Top 3 Tips for Fundraisers Looking to Level Up Their Monthly Giving

The following is a hand-picked guest post from Erica Waasdorp.  Enjoy, and you can read more about Erica below.

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Here are my top three tips for fundraisers who are looking to start growing their monthly giving program to the next level.

1. Commit to Monthly Giving

If you’re not committed to growing, you’re never going to grow. This is not a once and done campaign. Monthly giving should be included in your overall fundraising strategy.

One way to commit is by making a monthly gift yourself to your own organization. Another way is to give monthly to a few other organizations you like or admire. It’s a great way to see what they’re doing.

The main reason why a donor gives monthly is because they want to help. Making a recurring gift is more likely to fit in their budget, but if they don’t want to help because you’re not explaining the need and making the donor part of the solution, all bets are off.

2. Make It Easy for Your Donor to Find the Monthly Giving Option

I still see way too many websites where monthly giving is buried in ways to give, and it takes multiple clicks to get there. Check out tactic No. 6 from this NonProfit PRO article on numerous tests from NextAfter.

What do you have to lose by adding an extra button on the homepage and an extra button in an email? It’s a tactic successfully used by numerous organizations, and it’s not going to hurt your one-time giving revenue.

3. Create a Mini-Story or Nudge

In one sentence, how does a monthly gift help your constituents, your animals, patients, clients? Here are just a few examples:

• “Start your monthly gift to ensure that more children can receive lasting support, access learning and have a better opportunity for the future. “
• “You can help create lasting change by giving monthly, empowering people to lift themselves out of poverty.”
• “Your monthly gift will make a difference every day and every month for neighbors in need.”
• “Your monthly gift ensures seniors don’t have to choose between food and rent.”

Don’t overthink it. Just start somewhere, and you can always refine your message further.

Then look at your communication channels and messages and see where you can add the button and your mini story.

Your email newsletter? Your print newsletter? Your direct mail appeals? A buck slip in your thank-you letter? Your survey? The options are endless.

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Steven says: This is a guest post from Erica Waasdorp, the renown (and wonderful!) author of Monthly Giving Made Easy.  If you want to start a monthly giving program, or make yours better, start with Erica.  Sign up for her newsletter (plus free resources) here.

This post was originally published by NonProfit PRO on October 16, 2023.