Creating Lifelong Donors Through Monthly Giving

By Erica Waasdorp

A few weeks ago, Harvey McKinnon published a wonderful new book called “How to Create Lifelong Donors Through Monthly Giving.”

I’m tremendously honored to be mentioned in it — thank you, Harvey. I read the book in one sitting. It’s very well written and easy to read. You can probably finish it in just about an hour.

Harvey has really made the process of monthly giving very easy to understand, and the book includes too many wonderful nuggets to mention and lots of practical examples to boot.

If you’re considering starting or growing a monthly giving program, this book is an absolute must.

I especially liked Harvey’s financial calculations, both the tremendous lifetime value and, of course, the long-term retention rates. The numbers are so simple and so easy to understand that it’s just impossible for Harvey, myself and several other monthly donor promoters to fathom why so many organizations still don’t run toward growing these long-term donors with such huge potential and revenue.

One of the chapters, “How to avoid failure,” best explains what’s at the heart of that problem. He provides a list of 19 reasons why organizations fail.

Without giving you the full list, because you should really read this book yourself, no matter what stage your monthly donor program is in, I specifically liked items No. 7: “You don’t hire people with the skills to grow your program,” No. 9: “You don’t focus on lifetime value,” and No. 11: “You don’t have a retention program in place.”

Harvey even identifies the biggest enemy of monthly giving, and I couldn’t agree with him more: silos. I loved the many examples Harvey shares, sprinkled through the chapters. Monthly donors do not require a lot of heavy lifting, if only you start trying. It’s not complicated to start.

So now that you’re staying at home and you may have a bit of extra time on your hands, please go ahead and order the book, “How to Create Lifelong Donors Through Monthly Giving.” It’s available as an e-book, PDF and hard copy. You won’t be disappointed.

Then make a concerted effort to get rid of the silos in your organization, make some real calculations of lifetime value and retention, revisit your program and see how you can do better. Especially now!

Even a few small changes and a better focus can help you create many more lifelong donors through monthly giving. Thank you again, Harvey! My hat’s off to you!

0 Comments

View Comments

Categories:
Monthly Giving

Erica Waasdorp Author's page

Erica Waasdorp is one of the leading experts on monthly giving. 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 authored "Monthly Giving: The Sleeping Giant" and "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 a cat, Mientje.