20 Monthly Giving Intentions for 2020

To start the year and decade off right, I thought I’d share 20 ideas and intentions to help you grow your monthly donor program to the next level.

No matter what your current number of monthly donors is, you can always use more. No matter what your current overall communication schedule is, you should be able to fit these into the mix. No matter how many donors you have, you can always apply these tips. Virtually, all of these are low in cost; they just take a bit of time.

So, as my gift to you for the new year, print these monthly giving intentions, put them on your bulletin board and start! Don’t give up. Keep these intentions all year, and see what happens. What do you have to lose?

2020 Monthly Giving Intentions

1. I’ll commit to making 2020 the start of my biggest monthly donor growth ever. 
2. I’ll plan to spend one hour a week to focus on my monthly donor program.
3. I’ll create a special monthly donation form to link to. 
4. I’ll create a link and/or button from the homepage to the monthly donor form. 
5. I’ll create a special email address and phone number as a contact to post near monthly donor messaging. 
6. I’ll reach out to the low hanging fruit, such as board, staff and volunteers, with a monthly donor email. 
7. I’ll send at least one special monthly donor ask email to my donors, quarterly or even monthly. 
8. I’ll include a monthly donor ask in every e-newsletter.
9. I’ll include a monthly donor ask in the P.S. of every email. 
10. I’ll include a monthly donor ask as part of my welcome email series. 
11. I’ll include a monthly donor tick box on every appeal reply form.
12. I’ll send a hard copy thank-you letter to every new monthly donor no matter how they came in.
13. I’ll send a tax letter with a complete donation overview for the prior calendar year to every monthly donor by the end of January. 
14. I’ll include my monthly donors in at least two, but preferably four, appeals a year, with a handwritten (or lasered handwritten) note. 
15. I’ll be sure to include my monthly donors in special opportunities to make a difference, always saying thank you for their ongoing support.
16. I’ll send an upgrade ask once a year to ask for a small monthly increase. 
17. I’ll follow up on every monthly donor drop out, email, phone, letter, within 48 hours of payment not coming in. 
18. I’ll create a tracker for lapsing monthly donors and will annualize the annual value at risk. 
19. I’ll update my colleagues once a month on progress made using the annualized amount (number of monthly donors x 12 x the monthly gift). 
20. I’ll track the results of all the above messaging and campaigns, and will create a plan to grow even more.