At the recent sustainer workshop, we asked people present about their biggest monthly gift challenges. You see that staff is a big challenge, along with prioritizing sustainers over donors and getting new monthly donors (acquisition). I was surprised to see that retention for this group was less challenging. It’s important to note that the sizes of monthly donor programs, time length sustainer programs in place and experience levels of...

I grew up with and in direct mail. I was fortunate to work at Reader’s Digest (RD) in Amsterdam right after college and it really shaped the rest of my career. I’ve always loved direct mail because you can measure results, but nothing beats seeing the boxes and boxes filled with responses coming back. I was ‘hooked’ on direct mail and all of us direct mail ‘nerds’ at RD loved receiving the latest direct mail samples sent to us from countries...

This post is a bit more personal than you may be used to, but this is a very interesting time. I’m very nearsighted, and I’ve had glasses since I was a little girl. Yes, I was one of those kids with jelly jars, and I sure got teased a lot. But that changed last week when I had my first cataract surgery on one of my eyes. I can now see without glasses or contacts. It’s absolutely incredible! Of course, my eyes are still adjusting, so it’ll be a...

This question also came up at the recent sustainer workshop, and I know it’s something people struggle with, especially when you talk with your treasurers or finance folks. Monthly gifts are different from the major gift pledges most organizations are used to. Those pledges are typically set up for a specific purpose with an end date. And to make it even more confusing, some donor CRM systems use the word “pledges” for monthly gifts as well....

At the recent Bridge pre-conference sustainer workshop I co-hosted, one of the attendees asked this question: “What is a realistic goal for monthly donor percentage as a percent of active donors?” Let me explain why there’s no one good answer to this other than that the current typical nonprofit has between 5% to 30% of their donors giving monthly. But if your percentage is lower, do not worry. The overarching answer is: “Your goal should be...

This article was written by Michael W. Kahn and posted by Nacha on July 18, 2019.   It’s a nonprofit no-brainer:  Encourage recurring donations through ACH/EFT. “Those organizations that have been doing this, that started with EFT early on, they get it,” said Erica Waasdorp, founder and president of the fundraising consulting firm A Direct Solution, and author of “Monthly Giving. The Sleeping Giant.” She works with...

At a recent client meeting in Richmond, VA., we were discussing ways to grow the organization’s monthly donor program. I asked the question: “Do you know the lifetime value of one of your first monthly donors?” Her answer was astounding: $10,000! Can you just imagine? A small donor who has been giving so much on an ongoing basis! Right now, the average recurring donor gives between $24 and $36 a month—that’s $288 to $432 per year! Just think,...

I just got back from the 14th Bridge Conference, energized by new ideas, case studies and proven fundraising “old” basics that still work and will continue to work as long as donors are human beings. I was privileged to co-present a first sustainer, full day, pre-conference workshop with the “Sustainer Brains:” Charlotte Davidoff, Save the Children; Josef Kottler, Sage Communications; Liz Murphy, Beaconfire Red; Cameron Popp, WETA; Phil...

As I’m putting the finishing touches on the presentations and inputs for the Sustainer Workshop at the Bridge Conference, a colleague sent me this.  It was part of the membership renewal she just received on her phone. Can it be any easier? Why are more and more nonprofits focusing on ACH/EFT (also called direct debits, eChecks)—automatic bank withdrawals from the donor’s bank account? I see six big reasons: It really increases monthly donor...

What Was A Monthly Giving Program Like Before Computers And The Internet?  It existed but it was a lot harder! The channels used were mail, phone and in-person. When I first started managing a monthly giving program, now many (26+) years ago, nonprofits’ websites didn’t exist! Emails were just used for internal communication and even that was still very new. Cell phones were only used in cars and nobody had even heard of smart phones. Computers...

Monthly giving is growing. Depending upon which provider of online communications you look at, the most recent statistics show that monthly giving accounts for roughly 16-20% of all online giving for 2018, up from 2017. But what do you have to do before you can bring in those monthly donors? What must happen when you start growing your program? Are you stuck with small monthly donors, or can you upgrade them to higher levels? Well, let’s look...

Good news! Monthly giving is one of the few groups of small donors that is (still) growing. Not surprisingly, because organizations have started focusing on it over the past few years. That’s why now job postings for monthly donor or sustainer managers, and monthly donor retention specialist positions are starting to pop up, but they’re hard to fill. Sadly, there are not that many training opportunities for this type of job yet. As someone...

I just came back from a conference in New Orleans. It was my first time visiting, so I had planned a little bit of time to see the sights and “soak up the culture.” It inspired me to write about monthly donor motivation. But before I get to that… if you’ve not yet been to New Orleans, I can highly recommend The National WWII Museum. It’s fabulous! Locals told me that Frenchmen Street is the new Bourbon Street, and Café Du Monde is definitely...

Monthly giving is growing. Let me start by giving you some highlights and statistics: Recurring donors have grown by 52 percent, and revenue has increased by 94 percent over the past 3 years for the average organization; The average monthly gift is between $24 and $36, and the average annual gift is $275 to $425; Retention rate if giving by credit card is 87 percent, if giving by EFT/ACH, 94 percent, and if sending in checks after receiving...

I just attended Fundraising Day in New York, attended by almost 2,000 people. One of my favorite sessions was about sustainers, of course! It was led by great moderator Paul Habig from Sanky; and two experienced monthly donor fundraisers, Luke Franklin from the ASPCA with 400,000 (!) and Emily Stevenson from EDF with 20,000 monthly donors. They presented the ways they acquired, cultivated and retained monthly donors. Both talked about the...

What’s the monthly donor secret sauce? This was one of the questions that came up in a recent podcast I recorded with RKD Group. (It’s expected to go live very soon, so stay tuned!) The answer is that there really is no secret sauce for generating more monthly donors other than “keep stirring it, and your sauce will get thicker and more delicious!” Here are the elements to put into creating that wonderful sauce we call monthly donors who will...

I’m currently working on the analysis for a big national organization’s sustainer direct mail campaigns. One of the things we needed to settle on first was what they thought was important in measuring their monthly donor success. As you know, monthly gifts are typically small. So, if you only look at the first monthly gifts and possible one-time donations that came in from those donors who are not yet ready to give monthly, you’re not doing...

A few weeks ago, I was reminded of this wonderful campaign done by the British Red Cross. It was the most successful campaign ever, raising £7.7 billion in today’s prices between 1939 and 1946—just before and during World War II, mind you! It clearly demonstrates how many pennies make up a much, much bigger amount! I don’t know exactly when the first monthly giving campaign launched in the U.S. (if you know, please tell me), but this was...

Setting up a successful monthly giving program doesn’t have to be difficult, as long as you keep these key components in mind. Let me share the top 5 with you: Commitment Accountability Preparedness Detail orientation Persistence For a successful monthly giving program, these apply to the person who’s interested and willing to grow the program as well as to the program itself. Let’s take these key elements one by one. 1.  Commitment to Monthly...

Soon, we’ll celebrate the D-Day invasion, which happened 75 years ago. Next year, we’ll celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. My mom and dad grew up in the Hague, Netherlands, and they were only 4 years old and 6 years old when Rotterdam was bombed and the war became real. My parents suffered through the Hunger Winter 1944/1945, when the Eastern part of the country was liberated after the major battle in Arnhem, but the...

Monthly giving programs can be a wonderful way to ensure your fundraising program sustains throughout the year. Although the concept of monthly giving is not new, the onset of subscription-based services, online giving programs and multiple digital tools make it easier than ever to provide this option to your donors. We spoke with Erica Waasdorp, the leading expert on monthly giving and president of A Direct Solution, about best practices in...

Of course in your organization, nothing ever goes wrong with your monthly donors. But what would you do if something did? Would you hide? Would you stick your head in the sand and let someone else handle it? Or would you consider your donors and confess? The reality is that most of your donors will understand that things go wrong at times. They’re human beings after all. The key is to act right away, fix the problem and prevent it from...

As I’m working on my presentation for the Bridge Conference on “Flip or Flop,” what has worked and what hasn’t worked in monthly giving, I came across a few examples of what not to do. I’m not going to name names, but let me just say that all three examples come from big organizations. All three organizations have big sustainer programs. All three organizations have staff dedicated to their monthly giving programs. I’m a monthly donor to all...

If you have some monthly donors now, congratulations. Please allow me to share some recent statistics with you on why these small recurring donors are so powerful: Average monthly gift between $24 and $36, that’s between $288 and $432 a year! Typical way monthly donors pay: 80% credit card, 10% EFT/ACH, 10% other (PayPal and checks, where the organization sends reminders by mail). So, retention rate is much higher than the typical 45% retention...

When I teach webinars aimed at growing monthly giving programs, I typically do some polls. One of the questions I have asked is, “How often do you ask your donors to give monthly?” The sad reality was that 35% said they never asked. My obvious response is, “How do you expect to grow your program?” Never mind monthly gifts, I still see way too many organizations that are hesitant to ask for money. Too many people worry about reaching out to...

If you’re looking to grow your monthly donor program to the next level, there are many things you can do and it’s easier than you think! Let me give you a quick recap of who monthly donors are. The typical monthly donor is not the big check writer. He or she is often on a fixed income but right now he or she gives between $24 and $36 a month. That’s between $288 and $436 a year! Over the past few years, monthly giving has grown to some 30% of...

Fundraisers sometimes tell me: “I don’t want to convert my donors to monthly giving, because then I can’t ask them to give more!” Well, that’s an absolute myth! The best real-life example of monthly giving came from a story in my son’s university magazine. A donor made a $1,000,000 gift to support campus expansion. Do you know how he started his giving? As an alum, giving $5 a month! Now, I can’t guarantee that this will happen to your monthly...

This past week I heard the expression “Drink Your Own Kool-Aid” several times, so I wanted to explain why it’s especially important when it comes to monthly giving. Let me start with the Wikipedia definition: “Drinking the Kool-Aid” is an expression commonly used in the United States that refers to a person who believes in a possibly doomed or dangerous idea because of perceived potential high rewards.” If your boss or board still...

I’m so excited… Because monthly giving is becoming more and more popular! Systems keep getting easier and easier.  More organizations have seen the ‘monthly donor light!’ But yet, so many organizations are slow to come on board.  With just a little bit of training, you too can start your monthly donor program and grow that sustainable revenue you need to keep your operating budget growing! A few years ago, it was all about systems. That’s not...

A few years ago, I joined 20 organizations as a monthly donor with a credit card that was going to expire one month after joining. I purposely did this to see the actions nonprofits took and how long it would take them to do so. The sad reality was that only two of the organizations called me. They did so within the first month of my card expiring, so that was good. They only tried calling me once, but they did leave a message. I, of course,...