By Erica Waasdorp, Monthly Giving Motivator, President A Direct Solution
If my inbox and mailbox are any indication, recurring giving appeals are exploding. Why? Because even in challenging times, those committed donors continue to come through.
Many fundraisers think that recurring giving a new thing. Nothing is further from the truth! My colleague Dave Raley did the research.
Did you know that the first known monthly giving program in the U.S. went live in1815? Now, 210 years later, recurring giving — aka sustainers, monthly donors — is all the rage, and no wonder!
That’s why we wanted to take a look to see what’s changed and what has stayed the same. And what better way to do this than by an international panel on recurring giving, one of my dreams. What a great way to address what has changed and what has stayed the same in recurring giving?
It took a little persuasion, but we were able to pull it together. Timing coincided with the Monthly Giving Awareness Week launched by Dana Snyder, RKD group and Giving Tuesday, and May 24th, Sustainable Giving Day, launched by Dave Raley.
I asked Tim Sarrantonio of Neon One and the Fundraising Effectiveness Project to host this very special event. He’s been a strong proponent of recurring giving and he jumped on the opportunity.
Watch the panel discussion recording here. Thank you Monthly Giving Awareness Week for sharing.
The conversation with him and the five international participants: Ken Burnett (Author and Consultant, Retired) from the UK, Harvey McKinnon (Author, President, Harvey McKinnon Associates) from Canada, Dave Raley (Author, President Imago Consulting), Dana Snyder (Author, President Positive Equation ), and Erica Waasdorp (myself) (Author, President, A Direct Solution) from the Netherlands and U.S. could have kept going for hours!
Ken started working with regular givers in 1972, Harvey became familiar with recurring donors in 1978, and Erica started in subscriptions in 1983, followed by recurring giving in 1993. Can you believe it? Online giving did not even exist back in those days!
Dave and Dana came on the scene in the past two decades with online giving now commonplace and payment platforms and subscriptions much more popular.
As someone who has worked with nonprofits for decades, I was especially excited to share some highlights of this insightful conversation. You’ll read here a recap of the most important questions addressed and the various answers.
We ‘old recurring giving aficionados’ already knew it, but do we think that monthly giving has even more potential? Absolutely!
Dana Snyder shared these amazing stats: Only 2% of new donors in the U.S. is currently recurring. If we grew that by just 5%, it would unlock an additional $10 billion in annual recurring revenue for nonprofits. Imagine the impact that could have! Can you grow your program by 5%? You bet!
How can you show the powers that be the value of sustainers?
That’s probably one of the biggest challenges and it continues to give me gray hair. If only everybody could see that power!
Ken Burnett shared that you need to convince leadership to invest in monthly giving. It will improve retention and keep charities alive. “The statistic Dana shared that only 2% of donations in the US are from recurring donors is an embarrassment.”
The Fundraising Effectiveness project reports last quarter that first-time donor retention to be 19%… repeat donors retain at about 50%… and monthly givers show about 90% retention!
“Monthly giving is not a strategy, tactic, or program. It is part of culture… relationship building… You’ll keep people longer. Loyalty leads to legacies. Monthly giving is the way forward.”
“It’s the way donors live now. “I couldn’t picture paying Spotify $100 per year, but I will pay $10 per month… Easy payments… The commercial world learned this a long time ago.”
How do you start and scale? Convert one-time donors to give monthly.
Harvey McKinnon says to start early. Use a soft offer to become a monthly donor in your mail acquisition. Ask for a one-time gift, but also give a monthly donor option. The same goes for your donor appeals.
And if you’re doing a digital campaign, include goals and urgency such as, “goal is to generate 200 monthly donors in one month.”
Tim Sarrantonio added that in his research for the Recurring Giving Report and the Generosity Report he saw that donors who are paying off pledges to a capital campaign, small donors and legacy givers are most likely to give recurring gifts (when asked).
What is the best time to convert one time to monthly? The earlier the better!
Dave Raley shared his review of programs that showed that 58% of all one-time donors who became monthly donors in first year, did so in the first 60 days, with most in first 30 days. He says: “There’s a curve that shows the longer you wait to ask again to become a monthly donor, the harder it is to convert!”
Further, it’s important to remember that monthly giving is more than just a check box – The donor is joining a program– just like your major donor program. Community, stewardship, great storytelling, providing a value proposition the donor cannot refuse and providing great donor experiences are critical.
If you only had 30 minutes per day, what can you do to grow or improve your program?
Erica Waasdorp shared: “First, map out your process. Know your tools. What happens if the donor’s payment does not come in? Who gets the information? How? What can you do about it? Ask yourself, what can you automate and delegate?
Then pick up the phone, ask your donor what happened. Don’t overthink it. The plan does not have to be complicated. Know what you can do and what you can automate.”
Recycle and repurpose past content from social media, major gifts, and other departments.
Ken Burnett adds: Think of what you’re doing in all your programs, borrow and personalize them as much as you can. Many organizations are using their volunteers, board or even beneficiaries to help.
How do you steward monthly donors, and create great donor experiences?
Ken Burnett shared the Five F’s: Be Famous for giving Fast, Frequent, Fabulous Feedback.
- Think simple text-based personalized Emails that look like they came from someone’s personal account.
- Check your Email open rates – Too often your Email is going to Spam or unread… Don’t rely on E-Mail alone. Handwritten notes are great, and there’s no spam filter in direct mail.
- Phone calls and texts are great too.
Erica Waasdorp added, “Don’t over think it.” Make a simple authentic video like, “I’m in the field and speaking with kids” (or whatever your mission serves) … It does not have to be a polished production.”
Dana Snyder adds: “Your monthlies are your core donors. Invite them to a major donor event such as a townhall or webinar. If you’re a local organization like a theater, invite them to a show together. It is about building community.”
She shared the example of Daily Giving who has mastered this. Since 2019 DailyGiving.org has had over 20,000 recurring supporters with 98% retention, daily. They send out emails daily. Talking about fast and frequent feedback.
Dave Raley shared his experience managing a program where the original approach was a meal a day and the number of recurring donors became stagnant. Once the organization started telling stories, the program skyrocketed. And if you create great donor experiences from the start, your recurring donors will stay.
What can nonprofits do to improve recurring donor retention?
Erica Waasdorp indicates: “Retention is the new acquisition.”
Good stewardship leads to retention. Remember the five F’s. Start your onboarding process quickly. Make sure you send a thank you note in the mail in the first week and include full contact information in case the donor has questions about their gift. You must gain the donor’s trust; by telling them you received the monthly gift right away, especially if you’re generating monthly gifts via the mail.
Ken Burnett adds: “Monthly giving is just a way of paying. Spend all your day delivering great donor experiences. Provide easy ways for the people you are talking to you. Our sector is not great in giving good donor experiences.”
A final word:
Ken Burnett shared these final powerful words: “Studies have shown that giving is good for your health and wellbeing. Deliver joy, no pressure, offer real benefits. Deliver interest, information, involvement, worthwhile achievements, easy, enjoyable and you’ll do well.”
I want to express my gratitude to all those involved in making this first international virtual sustainer panel a reality.
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