Tag: Giving

Answers to 5 Key Questions About Monthly Giving

Erica Waasdorp  |  Repeat
5 key questions and answers.

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

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As I’m sure you can imagine, fundraisers ask me questions about monthly giving all of the time. That’s why I wanted to answer a few of those key questions.

1. What’s the Best Time of Year to Ask for Monthly Gifts?

There is no bad time to ask for monthly gifts, but if you want to plan for prime times, they’re September/October and February/March.

I love calling September “sustainer month.” It’s an ideal time to focus on monthly giving. The kids are back in school. People have returned from vacations. You’re not yet in the heavy giving season. What is a better way to engage donors than by asking them to consider a monthly gift right now? Consider a small sustainer drive, integrating all your messaging, aimed at monthly gifts.

Then do the same in February/March. You may have recent one-time donors you can invite to consider converting to give monthly.

Having said this, if you want to grow your monthly donor program, you must ask your small donors as often as possible. It’s so easy to build in extra monthly-giving buttons, so you’re constantly planting the seeds about recurring giving. Just look at your annual communications plan and add some monthly giving campaigns and then make sure you do them. What do you have to lose?

2. What’s the Next Big Trend When It Comes to Monthly Giving?

Instead of worrying about the next big trend, I think it’s more important that each nonprofit looks at giving more opportunities for donors to consider a monthly gift. The good news is that I’m starting to see more of that.

  • Electronic bank transfer. Nonprofits are offering an electronic bank transfer, aka automated clearinghouse (ACH), which is good news as that will help prevent expiring and declining credit cards. Some organizations have also started preselecting the ACH on their forms.
  • Texting. More nonprofits can add texting to the mix and that’s a great way to support a campaign.
  • Connected TV (CTV). The larger nonprofits are successful in using CTV. It’s much more expensive than mail, email and phone though.

The more important trend, though, is what you are seeing in your own nonprofit. What have you done to generate new monthly donors? Then consider adding a few more emails and seeing where you can add monthly gifts to your direct mail pieces.

Oh, by the way, remember to repurpose your content. If you had an email that worked well for one-time gifts two years ago, can you use it again to ask for a monthly gift this time?

3. Can Donors Give Monthly from their Donor-Advised Fund (DAF)?

Yes, donors can use their DAF to make recurring grants. They typically have $50 a month minimum. Donors can choose other frequencies, and unfortunately, they can set an end date. It’s important to always follow directions on how the donor wants to be recognized, but other than that, you can steward them like you would other monthly donors.

If you can, code them in your donor database as recurring DAF donors.

Just like with online banking donors who set up recurring gifts without telling you, you may be able to find these recurring donors by looking at trends in your donor database.

4. Are Workplace Giving Donors Recurring Donors as Well?

Just like with DAF monthly donors, these recurring donors come in through a different “system,” if you will, so it’s not feeding into the same bucket. You’ll need to tally them differently. I’m going to assume that you’re able to code them as such to pull separate reports. You may need to give them a separate attribute or group so you can segment them as needed.

For example, you can most likely pull a report from your donor database for your monthly donors and see how many there are, as well as their monthly and annualized value. Then run a report for your DAF recurring donors and your workplace givers and calculate the same. That will be your total of recurring donors for overall trend purposes.

The key question though with these types of monthly donors is how do you steward them. If someone makes a gift from their paycheck, absolutely consider them a monthly donor and let them know how special they are. If someone makes a recurring gift from their DAF, absolutely, recognize them as special. This leads to the next question.

5. Is There a Difference in Stewarding One-Time versus Monthly Donors?

In the old days, we tried to leave monthly donors alone. Now, not so much. The minute someone starts making that first monthly gift, code them in your donor database and email program so that you can do something special.

Take some time and map out what you’re sending to one-time donors during the year. Look at what other departments, like major gifts, are doing?

What can you borrow or implement? What can you customize for monthly donors with just a short intro message change? What can you add that makes the donor feel special? Perhaps a phone call, a text message or a handwritten thank-you card. What would make your nonprofit stand out? What would make the donor feel most engaged?

For example, if you have a print newsletter, send it. If you have email news updates, send them. All of those are totally great.

If your donors are used to receiving mail, and they haven’t told you to stop sending mail, send them your key appeals. Add in a short message of gratitude and make it clear you’re asking for an extra gift. But remove any reference to a monthly-gift ask from those appeals because they’re already giving monthly.

Automate what you can. Then use opportunities that come up to do things that are surprising but are of interest to monthly donors who are invested and interested in what goes on. If you can send a text message, great. Do that. If you can send a video from the field, great. Do that.

Just remember that donors want to know their gifts matter. That’s the key driver for all of your stewardship messaging. Make your monthly donors feel special.

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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 NonProfitPRO on September 20, 2023.

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

Erica Waasdorp  |  Ask

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.

Little Jolts of Joy

Steven Screen  |  Repeat
Jolts of joy.

Here’s a challenge for you:

Just for a moment, for every single gift your organization received last year, envision a person writing out a check, or their finger clicking your “donate” button.

And because “every gift” is too many to visualize, just take a moment and visualize five people making gifts.

Do it.  One after another, visualize five people writing checks and clicking donate buttons.  They can be donors you know, or they can be “generic.”  I’ll wait while you do it.

 . . .

I suspect you’ll find that, if you really visualized five people making gifts, you just received 5 little jolts of joy and amazement and gratitude.

And I suspect the joy and gratitude you just received will “charge up your fundraising battery” a bit.  If you think about it, you’re probably just a little more willing to do the emotionally hard work of fundraising than you were a few minutes ago.

I asked you to visualize that here, at the beginning of the year, because fundraising can be tiring.  Asking for gifts can be hard.  What’s more, we Fundraisers usually don’t feel gifts because all we experience are numbers on a spreadsheet or in your CRM.

But when you remember that behind every single check or click is an act of generosity… and a vote of confidence in you… and the funds needed for your organization’s work… then every gift should bring a little jolt of joy and amazement.

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Credit Card Fees

Steven Screen  |  Ask
Credit card fee.

Should you ask your donors if they would like to pay the credit card fees for their gift?

Turns out you probably shouldn’t – look at this test done by the always-helpful NextAfter.

Their test showed that asking people making a gift online if they would like to cover the credit card fee of their donation resulted in raising 20.5% less than not asking donors to cover the fee.

Many people chose to pay the credit card fees.  However, what also happened is that many people saw the option to pay the credit card fees and chose to not give at all.  The result was a 20.5% drop in net revenue.  (Click through to the post itself for all the details, which are fascinating if you like that kind of thing.)

Keep this study handy the next time “giving donors the option of paying credit card fees” comes up at your nonprofit!

Why ‘Having Access’ Isn’t a Compelling Reason to Give

Sarah Lundberg  |  Ask
Access.

There’s a phrase I see used in direct response fundraising that always has me scratching my head.

Having access.

For example: Your gift will make sure a child has access to healthy meals.

Or your gift will help a cancer patient have access to treatment. Or your donation will make sure a student has access to education.

I’m not sure why this language is so enticing to organizations, but “having access” doesn’t provide a compelling reason for a donor to give. And it’s just not language that regular people use in their everyday life.

If you put on your donor hat, here’s something to puzzle over:

Would you rather give $30 so a child has healthy meals to eat, or give $30 so a child has ACCESS to healthy meals?

Would you rather give $100 to help a cancer patient get treatment, or give $100 to help a cancer patient have ACCESS to treatment?

Would you rather give $75 to help a student get a great education, or give $75 to help a student have ACCESS to a great education?

When we start to think like a donor, giving to provide access to something… just doesn’t measure up to providing the thing itself.

So when you’re writing your next appeal or e-appeal, try writing without using the idea of “having access” to something. Your writing will be stronger, your appeal will be easier to understand, and your donors will have a more compelling reason to give.

Do You Have a Clear Way for Donors to Give Stocks?

Sarah Lundberg  |  Ask
Giving complicated.

Does your organization have a simple and clear way for your donors to donate stock or other investments?

If not, you’d be smart to get started!

Here’s why this is important…

Most wealthy donors have some of their money in cash (checking and savings accounts). Think of this as a small bucket.

But MOST of their money is in investments (stocks, bonds, IRAs) where it can earn them more money. Think of this as a large bucket.

And right now, this large bucket of investments is likely doing well.

If you only accept cash gifts from donors, they will likely donate from their small bucket of cash.

But if you make it easy to donate stock and other investments, donors can give out of their large bucket of invested wealth, while also receiving some nice tax breaks.

Your donor loves your cause and your organization. She wants to do what she can to help. And when you have a simple, clear way for your donor to donate stock or other investments, she may be able to give more than she could if you only accept cash.

That’s a win-win!

If your organization doesn’t have simple way to accept gifts of stock or other investments, it’s worth the bit of up-front work it takes to get started.

You’ll need to:

  • Open a brokerage account for your organization. Compare a few to find one with the lowest fees. Two of the most common are Fidelity Charitable and Schwab. Someone on your team will need to monitor this account periodically.
  • Set up policies and procedures so that everyone in your organization knows how to handle stock gifts, including receipting.
  • Let your donors know they can transfer stock and investments to your org. When they transfer the stock instead of selling it themselves, they can avoid capital gains taxes. They may also want to check with their financial advisor.
  • Have simple instructions for giving stocks and investments on your website and on a one page handout you could give to a donor.

For more detail on getting your organization ready to receive gifts of stock and investments, here’s a helpful resource from FreeWill.

And here’s the bottom line:

The stock market has been performing well in the last year, which means donors have more money to give… IF you accept gifts of stock and investments. Take the time now to set up a simple, clear way for donors to give, and you’ll see the benefits for years to come.

Almsgiving

Steven Screen  |  Year-End
Boxing day.

Today is Boxing Day, and also St. Stephen’s Day.

It’s traditionally a day of generosity:

  • In the Boxing Day tradition, in Britain, tradespeople received gifts from their employers.
  • For the Feast of St. Stephen, alms boxes in churches were opened and distributed to the poor.

In western culture, this time of the year is still a time of alms-giving: money is pouring in to nonprofits, and the biggest week of online giving of the year is just starting.

Almsgiving is known to foster a sense of community, empathy, and social responsibility.  Perhaps that’s why many people feel just a little bit better during the holidays.

Yes, this week is also full of sales and conspicuous consumption.  But it’s good to remember we Fundraisers are a part of a tradition with deep historical, religious, and cultural roots.

Remember those traditions this week.  They drive this wave of giving; we just get to surf it.

Enjoy the week, and may your lockboxes and inboxes be full of gifts!

The Power of a Belief

Steven Screen  |  Ask
belief

Here’s a quick story about how an organization’s beliefs about donors unknowingly drove their fundraising strategy…

We serve an organization that has a large number of monthly donors. 

I asked them if they had ever asked their monthly donors to give a little more each month.  “No,” came the answer, “we’ve never done that.”

I suggested we run a short campaign to their monthly donors asking them if they’d like to upgrade their giving.  It’s my belief that almost every organization has a lot of donors that are willing and able to give more.

But some folks around the table were nervous – they had a different belief.  They agreed that some small number of their monthly donors would and could give more.  But they believed that a greater number of their monthly donors would complain or completely cancel. 

In other words, they believed that their monthly donors (as a group) were giving as much as they were willing and/or able to give. 

I shared a couple of stories of campaigns like this I’d successfully run in the past.  And we decided to go ahead with the campaign.

The results were spectacular.  A thrilling number of monthly donors chose to give more each month.  Plus, those donors increased their monthly gift by even more than we thought they would.

As far as I know, there were zero cancellations.

And the impact?  The organization started raising an additional $60,000 every single month.

Lesson #1

An organization’s beliefs about donors drive its strategy, its annual plan, and even its copywriting. 

If you believe your donors are willing and able to give more, you do things like ask monthly donors if they would give a little more each month.  You send more appeals and e-appeals, and you ask major donors to give larger amounts. 

If you believe your donors are willing and able to give more, you write things like, “Will you please send in a gift today” instead of the equivocating, “Will you please consider sending in a gift today?”

Should you be smart about which donors you include when you do this?  Of course.  If you have a monthly donor who has told you that she’s on a fixed income and can’t give any more each month, don’t ask her to upgrade.  If you have major donor who has told you that they aren’t going to give any more this year, then don’t ask them.

Your organization has a set of beliefs about donors, and fundraising, and money.  Often those beliefs are unstated.  But they are driving your strategy, your annual plan, and even your copywriting.

Do you believe that your donors are willing and able to give more?

Lesson #2

There are real costs to believing your donors can’t or won’t give any more.

The organization above could have been raising that additional $60,000 every month the previous year.  And the year before that.  Think of the impact that was missed!

My goal in pointing this out is not to make all of us (myself included) feel bad for all the opportunities we’ve missed over the years.

My goal in pointing this out is for all of us to realize that our beliefs about donors and fundraising have real-world consequences. 

In my experience, believing that “many of our donors are willing and able to give more” will have positive real-world consequences.  Believing that “our donors are giving as much as they are willing and able” will have negative real-world consequences.

Try It On

So here’s what I want you to do.  I want you, just for a moment, to “try on” the belief that your donors are willing and able to give more.  Name one thing you would do differently.

Now, make a plan to do that thing.  Your organization (and the additional people you’ll help) will be thankful that you did.

The Reminder

Steven Screen  |  Ask
hook

Before your organization arrived in a donor’s life, their beliefs and values caused them to be generous, to believe in right and wrong, to care for people in their community.

In other words, they put themselves “on the hook.” They decided to take responsibility for some of the ills in the world and donate to help.

So if it ever feels uncomfortable to ask people for money, remember that the people you are asking put themselves on the hook. They are on your donor list or mailing list because they want to help.

So you shouldn’t feel guilty about sending out fundraising. You shouldn’t feel like you’re manipulating people.

Instead, be thankful and joyful they put themselves on the hook. Boldly ask them to put their money where their values are.

Fundraising doesn’t put donors on the hook. Fundraising reminds donors that they put themselves on the hook.