First, I’d love to give a huge shout-out to the DMAW as an organization that has had a Sustainer-Forward approach for years. The DMAW has offered special sustainer tracks during the Bridge conference, sustainer pre-Bridge workshops, then Sustainer Day, Sustainer World and now Sustainer Week, coming up the week of September 27th. If you’re looking to grow your sustainer program, this week is for you. Every day, attendees will hear real-life case...

As you may know, I’ve been scanning and tracking examples of monthly giving approaches and follow ups for years. There are so many wonderful ways nonprofits ask for monthly donors. So many tremendous examples of saying thank you in the most grateful of ways. There’s so much that goes right with monthly giving and the results are showing! But every now and then, I see some goofs. I’m not going to name names, but you probably know who you are...

Recently, I shared statistics from large organizations here and here.  Now, it’s time to look at what smaller nonprofits are doing when it comes to monthly giving. I was excited to read the “Small Nonprofit Fundraising Benchmark Report,” published by Network for Good and the NextAfter Institute based upon 2019 data and 2020 surveys. This report publishes the key findings based on a survey of 1,222 nonprofit employees and an analysis of donation...

I always look forward to when M+R Strategic launches its annual benchmarks. It just released this year’s edition, and you can find the full report right here. As you can see, and as I’m sure you expected, it was a great year for digital engagement in general. I, of course, tend to focus on monthly giving developments. You can find that data on this specific page, along with some charts. Great stuff. So, here’s the good news from 2020: Revenue...

Nonprofit PRO just published its “2021 Nonprofit Leadership Impact Study” and while I like what I’m reading there, it’s still not quite where I’d like it to be. Or should I say, where it really ought to be to make and keep nonprofits sustainable. One of the conclusions from the report is:  nonprofits need to improve relational fundraising and work toward recurring giving and monthly programs. The study shows: 41% of nonprofits believe their...

I’ve seen the following happen several times in different ways. Donation platforms and donor base companies merge. A community foundation providing donation form support for organizations decides it is not their focus any longer. Nonprofits have to scramble and find a payment processor and the best forms to use quickly. And now with the GoFundMe announcement, what will organizations do if they just transitioned not too long ago? According to...

Written by Abby Graff and posted on January 27, 2021 by The NonProfit Alliance. Lots of great predictions for this year.   Curious about the fundraising forecast for 2021? For this week’s blog post, we reached out to the ADRFCO network (Association of Direct Response Fundraising Counsel) and asked “2020 was a once-in-a-lifetime year, where do we go from here?” and “What did you learn in 2020 that you want to carry into 2021?” Today, we...

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that I don’t typically recommend sending monthly thank-you letters to monthly donors. Instead, I suggest you send one thank-you letter when they join, and in that, you explain that from now on, they’ll start receiving updates on how their gifts are making a difference. Also mention that they’ll receive a tax letter in January with an overview of all their gifts. I know many of you are...

You know I’m all for small monthly gifts, but two years ago I became intrigued with donor-advised funds, especially after I received some DAF-focused email newsletters from Jack Doyle from Amergent. I highly recommend reading them. Based on Fidelity’s “2020 Giving Report,” the number of donors who have a DAF has almost tripled over the past 10 years, and more and more Millennials have opened an account. When I did the research to see what was...

First, let me start by telling you that my focus has been monthly giving for many years. To set the stage, let me give you some facts: Monthly donors make small gifts now (on average $24 a month although some organizations are seeing lower monthly gifts, others are seeing higher monthly gifts, depending upon their type of nonprofit). Monthly donors are not the big check writers. (Yes, there will be exceptions but not typical). Monthly donors...

What a week we’ve had! I try to never talk politics, so I will certainly not start now. But watching the electoral vote thermometer move, it made me think about the approach you would be wise to take when it comes to monthly gifts. Bit by bit, you’ll go forward. You’ll grow your monthly gifts. You’ll move the needle. Especially if you’re a small to mid-size organization, your number of sustainers are not going to grow by leaps and bounds.  More...

Last week, I presented at the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference. I had never attended this before, but it was a lot of fun. Everybody was extremely engaged, and there was time for some exercises and sharing! I presented a session on the three different types of stories needed for the acquisition, cultivation and upgrading of monthly donors. Each attendee then had some time to choose the type of story they wanted or felt they needed to write...

Recently, Network for Good rebranded its activities focused on recurring gifts and called it subscription giving. And as part of the subscription, you would be wise to give donors certain benefits. It indicated that benefits would make people feel more engaged. Then, at a recent webinar, someone asked me what I thought about subscription giving versus sustainers. So here’s my take on the difference. Sustainers care about your organization and...

A while back, I interviewed Sami Sheehan of Lollypop Farm, a tremendous advocate of monthly giving. When we first talked, we decided we’d be back to discuss another great topic: hidden monthly donors. She’s done a lot of research, especially in the areas of workplace, Facebook and PayPal giving. You and your organization may very well have donors who are giving monthly, but for some reason some donors didn’t tell you they joined as a monthly...

A few weeks ago, I gave kudos to the post office, printers, mail houses, etc. But what I failed to do was give kudos to fundraisers. I recently spoke with John Jeffries, the founder of the New Canvassing Experience, a face-to-face fundraising agency focused on helping nonprofits find more monthly donors. We discussed how essential or non-essential fundraising really is (or seems to be). Here’s my take: All fundraisers are essential. Let me...

A good friend asked me this question and, as good friends tend to do, I wanted to address this question right away before getting into the busy fundraising season. While I would love to tell you yes — go all out and ask for monthly gifts — the answer really should be: “It depends!” Let me explain with two approaches: First, if you’re sending out email appeals around #GivingTuesday and the last few weeks in December, I recommend you do some...

I just bought my 2021-day runner filler. Yes, I’m still one of the ‘old fashioned’ people who uses a paper planner. It just helps me get organized during chaos and writing things down helps me remember! I sure hope that next year will bring some more travel again. Because that’s what I love the most. Talking to people who attend an in-person sustainer workshop or who come listen to a presentation. Hearing what some of their questions are. Don’t...

As a fundraising consultant, I’m always learning and researching. I do this by working with clients, vendor partners, databases, payment processors and so much more. I have many answers, but not all. That’s why I enjoy the research and experiments NextAfter does, especially when it comes to donation forms and emails. Even a small change can make a huge difference when it comes to donations and monthly gifts. Of course, every organization is...

I love hearing from nonprofit organizations that share how they’re doing with their monthly giving campaigns. Earlier this week, a nonprofit shared its socially-distanced monthly giving video interview with me. It launched the video the day before #GivingTuesdayNow, and it already generated 20 new monthly donors. While it took a bit of time to create the video, the cost was virtually nothing, and it’s now there to be shared for quite a while. I...

If the past few weeks are any indication, it’s going to get worse before it gets better. But I’m hoping that we’ll be able to somewhat get back to normal sooner rather than later. I’ve been working from home for over 15 years, so for me personally, that’s nothing new. What is new now is that I’m putting my yoga mat in my office, and I turn on my computer to participate in my barre class, using cans of soup as weights and laundry detergent as my...

I’m sitting on a plane, thinking about the coronavirus and a movie I watched a while back called “Contagion.” Scary. Totally realistic now! We’ve become world travelers. We’re on planes, trains, boats, buses, Uber and Lyft rides, etc., all the time. For this most recent trip, I packed some masks and gloves, and I am wiping down everything possible, hoping to stay healthy. (Whenever I travel, I swear by Airborne, sanitary wipes and hand...

If you haven’t started focusing on monthly and sustainer giving yet, think again. At the start of the new year, it’s a good time to take a fresh look at this tremendously sustainable way for donors to make a difference to your organization in ways that are most comfortable for their budget. When I ask monthly donors the question, why they like giving that way, most indicate they like to support the organization. They care about the mission....

Blog by Michael W. Kahn, Nacha Did you finally clear out your inbox from Giving Tuesday? Congratulations. And if you helped a cause or two that’s near and dear to your heart, good on you! But now’s a great time to take the next step and help those charitable organizations make the most of Giving Tuesday. That means converting one-time donors into sustaining donors who give more frequently by ACH. Some experts in the field of giving believe the...

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! It’s a great time to reflect on the small and large people and things in your life. I always find myself making my resolutions for the new year early. Why? Because there’s never a moment to waste. Because there’s something magical about resolutions. It helps you be better prepared for the next phase in whatever it is you’re looking to be prepared for. Just think about it: Giving Tuesday is tomorrow, and you...

You’ve most likely read that giving days/year-end/holidays are a really good time to ask your monthly donors for an extra gift.  It’s true, especially with that special personal touch. But that brings up the next question: Should you send a thank-you letter to your monthly donors for that extra gift? You’re most likely not sending thank-you letters for their ongoing monthly gifts now. My recommendation is an unequivocal YES. Do send a thank-you...

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....

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...

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...

My husband Patrick and I got married 13 years ago, just after Thanksgiving. That first year, I started the annual Christmas newsletter tradition. For each month, it’s a simple picture and a few lines of what my husband, his two boys and I did, and I mail it to friends and family. Nothing professional looking, created in good ol’ Publisher. That first year, I worried that people might think it was too much of a “bragging” letter, but then they...

Monthly giving programs are becoming more and more popular revenue sources. If you want to nail your own monthly giving strategies to ramp up your nonprofit’s revenue, then join our Monthly Giving Intensive with Erica. You’ll get two jam-packed webinars, slides and handouts full of tips and specific strategies for building a robust, profitable monthly giving program. Erica will also give a live Makeover session of monthly giving materials.  You...