There’s no question that recurring donors are the backbone of your organization. Not only are they 5x more valuable than one-off donors, recurring donors allow you to work more effectively and accurately plan for the future, knowing that you’ll have a consistent funding stream to carry you through. It’s key to building sustainable short – and long-term strategies.
Plus, more donors are choosing to give more frequently. In 2020, nonprofit recurring revenue grew 40%! This is because it’s an automated process that fits within their budget. They can make an impact without the administrative burden of remembering to donate again and again.
So, with little to no admin on your donors’ end or yours, you can enjoy a steady and reliable source of recurring revenue without the stress of uncertainty.
Here are 6 tips to refine your recurring giving program so you can attract, cultivate and retain more monthly donors.
1. Identify Donors Likely to Make Recurring Gifts
One of the easiest ways to secure more monthly donors is by asking your existing contacts to deepen their commitment to your organization. Using your CRM database, filter contacts with a history of engagement. Whether they’re first-time donors, ongoing donors who make infrequent gifts, or mid-level donors who have steadily increased their gift size, your donor pool is full of prospects who have the potential to give an ongoing gift. They’ve already shown they’re committed to your cause and have the financial means to support it.
To convert supporters, create campaigns within your database that target specific contacts that may have the potential to give more frequently. This could include segments like:
- One-time donors whose donation amounts fall within a particular range
- Donors who give more than once a year
- Contacts who volunteer or engage frequently
- Donors who have a giving anniversary or milestone coming up
Pro Tip: Don’t ask for a second gift until after you’ve thanked your donor and showcased the impact their first gift has made.
2. Make it Easy to Donate
For both new and existing donors, the most crucial element is your donation page. You need to make it as simple as possible to join your monthly giving program. This means making sure there are recurring giving options built into your forms.
Did you know that 1 out of 10 organizations don’t have a recurring giving option on their donation page?
If you’re one of the nine organizations that do, congratulations. However, there are a few other ways to encourage your supporters. Here are 17 tips to building the perfect donation page.
Add Giving Ranges
Some supporters struggle to donate monthly because they don’t know how much to give. You can counter their indecision by adding suggested monthly donations. If you list $20, $50, and $100 as your suggested giving ranges, this creates a type of social pressure that leads a donor to choose one of these options. If a donor believes others are giving these amounts, then it’s more likely that they will too.
Choose Monthly as the Default
While you don’t want to trick your donors into giving monthly, adding monthly giving as the default option on your donation form will help to remind them that this option will lend the biggest impact to your mission. Of course, they can switch to a one-off donation if that suits their budget and giving preference.
Offer Several Donation Frequencies
A monthly donation is the most common form of recurring giving, but it’s not the only one. You’ll be able to cast a wider net for your recurring giving program by offering different giving frequencies.
For example, using Keela’s forms, you can set up not just one-off and monthly options but quarterly, semi-annually, annually, or other frequencies of your choosing. This encourages your donor to decide how much and how often they’d like to give while letting you hyper-target contacts to join your recurring giving program. It’s a win-win.
3. Show Why They Should Care
Making the ask is challenging, but making the ask for recurring donations doesn’t have to be. When creating your appeals, it’s important to show examples of what amounts are required to fund certain elements of your programs. See the below example from UNICEF Canada. This helps build a tangible connection to your cause in easily digestible donation amounts.
4. Include a Monthly Option In Every Appeal
Building your recurring giving program shouldn’t add more work to your plate. Instead, repurpose the acquisition work you’re already doing to include a monthly giving option. If you’re sending out your next direct mail campaign, simply include other ways to donate. As with your donation page, just remember to explain why you’re asking for a recurring donation and the benefits associated with such a gift.
5. Cultivate More Frequently
Your recurring donors are those who have put up their hands and said “I’m actively interested in your cause” so it makes sense that they should be on the receiving end of more communication outside of just appeals. This includes everything from progress updates, event invitations, and impact assessments to show them that their donations are making a difference. If you’re not sending them cultivating content, you’re missing out on a big opportunity to move to Tip #6 below.
While this form of communication requires a little more TLC, it’s a vital cultivation (and retention) tool to ensure your recurring giving program succeeds long into the future.
6. Increase Recurring Donations
Finally, once you’ve built a strong relationship with your monthly donors, don’t hesitate to ask them to increase their commitment. Once or twice a year, it’s common to reach out and ask your donors to re-evaluate their monthly gifts. Just because they’ve said no in the past doesn’t mean they’ll say no in the future.
That’s because, statistically, a large chunk of your ongoing donors are Millennials or Gen Z’ers. The younger the donor, the earlier the stage in their career they are. As their salaries grow, so does their capacity to give, and the more opportunity you have to cultivate them into more frequent and generous gifts.
Pro Tip: Use these 10 email templates to open the door to boosting recurring donations.
Increasing your recurring giving shouldn’t feel like an insurmountable task. With some smart segmentation, a conversion-friendly donation page, and a strong communications plan, you’ll be able to strengthen the relationships you have with existing supporters, encouraging them to give monthly, quarterly, or at any frequency they desire. This will build your organization’s financial safety net, giving you the freedom and flexibility to develop programs and scale your impact.
If you’re looking for more ways to raise funds with less effort, save your spot in this free webinar with Cindy Wagman on August 23.
A storyteller by nature and an organizer by inheritance, Samantha Lego enjoys crafting meaningful content equally as much as colour coding spreadsheets. As the Marketing Director at Keela, a Canadian Donor Management Software (CRM), she is always on the hunt for new and innovative ways to educate nonprofits and help them maximize their impact.
