What Smaller Nonprofits Can Do With More Communication and Recurring Gifts
Recently, I shared statistics from large organizations here and here. Now, it’s time to look at what smaller nonprofits are doing when it comes to monthly giving. I was excited to read the “Small Nonprofit Fundraising Benchmark Report,” published by Network for Good and the NextAfter Institute based upon 2019 data and 2020 surveys. This report publishes […]
What’s the Cost Per Sustainer?
Sometimes, fundraisers ask me: “What’s the cost per sustainer?” Let me explain a few different types of cost. 1. What should you expect to spend to acquire a new monthly donor? The answer is: It depends. And it’s all over the map because it depends on the channels you’re using or the combination thereof. Let’s take a […]
More Recurring Gifts From Digital Approaches
Every year, Blackbaud’s donorCentrics Sustainer Benchmarking group meets and evaluates information on recurring gifts. This year was no exception. Face-to-face/door-to-door fundraising, also known as canvassing, came to a screeching halt during COVID-19. For organizations that picked those strategies back up again in late 2020, the good news is the number of sustainers is up and […]
New Monthly Donor Stats From M+R Benchmarks
I always look forward to when M+R Strategic launches its annual benchmarks. It just released this year’s edition, and you can find the full report right here. As you can see, and as I’m sure you expected, it was a great year for digital engagement in general. I, of course, tend to focus on monthly giving […]
Book Review: The Surprising Gift of Doubt
Credit: Concord Leadership Group “The Surprising Gift of Doubt,” written by Marc Pitman of Concord Leadership Group, is a book that’s not just about nonprofit leadership. It can be applied to leaders in any situation, especially if you, as a leader, need some re-grounding or refocus. And who doesn’t need that during this ongoing pandemic? Even […]
Why Automatic Monthly Gift Upgrades Are a Bad Idea
A few weeks ago, The New York Times published an article on automatic upgrades of monthly gifts and the number of upset supporters when that happened. This is scary stuff and could have a very negative impact on other nonprofits looking to grow their monthly donor programs. I’m going to leave politics out and look at that […]
A Monthly Shot of Prevention
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This quote by Benjamin Franklin came to mind as I was lucky to get my second vaccine. There’s something amazingly liberating about knowing that you’ve done everything in your power to stay healthy. Not to mention that I’m really excited about traveling some more. When […]
Subscriptions Are Just Not the Same
I love subscriptions. I have for years. I started out my direct mail and fundraising career working on subscriptions and loyalty programs. Subscriptions are great! And they certainly have and continue to have a huge impact on recurring gifts. They’ve allowed people to become much more comfortable paying for things automatically. They’ve opened up automated giving to […]
Turn Instant Gratification Into Something Surprising
Have you noticed? Lately, when you order something through Amazon, you get an email with a picture of the item showing up in front your door. This happens as you’re hearing the delivery truck’s engine rev up to leave. Is that cool or what? I call that instant gratification. Often, until I open the package, […]
Is the Interest in Recurring Giving Really Growing?
Nonprofit PRO just published its “2021 Nonprofit Leadership Impact Study” and while I like what I’m reading there, it’s still not quite where I’d like it to be. Or should I say, where it really ought to be to make and keep nonprofits sustainable. One of the conclusions from the report is: nonprofits need to […]
