Creating a Cancel-Proof Monthly Giving Program
The other day I heard an ad from one of those financial apps that finds all the monthly subscriptions you pay for but don’t use. Supposedly we are shelling out hundreds of dollars a month just because we’ve forgotten to cancel things.
It could be true. We sign up for all kinds of things, from access to content and music to curated boxes of snacks and clothing.
Even nonprofit giving. That’s right—a donor’s monthly gift commitment is akin to a monthly subscription. And if you don’t differentiate it from all those other monthly fees? Your org could get on the cancel list.
It starts off on the right foot: Donors come to your org, eager to make a difference. And you make it easy for them! You can put their monthly gift on autopay, so they hardly have to think about it.
But that’s the exact opposite of what you want.
When giving steps into transactional territory, the heart is cut right out of the partnership. So when donors are looking to “save money” and your org is in the list of monthly fees, mixed in with all the other subscriptions? Their low attachment to the cause puts their giving on the chopping block.
Your challenge is to make the donor’s experience with your org something special, because recurring giving can turn transactional real quick.
And it’s well worth the effort to build a relationship-based, robust recurring giving program. Research shows that recurring donors become long-term donors with a significantly higher giving value year over year.
Monthly recurring gifts can be part of the solution for how relentless donor development can feel: You add a few new donors one year only to lose them the next. Research from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project shows this expand/contract pattern is for real.
The average donor retention rate for NPs is only 18%. Meaning, for every “100 new donors, only 18 of them give again the next year and 82 of them do not renew their giving at any level.”
No wonder it’s so hard to get any traction growing your donor base. But all is not lost:
There are plenty of donor engagement practices proven to boost retention rates. One of them is developing a robust recurring donor segment.
GivingUSA reports that “the average recurring donor sticks around for more than eight years, while non-recurring donors have a lifetime of only 1.68 years.”
What would your donor base look like if every year, you could retain even half of those 82 single-time donors?!? Adding even 41 new donors, each year, who give consistently for more than 8 years is an incredible boost to any org’s bottom line and impact potential.
Let me address the fundraising elephant in the room: Considering only 18% of donors will give more than one gift, how can the solution be getting these donors to give every single month?
It all comes down to the invitation and the timing.
If you are going to woo any of your donors to a monthly gift commitment, you need clear, strong, inspirational messaging inviting donors to their best next step. A successful recurring donor campaign isn’t something you slap together. You’ll need special naming conventions, graphics, and partner benefits.
With that strategic invite in hand, you’ll want to extend it at the most opportune time to garner the highest response. Research from Classy showed that GivingTuesday and New Year’s Eve draw more monthly donors than other days:
35% more recurring donations started on GivingTuesday in a year and led to more than $268K in recurring revenue for organizations on that day.
And 57% more recurring donations started on New Year’s Eve in that same year, garnering more than $367K in new recurring revenue!
Stats like confirm the value of developing a recurring giving program. GivingTuesday and December 31 will be here way too soon though. Carve out some time to develop your monthly giving group strategy ASAP. And if you want some specific advice on your launch, drop by my open office hours.
Some NP teams I’ve talked with struggle to carve out time to develop their program so its personal, not transactional. I get it—a strong monthly donor program does take time and effort to create, manage, and grow. But the teams that have put in the work are seeing growth in funding and dedicated advocates.
Is your team equipped to grow a monthly giving offer that donors find irresistible?
Ready for more? Here are two ways Erin can help you make your mission irresistible to donors:
1. Connect with me or follow me on LinkedIn.
It’s where I talk about donor strategy ideas like these. Join the convo!
2. Work with me.
Over 12 months, I guide NP teams to fund their mission with effective, frenzy-free donor engagement strategies. ✴️ Donors fund irresistible missions… is yours? Let’s get started! Schedule your 15-minute Change Chat here and share about your nonprofit and how you’d like to improve your donor strategy.