6 STEPS TO BUILDING A MONTHLY GIVING PROGRAM
Monthly Giving. Not a new concept, but new to too many nonprofit organizations. If you are not yet raising monthly gifts, or if your program is stuck in the doldrums, keep reading. By the end of this article, you will be ready to raise monthly funds.
Why should you care?
It’s a way to encourage people to give nice sized gifts in an affordable manner. Someone may feel that they can’t make a $100 gift; but at $10 a month, they actually are making a $120 annual gift. If you can convince someone to give say $25 a month, they are giving you $300 a year; and for under $42 a month, they are making a $500 annual gift.
Monthly giving also encourages continuous giving—especially if you handle your monthly donors right. Before we look at the details, let’s take a look at the larger issues. The first is that I think it is wise to look at monthly donors as members of a club. But you will have to decide what is the minimum monthly gift that allows someone entry into this club. Will there be levels, and if there are levels, will there be benefits that go along with that level? And perhaps the most important decision of all—which mail service should you use to get your monthly messages to your prospective donors?
Once you’ve made those decisions, you are ready to create (or enhance) your club.
NAME IT While a name isn’t strictly necessary, there is a joy in having a good name for marketing purposes. And by good name, I certainly do not mean “Sustainers” or “monthly givers.” Think about something that reflects what your organization does; or something that says what the donors of this club provide
MESSAGE IT Think about what you want your appeals to say. Because I am a big believer that people give to people, I like to recruit a cadre of influencers—those who will be highlighted in my appeals, essentially saying “Join with me.” Recruiting these influencers is something I would do on a regular basis, asking those who say yes for a headshot and a quote about why they are a member of this giving club
DECIDE WHO GETS IT? Some organizations have a database full of prospects: those individuals you have reason to believe have an interest in what you do and with whom you have a connection. These may be former clients/alumni; people who have come to your events; are on your newsletter distribution list, have made a gift in the past, are volunteers, serve or served on your board, or are connected to your social media. Some of you don’t have such a list. Most of you are somewhere in the middle—have a few prospects but not many. Whichever your situation, start where you are. And always always ask those who respond positively “Who else can we send this to?”
MAKE IT HAPPEN. How are you getting the message out? How often are you reminding people about your monthly giving circle? My recommendation is….frequently. I strongly suggest an email every month or 6 weeks; regular postings on social media about your monthly giving. If you don’t have email addresses, consider quarterly postcards that push people to your website. In addition, salons—small group gatherings—are great ways to introduce people to your monthly giving club
KEEP YOUR MONTHLY DONORS HAPPY. Stewardship—taking care of your donors—is one of the unsung heroes of fundraising. In fact, if you’ve ever been in one of my trainings, you know that I firmly believe that fundraising starts with gratitude and that the most important thing you can do to ensure successful fundraising is to make your donors feel that they are making a difference. And it doesn’t have to be large. You know—every time I watch something on Masterpiece Theater on my PBS station and they have that screen that says Masterpiece is brought to you by…and they list a few of their big donors and then they say….And viewers like you. I don’t know about you, but personally, that makes me feel warm and tingly and I think, “You are most welcome!”Make your monthly donors feel warm and tingly about you. When someone joins, send thank you and inform them that at the end of the calendar year, they will receive a receipt for the gifts made via monthly giving for that year. On a regular basis—2 to 4 times a year-- send updates about the group to the group. Tell them how many new members joined them, or crow about the percent of growth during a period of time. You can talk about how much has been raised during this period, since monthly giving began, last year and make sure they know what things are happening at your organization thanks in large part to their support:
List their names
Indicate how many years they have been part of the group (obviously this shouldn't start for about 3 years)
Make them a star of the email
Have a thank you house party
·Recognize giving circle members at your gala or from the stage of a show
Because donor retention is so awful—less than 40% of all first-time donors to an organization make a second gift—I think it is always wise to make a big deal out of those first time donors. Now monthly givers are a little different in that it is unlikely that they will make a monthly gift and then stop giving monthly, but you do want them to feel that this is something they want to be doing. A lot of people push monthly giving in the belief that people sign up and then forget they are giving. You don’t want to do that. You want your donors to know they are supporting your work…and that they feel that their support is vital.
6. UPGRADING YOUR MONTHLY DONORS
For more than 20 years, I’ve been giving my local NPR radio station $10 a month. I also give $10 a month to several other organizations. For all of them, I have been a loyal donor for at least 10 years, and most far longer. So, I ask you—why hasn’t any of them reached out to me and asked me to increase my monthly gift? In 2002, my $10 a month was worth $10 but today, the equivalent value is $15.63. I also, arguably, can afford more today than I could have afforded 20 years ago, when I still had kids living at home and in college. More to the point, if I’ve been giving to you all these years, clearly I have drank the Kool-Aid. But none of these organizations have benefitted from my commitment.
They could have—should have, I would argue—invited me to get closer. To volunteer my time; to introduce my friends, to have a salon, write thank you letters…do the things that needed to be done. But no one asked. And honestly, because no one asked, I never bothered to give more of my time, my talents, or my treasure.
With these 6 steps, you can build a monthly giving program that will help to ensure your organization is always ready to meet its mission.