, here’s the first step: Denounce the set-and-forget mindset. Good, now that that is complete, you can develop a strategy that actively engages your monthly donors and reminds them why their gifts are critical to the population your organization serves. And if you don’t, how will you ever upgrade their monthly gift amounts? Learn more about International Justice Mission’s annual upgrade strategy.

Monthly giving is probably the one fundraising program surrounded by the highest number of myths. All of these myths are used as reasons not to start … Well, if the many recent discussions about retention are any indication, you have every reason to run, not walk, to get started with monthly giving. Simply because the impact on retention is huge!

Did you know that those nonprofits that started years ago are now seeing between 90 percent and 98 percenty of their monthly donors still with them?

Thinking about monthly giving is one of the smartest things you can do as a fundraiser. It would be wonderful for nonprofits to be thanking people every month instead of asking them for donations every few weeks. How do you do that? How do you turn your annual givers into monthly supporters?

1. Make sure your donation form offers a recurring-giving option. 2. Revisit the language you use in your appeals. 3. Package the appeal in an exciting way. 4. Don't be afraid to ask for a monthly gift after someone completes a one-time transaction.

I am so impressed with the power of a monthly giving program. Here’s why: It creates ongoing predictable cash flow. It’s low-cost and returns a high ROI. It takes your current donor base and pulls twice (or more!) as much funding from your wonderful donors. It’s relatively cheap — and painless. It’s how you create reliable, sustainable fundraising cash flow. It creates a wonderful prospect pool for planned gifts.

It seems to me that monthly giving programs should be a natural for small, even tiny nonprofits. Yet, many in the U.S. still don't use this form of giving. It may be that they think it is just too complicated. I just recently whizzed through "Monthly Giving: The Sleeping Giant," by Erica Waasdorp, and was gratified by her down-to-earth approach. Here are some tips that I gleaned from Waasdorp's book and her webinar with Pamela Grow.

Monthly giving has become such a critical part of Minnesota Public Radio’s fundraising approach that the organization doesn’t even mention the option of making a one-time gift during pledge drives anymore. Recurring gifts are also central to the broadcaster’s online fundraising. The results of that single-minded focus are impressive.