Some of you may know I’m Dutch, so occasionally, I put on my Dutch hat…
Here’s a Dutch expression that pertains to monthly donors especially: “He who does not honor the small, is not worthy of the big”.
Sadly, I still come across too many large organizations who poo-poo the impact of a monthly giving program for them. They don’t seem to care about the many, many small donors they have and how they could become so much greater for them!
Frankly, I don’t know who is looking at their financials, but they do not seem to be very smart.
The good news is that there are a lot more small to mid-size organizations who do get it!
They realize the importance of donors for their organization and they particularly get how important a monthly donor program can be for them and the impact it has on their cash flow and their bottom line!
I recently worked with a small animal charity to set up their program, called Champions. They had 500 email names of donors and volunteers. They’re using PayPal for their donations. They have a very basic web site. They send emails about every two weeks, with news, new adoptable animals.
Last Fall we created the monthly donor program and promoted it using a donor challenge, with the goal of generating as many new monthly donors as possible. We offered $7, $12.50 and $20 a month through a pull down menu within PayPal.
We sent three emails in a period of 6 weeks, asking donors to join this monthly donor program. After the campaign, we had a 3% response rate with an average gift of $13.90 a month! Even this small number of monthly donors will help this no-kill shelter spay/neuter 30 animals a year!
Not bad for a first campaign, using minimal resources. All it took was a little bit of time. Needless to say, we’re working on expanding this program and appealing again.
So, what are you waiting for? No matter how small or large you are, monthly donors will make a difference to your bottom line!
Sign up for my blog so you’ll receive future posts on monthly giving and tools as they’re developed. And if you’re interested in finding out how to start or grow your monthly giving program, just contact me!
And be sure to check out the new Monthly Giving Help Line where we can discuss specific questions you may have. It only takes one extra new monthly donor to pay for it! You can’t beat the price.
