Another Monthly giving myth debunked…
You do not have to have a large staff to run a monthly giving program!
You can certainly start small by just offering the program online. But you must be committed and everybody must understand that everything you do is aimed at generating long term revenue growth. It’s less important what the size of your staff is, but rather the commitment that counts!
I recently did a presentation for a group of librarians. One librarian went home and set up the online recurring giving option that same night by just adding it to their Paypal giving options.
She then started including the option to give monthly in her email appeals the next day. They next used a donor challenge and deadline to expand their number of monthly donors. And they’re growing!
Once you see the results of your online appeals and you have the online giving option set up and tested, you can add facebook, google grants, twitter and expand to direct mail, telemarketing and possible other ways to reach out. And, you could even think of local cable access television spots. TV does not have to be expensive!
Of course, as your program grows, you may require more resources. But, because it’s growing, you’ll be able to spend more money on them!!
What is most important with any monthly giving program is to make sure you have the right tools in place, you think through the processes and prepare special thank you letters and letters and emails to send out if there are any problems with payments that stop coming in. You want to have the basics all ready to go before you go live!
You want to make sure you code these monthly donors in a special way in your donor base so you can identify them quickly and do something special if need be.
Regardless if you have a small or large staff, it’s important to make sure that everybody is on the same page. It’s crucial to know where to find what you need to answer the questions a monthly donor may have and if you need special systems support, you’ll want to find the right people to help you.
There are not that many monthly giving consultants out there, but they do exist. As you know, I’m one of them, and I know we all have different experience and fee structures, but I’m certainly happy to help you with any questions you may have!
I’m currently working with a number of different donor base partners to review their monthly giving processes. Most donor base systems now offer recurring giving as an option, so certainly ask for help there. Having your donor base in order and being able to track monthly donors appropriately are absolute key.
I have seen great success with small staff programs as long as the staff was focused, accountable and willing to solve any problems right away.
You have to see things as an opportunity and be creative, analytical and decisive, all in one.
Well, as a fundraiser, that’s exactly the type of person you are already, so whether you’re running a monthly giving program or are dealing with board members or major gifts or annual fund, your own ‘tools’ are very similar with one exception.
If I look back at my own experience, it’s crucial that you are a bit more analytical and curious about how things work than with other fundraising programs. And you must oversee all the moving parts.
I personally ran a large program with 100,000 monthly donors in six countries with one assistant and it worked remarkably well. Other staff knew just who to go to if there were any issues and they knew the Standard Operating Procedures to follow.
Now, I’m fortunate to work with clients like you who are just starting out or some who are really growing their monthly programs, all with just a very small staff. And boy! Is it FUN to grow these programs!!
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