At this time, many people are looking to find out when they can possibly get vaccinated against COVID-19. I live on Cape Cod, an area with many older residents — many who have been struggling. Many of these older residents do not have access to the internet, so registration online is difficult. They do have access to the phone, though, so as a result, they’ve just started a special COVID-19 hotline with a person answering the phone at the other...

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...

Over the holidays, I took some time to finish a few books in my stack of fundraising books to read. Trust me, I learn something every time, and I’ve been raising funds for years. Cover image of “10 Simple Fundraising Lessons” by Jim Eskin | Credit: Amazon Jim Eskin wrote a book on simple fundraising lessons, and it’s a great little gem for a few reasons: It’s short and sweet, and you can read it in less than one hour. Who does not...

During the final days of the year, I was able to catch up on some presentations that had been sitting in my inbox. I was excited to hear Noah Barnett’s intro and the presentation by Viktoria Harrison, the co-creator of charity: water on the Virtuous Summit. It was, of course, tremendously inspiring for a monthly donor advocate like me. If you didn’t get a chance to attend the virtual summit, please check it out here. Viktoria’s presentation is...

As a follow up to the recent free webinar ‘7 Reasons why you should start a monthly donor program NOW’, we’re happy to share the answers to some of the questions we didn’t have a chance to answer during the webinar. These are very short answers of course. But feel free to contact me at erica@adirectsolution.com if you have any additional questions or join her in one of the upcoming advanced monthly donor webinars. Question: Do You Recommend...

By now, you probably know I love to organize. I have hundreds of direct mail and monthly giving examples scanned in. And over Christmas, I scanned in a huge box of family pictures. It’s all part of the downsizing and simplifying process my husband and I are going through. I must say, it’s tremendously liberating! As part of all this scanning and organizing, I gathered a huge stack of address labels, note cards and calendars. I will not have to...

2020 is over, and I know nobody is sad about that whatsoever. In my drive to organize, I came across last year’s 40 nonprofit trends for 2020. Those were created well before any of us had ever heard of COVID-19, a pandemic, coronavirus or ever imagined having to wear a mask daily. So, I thought it prudent to look back and highlight a few trends that certainly came true, but very differently. Some in a good way, because it helps nonprofits be...

At this time of year, I like to look back over the past year. It’s certainly been very different than any other year. For every single one of us. For me, 2020 meant minimal travel, more webinars, more screen time, more appeals, more emails, more writing and working harder than ever before. I’ve been busy and fortunate to support wonderful fundraisers like you, so I’m very grateful to you. Together, we are all trying to make a difference. Here...

During this holiday season of giving, especially based on the recent success of #GivingTuesday, you can clearly tell there is something magical about using a match. Successful fundraisers have used matches for years and continue to use it. Why? Because it works! Nearly all of #GivingTuesday emails I received before, during and in the days following included some type of a match. Most matches were straight amounts. Some matches were small. Some...

#GivingTuesday results were way up compared to last year. Who said donors are not generous? The best spot to see it all together is GivingTuesday Data Commons, fed by some 60 contributing partners and 40 global data labs. I know all are feverishly tallying results and creating infographics and more,  so definitely stay tuned for more results as they become available. I of course am most interested in any trends on monthly giving. So I was...

Just a short blog this week, because I know you’re very busy–the biggest giving month of the year is just around the corner! Just a few more emails. Just a few more thank you letters. Just a few more… (you fill in the blanks). Just a few more weeks, and then the weirdest of weird years is over. I’m amazed at the generosity of donors. I’ve seen and heard tremendous stories of donors coming to the table in the past few months: $2,000 when...

Last week, I traveled to Europe to present a training on sustainers for an international group based in the Netherlands. Socially distanced and masked, of course, as the rules and lockdowns are even stricter than they are on Cape Cod. The good news is that I was able to visit my 86-year-old mom as well, and I spent some time with my family. During the sustainer training, a couple of things we spent quite a bit of time on was: The best ways to...

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...

The last week of September = Sustainer month, I organized the first ever virtual Sustainer Workshop. About 40 fundraisers from all over the country, and even some from Canada, participated in the two-day workshop, looking at all stages of life for a sustainer. When I asked the question: ”What is your biggest challenge when it comes to monthly giving?” this word cloud shows it best: Source: Virtual Sustainer Workshop, September 2020, A Direct...

This past weekend, we had to replace a light bulb in our fan. Fortunately, I was able to find the warranty book in my warranty binder. That showed us we needed a special suction cup to get the light bulb out. Well, the big question was: Where was the suction cup to do just that? I vaguely remembered I had put it in a kitchen drawer seven years ago when the fan was installed. So, we emptied two drawers. And guess what: The little suction cup was...

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of presenting about sustainers with Tina Hudgins, who worked at the International Justice Mission at the time. She shared how the organization typically did a monthly donor direct mail and email invite campaign (including upgrades) in the month of September. And they’ve been doing this ever since. What a great idea! September is early enough in the giving season that it doesn’t detract from activities like...

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...

Good thing we have an extra day this week. I had a stack of mail more than a foot high, and I just finished scanning the various appeals I would like to save in a folder to use for training or learning. Let me start with some good news: Many organizations have adopted the best practice of a tick box on the front of their appeal reply form, which is terrific. You should know that I’ve tested this. And in my tests, the tick box did not typically...

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...

Monthly donor retention is probably the biggest challenge for nonprofits. In my nearly 30 years of monthly giving experience, I’ve seen three big reasons for this: Nobody feels responsible for tracking monthly donor dropouts and attrition (a fancier word for dropout percentage).  Believe it or not, while you think this may be more rampant in a bigger organization, it’s also a problem in smaller organizations. Unless someone is completely...

An interview with Sami Sheehan, manager of donor engagement of Lollypop Farm, Humane Society of Greater Rochester My favorite part about working with nonprofits is how much we can learn from each other. I learn from their questions every day. I am blown away with how smart people at nonprofits are, and how committed they are to the cause. And how (fortunately) many are really committed to growing their monthly gifts, because they see the power....

I recently read the book “Responsive Fundraising: The Donor-Centric Framework Helping Today’s Leading Nonprofits Grow Giving,” written by Virtuous CRM’s Gabe Cooper, founder and CEO, and Mckenna Bailey, sr. content marketing strategist. It’s an easy read, and it follows a lot of what I just read in John Haydon’s book, “Donor CARE.” It’s about connection. It’s about listening to the donor. It’s about suggesting. It’s about being as...

What a tremendous legacy John Haydon left us with his book, “Donor CARE: How to Keep Donors Coming Back After the First Gift.” Sadly, Haydon passed away earlier this year. While I never had a chance to meet him in person, we did talk by phone a few times. He had an amazing following with thousands of people attending his webinars and reading his blogs. Haydon’s quest was to explain how to keep donors coming back after the first gift. This is...

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...

Seth Godin’s blog always gives me inspiration. Recently, he wrote about the words I hear so much when it comes to monthly giving: “That’s a great idea!”  Seth says: “…after every good idea, there are at least 100 steps of iteration, learning, adjustment, innovation and effort. But not committing to the 100 steps is a waste of a good idea. The effort and investment and evolution made the difference.” In my experience working with nonprofits,...

This past week, I received several questions from nonprofit organizations about the best tools to use to process monthly gifts. In that same week, I received three emails from vendor partners offering me the latest and greatest on monthly gift payment processing tools. Here’s a breakdown of what I’ve learned so far: Some say they waive fees for the first month. Others give money back. Some say they only charge $0.50 per transaction and no other...

What a difference a simple calculation can make. When I ask the question, “How many monthly donors do you have?” fundraisers typically know that number. But then when I ask how much they’re worth, fundraisers sometimes struggle to answer. Or they only look at the monthly gifts, so it doesn’t seem that powerful. That’s why I created the Monthly_Donor_Annualizer. You can download it as excel. Here’s what it looks like: Credit: Erica Waasdorp, A...