At the recent sustainer workshop, we asked people present about their biggest monthly gift challenges. You see that staff is a big challenge, along with prioritizing sustainers over donors and getting new monthly donors (acquisition).
I was surprised to see that retention for this group was less challenging.
It’s important to note that the sizes of monthly donor programs, time length sustainer programs in place and experience levels of attendees were all different. Monthly donor payment options also varied. Some had credit card and EFT/ACH/direct debits. Others only offered credit card.
The good news is that as your program grows, staff may become less challenging — because you’ll generate the funds to allow for some extra staff, even if it’s part-time at first.
Two weeks ago during a presentation, I asked the value of 300 monthly donors. Someone answered: “More than $300,000!” And they were not kidding! The bulk of their monthly donors gave $85 a month! You certainly should be able to get some extra staff support for a program at that level. And don’t worry, if you’re getting the $24 a month on average, that’s still worth $87,000, which might be enough to add some staff time…
So, what’s your challenge when it comes to monthly gifts?
