As you’re wrapping up the year, consider starting the new year fresh with a bigger focus on monthly giving. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!
Is this you?
You’ve just brought on a number of new donors. With Giving Tuesday, perhaps a few targeted crowd funding appeals, through your facebook donate button and of course directed to your site through your holiday appeal.
Most of these donors could be and stay one-time donors, also called ‘transactional’ donors. They’re typically small, $10, $25, $50, maybe $100.
The big question is, can you convert those donors to give monthly? The answer is, you should certainly try!
But, in some cases, it might take a multi-layered approach. Other organizations have so much ‘traction’ that donors will be comfortable to convert to monthly after just one appeal.
So, here’s what I recommend: Test converting these donors in the welcome email.
After donors make a donation to your crowd funding campaign or an email, send them an immediate welcome email and make it as personal as you can make it. Thank them for their support of the specific project and how their gift has made an impact already.
Then tell them that there are many other wonderful projects you’re doing and wouldn’t it be great if you had the ongoing support to all of these. Explain that it’s so convenient for them. Then, include the link to your monthly giving program page and see what happens. Make it a personal invitation to join a special group of donors who make a difference to the many children/animals/clients you serve.
The same logic applies to those donors who came in through the mail or from events.
I am a strong proponent of sending a hard copy thank you letter in the mail to a donor of any level. So make sure that thank you goes out right away. Then do a follow up with an invitation to these donors to join your monthly giving program (within the first month). You have nothing to lose but a little bit of postage, and everything to gain. Just think, if you could convert some of the $10 donors to give monthly, you’ll raise a lot more money for your organization!
Another approach that works is converting people who just signed a petition. This is a more immediate ask. You post the invitation to join the monthly giving program right in the auto responder message and in the email that is sent after someone signs a petition. Of course, you have to make it appealing enough, make the invitation feel special, but I’ve seen great results.
One of my clients does a ton of petitions. They’re able to generate 100 to 200 monthly donors every campaign. A small time investment that pays off big time!
Here’s the reality and I can’t stress this enough: If you ask people to join your monthly giving program, they will! You just have to create enough asking opportunities to do it.
And, if you’d like to find out how to grow your monthly giving program, just contact the Monthly Giving Help Line . It only takes one extra new monthly donor to pay for it! You can’t beat the price. Or you can schedule some time for a Direct Response Audit to look at your overall program. You will not be disappointed!
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!
