If so, here are some things you can do to reach that goal. If you want to increase the number of monthly donors to your nonprofit, here are some things you can do:
It makes a lot of sense to do this. Chances are, if you’ve done your own fundraising, you know it costs more to find new donors than keep the ones you have. Although one-time donations are significant, the value of a long-term donor is even higher.
The key to getting more monthly donors is to understand the types of people who are most likely to sign up, and then develop strategies to appeal to them. Once you have attracted potential donors, it is important to keep them engaged with your organization. Although it may seem straightforward, many nonprofits have difficulty retaining donors.
There is no perfect way to appeal to and keep monthly donors, but there are some good tips that can help you create strong bonds. This is a guide for gaining more repeat donors.
What appeals to people who become regular donors
The good news is that there are probably already people in your database who would be good candidates for monthly giving.
If you do some research, you can also create profiles for people who you don’t know yet. These are people who would donate monthly if given the chance. Here are a few tips for appealing to new monthly donors:
Look for past contributions
Some of the people in your database who have donated in the past probably gave small amounts. The people who have donated to your organization are more likely to continue donating in the future because they have already shown that they support your cause.
Some typical things to look for in your database include:
- Donors who have given $100 or less
- Donors who have made more than one small donation
- Donors who usually give by credit card
You could try contacting these people by mail and asking them if they would be willing to make small, regular donations each month.
To make your organization more appealing to potential donors, show them how their monthly contributions are making a difference. The impact of their donation may convince them to become a monthly donor.
Approach the right donor profiles
Don’t forget about the potential donors who you haven’t met yet. You’ll need to cultivate a pool of potential new donors who are likely to support your organization financially.
You can increase your chances of finding potential donors by building a good donor profile and targeting the most likely people.
The ideal candidate for your organization should be able to both donate money and have a genuine interest in your mission. For example, they may have participated in similar causes in the past.
The Causes may be related to each other in some way, either through the work they do or personal connections. iWave’s affinity scoring helps to identify the most likely list of potential donors.
Share monthly giving impact stories
There are many monthly donor programs that are sponsored by organizations that help children and families in need.
Their advertising likely focuses on monthly contributions and how much of an impact they make. One example of how your donations can make a difference is that one dollar per day can send a child to school.
Your organization’s cause can have a real impact every month with monthly donations. Share stories about how this impact is made. Do people’s donations really make a difference? People would like to know that their donations are helping to make a difference, so they appreciate hearing stories about how their donations are being used.
Keep donors in the loop
Once you have gained regular monthly donors, they will want to know that their contributions are continuing to make a difference.
It’s important to keep your employees informed by communicating often. Donors should never have to wonder what is happening with their donations. They should always be aware of what is going on.
Nurturing regular donors
It is important to continue to nurture your regular donors. Retaining employees for the long-term and reassuring them that their contribution is needed and valued helps improve job satisfaction. Here are some tips for the ongoing nurturing of monthly donors:
1. Be responsive to any communication
Customer service is important for your regular donors. If someone contacts you through any method, you should respond to them in a timely manner. Making sure your employees feel valued is key to maintaining a professional image for your organization.
2. Be communicative
You should send regular correspondence to your monthly donors. If you want to keep their attention, try communicating in different ways and using things that will get them interested.
You could mail out a quarterly update and send emails monthly.
If you would like to contribute an additional one-off donation, you can be entered into a draw for a prize. It is important to keep donors informed about how their donations are being used and the real stories of the impact they are having.
The way you communicate with potential donors will establish the overall tone of your relationship with them. Regular donors make a serious commitment to your organization. Your organization owes them the same respect.
Many people want to feel as if they are a part of something much larger than themselves. This can often be accomplished by being involved in a community or group that shares common interests. That they’re genuinely involved in the organization. They are also taking a stand for the work you do and everything your nonprofit represents. As a regular donor, they are supporting your nonprofit financially and showing that they believe in your mission. The speaker is saying that the people they are talking about want to be involved in something on a very basic level.
Make sure to listen to what your supporters have to say as they are an important part of your movement. Surveys should be conducted regularly (2-4 times per year) in order to gauge people’s opinions on various topics. What swag floats your boat? Does this sticker make you want to donate? How has your donation experience been?
How you use the feedback you received is important. Can you use this in your next campaign? Do these ideas need more discussion?
A wide range of responses to surveys exists, anywhere from 15 to 50%. One way to increase survey response rates is to send the survey out multiple times, with enough time in between sends.
You could also give a gift to those who donate regularly. Make sure to thank those who have taken the time to share their feedback with you.
3. Find creative ways to say thank you
Donors should be thanked immediately for their contribution. For monthly donors, it is often appreciated to mix up how you thank them.
For example, you might send out a thank you card with a progress report, or maybe include a sticker or something similar that let them know they are appreciated.
Are you slightly annoyed when someone doesn’t say thank you? Your donors are the same. Of course, they want to feel appreciated! and recognition Once you have won someone over, it is important to show them how much you appreciate and recognize them.
This means that you should get a piece of paper and start writing some thank you notes. Yes, Millennials, we literally mean a handwritten letter (we can hear the groans from here).
If you are genuinely distressed by this idea, stick to email. Your board members should each send a personal email to any newly-acquired monthly donors.
Or, try these ideas:
- A quick email or phone call to acknowledge the anniversary of a donor’s sign up day.
- Let donors know the direct impact of their regular contribution to your organization (e.g more effective budgeting, allowing you to scale up operations and be more financially responsible).
4. Create exclusive opportunities
Giving your regular donors exclusive content and opportunities will make them feel like they belong to an exclusive club and will encourage them to continue donating.
For example, maybe you can get exclusive offers just for them from fundraising partners, or maybe you can make exclusive offers to them as a sponsor.
5. Stay on top of credit card payments
Although credit cards can be lost or stolen, they also have an expiration date every few years. If a card attached to an automatic payment declines, the donor is at risk of being lost.
There are tools available out there that automate your ability to pay your bills through your bank, but otherwise, it’s important to stay on top of communication about payment.
Your system should have an expiration date recorded for credit cards so you can reach out to customers a month or so before their card expires.
6. Two buttons are better than one
Use every opportunity to ask for more. Make sure that every email you send to potential donors has a button that they can use to sign up for monthly donations.
Oh, and when they click on that button? This page’s default is set to monthly. They want to be able to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily, without having to search through your whole website.
This means that you should put a donate button at the top of the page, where people will see it right away, as well as at the bottom of the page. This will increase the chances that people will donate. If you have enough space, put in two donation forms so that there is another chance to get a donation.
7. Sweeten donors up with a swag campaign
What on earth is a swag campaign?
A swag campaign is a way to show appreciation to donors by giving them a small gift, or ‘swag.’ By doing this, you can create long-term relationships with them. In other words, as Chas likes to say, be grateful with a positive outlook.
Now that’s an attitude we can love! Ok, so depending on your donors, you could use merchandise like:
Coffee mugs
Tote bags
Clothing
You should choose something that is limited edition so the recipient feels special. And mission-based swag are the bomb! Not keen on gifting more ‘stuff’? You don’t have to.
8. Get across segmentation
There will be a variety of donors in your records – some giving large sums of money occasionally; others donating smaller amounts more often. So, it’s a good idea to segment your donors.
This information tells you who is in your database, how much they have donated in the past, and what you need to do to get them to potentially donate monthly. And look closely at your giving history.
The main focus should be on getting more people to give monthly. They have shown that they are dedicated to your organization and are probably ready to be promoted.
If someone has been irregular with their donations, it is unlikely that they will be very helpful. The next step is to contact the potential candidates.
9. Gift strings made to order
You will be able to establish a realistic ask string or dollar amount for donors thanks to your segmentation work. These are recommended donation amounts that you can choose from.
Donors who have never given more than $15 at one time are unlikely to want to give $150.
There will be people who want to spend $100 and there will be people who don’t want to spend more than $100. Don’t miss the opportunity to contribute more by underestimating the amount you could give.
It’s important to know the people in your community and to act on that information. You should also make it personal.
10. Optimize the experience
A good user experience leads to better fundraising outcomes. An important aspect of making users happy today is increasing your mobile conversion rate (remember that more than 65% of donations are now done through mobile).
Apple Pay and Google Pay are becoming the preferred ways of paying for many people because they are more convenient. We know that Raisely customers who have Digital Wallets on their websites can increase their mobile conversion rates by up to 60%.
Not too shabby!
One great thing about using Raisely to create pages is that the page builder is designed to work well on both mobile and tablet devices. The View-Specific Content options allow you to see how your website will look on different devices. Easy for you, even easier for your donors.
11. Embed SMART forms
This isn’t new in the fundraising world. But it is uber important. It is advisable to be intentional when making a fundraising ask by strategically placing it on different pages and sections of your website.
We want to make it as easy as possible for donors to donate money. Potential donors who cannot quickly figure out how to donate will lose interest. If someone was about to contribute to the conversation but then left, they would be leaving you without a contribution.
You could, for example, put your donation form on your internal web pages or explain the ask in more detail on the sidebar. Alternatively, if your landing page links to your About page, you could have a box prominently displayed.
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