A few weeks ago, Harvey McKinnon published a wonderful new book called “How to Create Lifelong Donors Through Monthly Giving.”
I’m tremendously honored to be mentioned in it — thank you, Harvey. I read the book in one sitting. It’s very well written and easy to read. You can probably finish it in just about an hour.
Harvey has really made the process of monthly giving very easy to understand, and the book includes too many wonderful nuggets to mention and lots of practical examples to boot.
If you’re considering starting or growing a monthly giving program, this book is an absolute must.
I especially liked Harvey’s financial calculations, both the tremendous lifetime value and, of course, the long-term retention rates. The numbers are so simple and so easy to understand that it’s just impossible for Harvey, me and other monthly donor promoters to fathom why so many organizations still don’t run toward growing these long-term donors with such huge potential and revenue.
One of the chapters, “How to avoid failure,” best explains what’s at the heart of that problem. He provides a list of 19 reasons why organizations fail.
Without giving you the full list, I specifically liked items
- No. 7: “You don’t hire people with the skills to grow your program,”
- No. 9: “You don’t focus on lifetime value,” and
- No. 11: “You don’t have a retention program in place.”
You really should read this book yourself, no matter what stage your monthly donor program is in.
Harvey even identifies the biggest enemy of monthly giving, and I couldn’t agree with him more: silos. I loved the many examples Harvey shares, sprinkled through the chapters. Monthly donors do not require a lot of heavy lifting, if only you start trying. It’s not complicated to start.
So now that you’re staying at home and may have a bit of extra time on your hands, please go ahead and order the book, “How to Create Lifelong Donors Through Monthly Giving.” It’s available as an e-book, PDF and hard copy. You won’t be disappointed.
Then make a concerted effort to get rid of the silos in your organization. Make some real calculations of lifetime value and retention, revisit your program and see how you can do better. Especially now!
Even a few small changes and a better focus can help you create many more lifelong donors through monthly giving. Thank you again, Harvey! My hat’s off to you!
Originally posted by NonProfitPRO on April 13, 2020.
