Marketing

Monthly Giving Programs and Nonprofit Fundraising Ideas

By | May 11, 2016

Monthly donations and giving programs is the name of the game for many nonprofit organizations. This is because retaining donors are cheaper than acquiring new ones and growing your recurring giving program is super cost-effective. Not only that, monthly donors have much higher retention rates than one-time donors. So the key is to build lasting relationships with your donors which will give you larger support down the road.

A great way to help you succeed this is a nonprofit marketing agency who will have a strong communication strategy to grow a monthly giving program. Here are three strategies that are proven to work.

1. Invite donors to join into a community

People love being a part of a community, and when you frame your appeals to your audience as an inner circle of committed supporters, it incentivize people to participate. This should be reflected on your website and in your emails. By becoming a monthly donor, they can join an honorary group that impacts your nonprofit’s growth tremendously.

Becoming a monthly donor is a big commitment. So you need strong communication to convince people to join, and you convince others by showing how others are doing it too.

Leveraging social proof is a classic marketing technique to attract people to your brand. By showing that other people have already chosen to join your recurring giving program, you can validate its credibility and motivate others to join an established community.

2. Leverage your impact

Communicating the impact of a recurring gift is key to achieving a monthly support system. Your supporters will want to know that their contributions make a difference, so explain to them why their donation is valuable and what it will accomplish.

When people visit your website, they should be able to understand exactly where their monthly dollars are going. Use visual content to communicate this. Because images are engaging and easy to grasp, use a graphic that illustrates the power of a monthly donation.

3. Ask your major donors to break apart their donations

So many organizations have donors who make large gifts at a time. Because these supporters give in bulk, it makes it hard for nonprofits to approach them for recurring donations on top of these big donations. If you’re smart on your approach, these donors can become great potential monthly givers.

Here is an idea: stop asking for more donations, just ask to break apart their large gifts into smaller, monthly installments.

This adjustment doesn’t boost their level of support, it creates a steadier stream of revenue for your organization. What is important is that recurring donors have higher retention rates, and the switch will increase your donors’ chances to become long time donors and partners.

To communicate with these donors, follow these steps:

  1. Identify the large donors within your community and define their threshold, whether it’s an average gift size of $300, $500, or more.
  2. Reach out to each donor individually, or send a personalized email conveying your request. Make sure to thank them for their support, and summarize how much they’ve personally given over the years and show how their support has impacted your programs.
  3. Then, pitch the idea of breaking apart their annual gifts into smaller, monthly installments, and explain how these regular donations will help build a predictable income flow, enabling your organization to budget and execute for long-term impact.

If you would like to learn more about generating new leads then download our free ebook on the 30 greatest lead geneartion tips, tricks, and ideas!

 

lead-generation-ideas.jpg

Andrew Coffey
Andrew Coffey