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New Mastercard Regulations Could Harm Recurring Gifts Unless You Take Action Now

Mastercard

You may or may not yet have heard about this. Some of the communication from Mastercard may have gone to your donor base CRM, your payment processor or your finance department. In June, Mastercard introduced new guidelines with specific rules for all subscription payments, which nonprofit recurring gifts currently fall under in Mastercard’s definitions. These […]

Does Your Nonprofit’s Anniversary Count as Special?

anniversary

One of my copywriter friends asked me this question: “My client’s organization is having a milestone anniversary. How can I use a sustainer program to leverage donations?” Recently I discussed the use of special days to promote recurring gifts or for stewardship. However, typically, anniversaries are not really donor-focused. The donor doesn’t really care too much […]

Use Special Days to Your Advantage

special day calendar

As a fundraiser, you never stop learning. I’m certainly no exception. That’s why I love co-presenting with fundraisers from nonprofits because I always come away with some new ideas. A few months ago, I co-presented with a young fundraiser from a great organization, totally on board with monthly gifts and she had created an awesome […]

Monthly Giving Continues to Be Strong Among Older Donors

older donors

As prices go up and inflation is a reality, are you worried about what’s going to happen with monthly donors? I’m right there with you. That’s why I was excited to see Enthuse’s “Donor Pulse Report: Summer 2022,” based on a survey of 2,008 donors in the United Kingdom. General economic trends are remarkably similar, so it’s a good […]

What Can Your Nonprofit Do With Just $1?

$1

A few months ago, I went to a conference where they had an actual bookstore. It was great and fortunately I had a big suitcase in which to carry some books home. There, I found a little book called “What Can You Do With Just $1?” written by Teresa Vasilopoulos, the executive director of the WoodGreen Foundation, a […]

Which Giving Frequencies Should Your Nonprofit Provide?

frequencies

I love it when CRMs and payment providers churn through their data to show trends, especially when it comes to recurring giving. There simply isn’t enough yet (in my view). That’s why I was excited to read the most recent “The State of Modern Philanthropy 2022” from Classy. One of the key messages from the report is to give […]

How Can QR Codes Help You Generate More Donors?

QR codes

Have you tried using QR codes yet in your appeals or on your postcards? They are also a terrific way to generate more monthly donors. If you haven’t already done so, start by creating a monthly-donor-only donation page. Set up the thank you messaging to go with that page and test it. Get the direct […]

Can You Have Multiple Monthly Donor Programs?

Multiple monthly donor programs

A colleague of mine recently asked me, “Can you have multiple monthly donor programs?” She and I both work with an organization that has multiple monthly donor programs, with the total revenue making up about 60% of all giving. This question is especially relevant when it comes to unrestricted versus restricted gifts. As may you know, […]

The M+R Benchmarks 2022 Are Here: Monthly Giving Up by 24%

M+R Benchmarks

One of my favorite statistics were just published: the M+R Benchmarks 2022. Not surprisingly, in the second year of the pandemic with still few in-person events, online giving grew, although not by as much as you’d expect, only 3%. Monthly giving however was the major driver of that growth. It increased by 24%, while one-time revenue […]

The Value of a Monthly Donor Concierge

concierge

Some organizations have implemented a special monthly donor concierge, so you may have heard this term before. It offers a fantastic opportunity for nonprofits to build relationships with their monthly givers. Guess what? It also helps keep the person who is the concierge — and thus other staff and volunteers — motivated about the monthly donor […]