10 Things I Learned From 30 Years in Sustainer Giving, Part 2
In a previous article, I shared the first two things I learned during my 30 years of working on sustainer programs. Most of this is not rocket science, but it’s important to keep in mind when you’re looking to grow or retain your sustainers. Here are my next two lessons. 3. Operations Is Your Friend When […]
What I Learned From 30 Years in Sustainer Giving
I recently had the pleasure to present a keynote at Sustainers Day, organized by the Direct Marketing Association of Washington. It was a packed house, filled with nonprofits of different sizes and sustainer experiences. I always learned that rather than a how-to session, a keynote was meant to be inspirational in nature. So, I reflected on […]
Add a Monthly Gift Ask to Your Welcome Email Series
At a recent conference, I finally had a chance to meet some of the NextAfter folks in person. We talked about “The Nonprofit Recurring Giving Benchmark” study from NextAfter. It’s now a few years old, but I have a sneaky suspicion that the organization is working on something new and I can’t wait! Its research on digital activities is […]
How Are Recurring Donors Doing in This Economy?
You may know that I used to work at an international nonprofit, where we focused on monthly giving in some seven countries. The number of recurring donors, or committed givers as they call it in the U.K., was the largest. That’s why, to this very day, I still like looking at trends in other countries, […]
Are You Ready to Panic Yet?
Change is inevitable, but nobody likes it — me included. What doesn’t change is that every year around this time, fundraisers are starting to get overwhelmed. Some are even starting to panic. Why? Because the holiday giving season is almost here. And every year, the giving months seem to creep up on us sooner than […]
Recycle, Reuse and Repurpose Creative
Whenever I get a box for a delivery, I look at the size and see if I can reuse it for something else. Can I ship a care package to a nephew who’s deployed? Could I ship something to our kids or grandkids? Well, the same applies to fundraising and direct response. I’ve been doing […]
What’s Love Got to Do With Fundraising?
Turns out love has everything to do with fundraising. Relationship Fundraising 3.0 from the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy proves it. I had the pleasure of meeting Adrian Sargeant, co-director and co-founder of the Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy, many years ago, when he was still working in the U.S. He was one of the foremost researchers on customer […]
New Mastercard Regulations Could Harm Recurring Gifts Unless You Take Action Now
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?
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 […]
Monthly Giving Continues to Be Strong Among 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 […]
