There I was, at NAYDO 2022, just 10 minutes or so into my presentation on Monthly Giving when the fire alarm went off. Everybody left calmly, looking for the nearest exit. And several minutes or so later, we were able to go back to the session room and continue the session. Fortunately, this was not a major disaster. There was no real fire, hurricane, tornado, flood, building collapse, or anything disastrous.
But it’s just one more example of the importance of monthly giving. Because it allows the funds to come in, no matter what happens. No matter where it happens. Monthly gifts provides the reliable and unrestricted revenue you can count on to keep the lights on, to keep you going!
It’s also extremely donor and member centric. Donors can make a difference in ways that are most comfortable for them. Many membership organizations allow monthly giving to pay for their dues (think public TV and radio stations, for example). And donors love helping the organizations they care about, but monthly gifts simply better fit their budget.
One of the discussions we had during the session was to offer monthly giving to Silver Sneakers’ members especially. What do you have to lose by asking them to give in that way?
If you’re not yet convinced that monthly giving is for you, let me just share some recent statistics:
Currently, one in every 40 online gifts comes from monthly donors. That’s 3%.
And just in 2021, monthly giving grew by 24%, especially for those organizations that focused on it. Those organizations that had monthly donors when the pandemic started were in much better shape than those that didn’t.
The reality is that it doesn’t take much to get started. You have the tools. It’s part of virtually every member/donor base CRM and every payment platform.
So, start by including recurring gift options on your online forms and create a separate recurring only and then just start linking to it. Start driving people to consider a monthly gift in your email updates and your renewal notes.
When I spoke at NAYDO, there were several YMCAs who shared that they had more than 100, one even had more than 300 monthly donors.
Look at your donor base and see who is already giving monthly. Ask them why. Then share their reasons why with others. And look at your donors and members who are giving you less than $250 at a time. That’s your prime target group. What percentage of them are giving monthly now? What’s their annualized value? Then create a goal, write it down.
You can reach that goal with a little bit of focus and a little bit of time. If you don’t ask for monthly gifts, consider how easy it will be for your donors and you. Then start asking!
If you have any questions or are looking for resources, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
