You’ve heard me talking about monthly recurring gift programs and their importance on the long-term retention of your donors. Not to mention how much money you’ll raise!
Fundraisers are often blown by away if I mention some numbers, just 300 monthly donors can bring in almost $100,000 a year for your organization. What’s not to like about that?
So, if you are not already looking at implementing a program for your organization, I would highly advise you to truly make that one of your priorities this year.
You may already have a great major giving program in place and your appeals are working well. Adding monthly donors to your fundraising mix is truly the next step to take. How else can you convert a donor to go from $35 once a year to $25 a month (or $300 a year!). And they’ll still make a gift to your appeals, trust me!
I recommend that you RUN, not walk, so you can reap the results sooner than later and really start building donor’s retention and long-term revenue for your organization.
Here are 5 rules to consider before you start but don’t take too long!
1. Commit
Building a monthly giving program is definitely a long-term investment. This isn’t a fast way to boost your Annual Fund! Make sure everybody understands this, especially your Executive Director and Board. Many programs can break even in the first year though if the right media are used. But monthly giving is not a fly by night event.
2. Invest time, treasure, and talent
It may take staff and dedicated volunteers some time to set up the program, but that investment will pay off. Over the past few years, most donor base systems and many online merchant accounts (that work with your web site) have added the option of monthly recurring gifts, so the time investment should be pretty minimal. The key is to develop the program and stick with it and keep promoting it. The bulk of the time is in the details setting up some of the back-office procedures but once you’ve thought those through, you’re ready to go and it’s a matter of maintenance. Also, there are vendor partners who can help with the monthly processing, so make it as easy as you can!
3. Make sure someone owns the program
Monthly giving requires someone to take full responsibility for the program. Remember, accountability doesn’t mean that person has to do everything! A good program requires collaboration with other departments, and sometimes outside partners, so a good leader makes communication more effective. The donors will benefit.
4. Organize the back-end of your program first
Think through the process from start to finish before you begin. It will eliminate the start/stop/start/stop down the road and will make it a seamless process for everybody. Key items to get in place:
- Special acknowledgment letters for these special donors
- A special segment in your email list
- Dedicate a section of your Annual Report to highlight and list these donors
- Include this group in your overall event/recognition strategy
- Accurate tracking and reporting system to monitor when gifts come in and when they don’t
- Phone scripts and email templates so you can react quickly if there’s an issue with someone’s card
- to help you with this, two great resources: download the Monthly Giving Starter Kit and Marketing Kits here.
5. Always annualize your results
Because monthly donors often give small amounts, the results should be measured in years rather than weeks or months. A good recurring gift program will inspire donors to stay with you for many years to come, so focus on measuring and projecting using year-over-year charts. Here’s a comparison chart that shows you the impact by converting 100 donors to recurring donors. You’re quintupling your annual results at a minimum! 
So let’s start asking!
5 things you can do right now to make sure you’re ready to start growing your monthly donor program right away:
1. Sign up for my blog so you’ll receive future posts on monthly giving and tools as they’re developed.
2. download the Monthly Giving Starter Kit and Marketing Kits, co-authored with Donor Perfect .
3. And to get even more ideas and resources: order the book Monthly Giving. The Sleeping Giant.
4. Download the Monthly Donor Calculator to prepare some projections for your organization. Just look at what happens if you’re able to convert 1% or 5% of your donors making recurring gifts!
5. And if you have questions or would like coaching and support for your program, just contact the Monthly Giving Help Line and book a time. You will be pleasantly surprised at the impact these small but regular monthly donors are going to make for your bottom line.
