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** The webinar will start at 2 minutes after the hour **
Monthly Donors: Starting and growing
sustainable funds for your nonprofit
Presenter: Erica Waasdorp
Poll
Do you have a monthly Giving Program?
What We Will Cover Today
I. Who and what are monthly donors
II. Why are monthly donors important
III. How to organize the basics
IV. How to market your program
V. Presenting results
Who are monthly donors?
monthly donor
monthly donor
monthly donor
monthly donor
monthly donor
monthly donors
What are monthly donors?
•Small
•Committed
•Automatic
•Ongoing
•Provide regular income
Why are monthly donors important?
Source: 2014 AFP Fundraising Effectiveness Study
Poll
What is the typical retention rate of
monthly donors?
Why are monthly donors important?
Retention Rates jump!!
Source: DonorPerfect Study users
Why are monthly donors important?
They will give a lot more money!
Current Gifts Monthly
Gifts (annual)
First year
Cume
100
$35
$0
$3,500
100
$35
$120
$15,500
You bring your donors up the pyramid
Organize Your Monthly Giving Program
1. Commit and make someone accountable
2. Name your program
3. Set up payment types
4. Set up back-office process
5. Set ask amount
One person must own the program!
Web site
Online
Donors
Marketing
Donor base
YOU
Donor
services
Programs
Accounting
Fundraising
Name your program
Finding the best name:
• Brainstorm
• Use in sentence
• Test it
• Choose
• Move on
Some ideas…
Circle
Friends
Sustainers
Partners
Advocates
Guardians
Champions
Hopebuilders
Innkeepers
Let’s look at Payment Types
• Credit card/debit card
• Bank draft
• Offer both!
Poll
How are you handling your
online donations?
WebLink
Add
recurring
to your
one time
donation
form
2. Create recurring only form
Credit
card
Bank
draft
Set your ask levels
$5?
$10?
$16?
$29?
Rule of thirds
Take your
Average One
time gift
Use 1/3 for
first Monthly
Ask
• $35 becomes:
• $10, $15, $20, $35, Other
For example
• $15 becomes:
• $5, $10, $15, $20, Other
Be as specific as possible
Just $8 a month (that’s $0.25 a day), will help….
Ask low
Source: 2014 M+R Strategic Benchmarks
Organize Recognition
Have everything ready to go!
• Autoresponder
• Thank you email
• Thank you letter
• Certificate
• Back-end premium
• Special recognition
• Tax letter
• Regular updates
• Promises
Organize Recognition
Organize landing page
and promises
Organize auto-responder and email thank you
Think of special thank you’s during the year
Demonstrate gift impact
Thank you
Tax information
Involve everyone
• Join first
• Ask staff and board to join
• Ask volunteers to join
• Make sure everybody knows about the program
Develop Reports and Annualize
Monthly
Donors
Source
# of monthly
donors acquired
Average gift
Average
Yearly
Gift
First year
Cume
Totals
170
$10
$120
$20,400
How to accept bank draft information
Options:
1. Check for first payment (recommend)
2. Voided check
3. Online
Your donors must be ready and TRUST you
Processing your monthly donors
How to prevent failed payments (monthly donor drop outs)
Poll
Why do you think monthly donations
stop?
Email reminder example
Good word..
Clear reason
Image, clear link to
renewal page
How to Market Your Monthly Giving Program
1. Grow online
2. Grow via direct mail
Poll
How many email names do you have?
Online donations are growing!
Source: 2014 M+R Strategic Benchmarks
Make monthly giving page easy to find
Add link from home page!
Integrate in donation form
Link from donate button
Put Monthly first
Specific amounts
Create special Recurring only page
Benefits
Video
Specific amounts
Start driving to the web
Add Challenge and deadline
Clear goal of 600
NO gift
Deadline = Urgency
# left to generate
Specific amounts
Organize special segment in database
• Integrate with your direct mail data
• For thank you letter
• For email thank you
• For ongoing recognition
• For special action if dropped out
• For upgrades later
• For additional appeals
• For special invitations
Poll
How often do you send an appeal
(with ask) to your donors?
Start asking!
• As soon as someone joins your organization!
• As soon as someone gives
• As soon as a lapsed donor is reactivated
• Any time of the year
• As often as you can
Use donor testimonials
“I am a widow on a fixed income but being a monthly
sponsor helps people that have less. You do good
work for the less fortunate”.
– Jean, NJ
Do special appeal for monthly donors
Target
Target
•
•
•
•
•
Recency
Frequency
Monetary Value
Credit card donors
Check donors
• Typically $5+, 2 gifts or more a
year
Select your donors
Select these first
Keep communicating!
• Keep them in your annual fund appeals
• Except if they indicate they don’t want to receive mail
• Segment them and recognize them as special
• Include in thank you calls!
• Personalize where you can
Poll
How many donors do you have?
Monthly Donor Potential Projector
"It is always the start
that requires the greatest effort.“
- James Cash (J.C.) Penney:
American businessman
For follow up questions, contact Erica
Erica Waasdorp
A Direct Solution
PO Box 757
Marstons Mills, MA 02648 USA
Tel: 508-776-1224
Fax: 270-633-1744
www.adirectsolution.com
Monthly Giving Help Line
[email protected]
@ericawaasdorp