This was also published as part of an interview for the Nonprofit Leadership Summit.  MT: Hey, everybody. Welcome. This is Mazarine Treyz of Wild Woman Fundraising and I am so pleased today to be interviewing Erica Waasdorp, who wrote Monthly Giving: The Sleeping Giant, and who is also the president of A Direct Solution. She will be teaching at our Nonprofit Leadership Summit. Erica, can you give some people an idea of the kind of monthly...

You’ve heard me talking about monthly recurring gift programs and their importance on the long-term retention of your donors. Not to mention how much money you’ll raise! Fundraisers are often blown by away if I mention some numbers, just 300 monthly donors can bring in almost $100,000 a year for your organization. What’s not to like about that? So, if you are not already looking at implementing a program for your organization,...

If you’ve seen or heard me present, you know that I stress the importance of making one person responsible for your monthly donor program, no matter what size the organization is! As you’re the fundraiser, this is most likely going to be YOU. Now, that does not mean that you have to do everything but it’s absolutely ESSENTIAL that one person oversees all of the moving parts and is held accountable. That sounds like a huge...

Let me repeat that question again: Can you convert an angry donor to give monthly? YES, you can! And here’s why! A donor who is angry and picks up the phone, cares enough about your organization to let you know that something is bothering him or her. So, if you treat the donor the right way, you may be able to convert him or her to give monthly. Most donors call to complain about the number of times you send them something in the mail....

The best time of year to ask for monthly donations is NOW!  If you’re serious about generating sustainable revenue for your organization that is! January is a great month to start. You have all these wonderful new donors you brought on over the holidays. So how do you start? Simply start by adding the “make it monthly” or “make it recurring” to your online donation page. If you don’t ask, you’re not...

This was published as a guest blog for  AndrewOlsenCFRE  who is launching a new series focused on the biggest fundraising mistakes nonprofits make. To kick off this series, I asked my friend Erica Waasdorp, author of Monthly Giving. The Sleeping Giant to share her thoughts on the biggest mistakes nonprofits make when it comes to monthly giving. Her guest post is below:   “I see nonprofits make two major mistakes that really prevent them...

This post was written as a guest blog for DonorPerfect If you’re like other nonprofits, six out of ten donors who gave to your organization last year won’t give this year. A monthly giving program is a proven effective solution for retaining donors. Here’s a checklist of steps for you to follow (explained in greater detail in the Monthly Giving Starter Kit) to help you start and maintain a successful monthly giving program. Discover how much...

Thank you again for Nancy Schwartz who prepared this Interview. To read the whole interview, go here.   I’m thrilled to share more monthly giving mastery with you from my recent interview with leading monthly giving expert Erica Waasdorp. Nancy: Once you have a new monthly donor in the door, what’s the best way to welcome him? Erica: If donor signs up online, make sure you get a warm, appreciative email to him ASAP. Automate that via your...

This came out of an interview by Nancy Schwartz and was posted on Network for Good Marketing Blog. I’m thrilled to share this monthly giving mastery with you, drawn from my fascinating interview with leading monthly giving expert Erica Waasdorp. In her unequaled guidebook, Monthly Giving: The Sleeping Giant, Erica walks you through recurring giving, step by clear-and-doable step. “Historically, U.S. fundraisers have focused on major gifts. I’m...

If you’re starting to get involved with your monthly giving program, you will come across some of these terms: EFT, ACH, Automatic Bank Withdrawal, Direct Debit. They all stand for the same thing: EFT is Electronic Funds Transfer, ACH is for Automated Clearing House. Automatic Bank Withdrawal is probably the best lay term to use and EFT the acronym. The donor provides you with their bank account information and authorizes you, the...

  Guest blog written for DonorPerfect You must absolutely start a monthly giving program. There, I’ve said it. And you’ll hear me say it time and time again.But why is this so important? I’ll tell you why! In the US, historically, organizations have focused on major donors.That’s where most of their resources went. 20% of their donors gave 80% of their gifts. But how about the many small donors in the donor base? Until a few years ago,...

Yes, it’s absolutely true. You really can generate new monthly donors by using direct mail. Just remember two things: 1. Ask the right donors 2. Ask the right way So who are the right donors, you might ask. They are donors who just gave! They can be existing donors, but even new donors who just gave for the first time. They are also donors who gave less than $100. They are not your big check writers. It’s crucial to get them to...

Monthly giving now is EASIER to set up than it’s ever been! I’ve been managing monthly giving programs for a very long time! (for more than 2 decades!). We started by using direct mail and telemarketing. DRTV and face-to-face were still in its infancy when it came to monthly donors . And can you believe it, email appeals did not exist!! Nobody had heard of i-phones, mobile giving or social media. Up to just a few years ago, it was much...

This is always an interesting question. How much or how little can you spend to generate a monthly donor? The answer: it depends! From what I’m hearing in the market place right now, a lot of larger organizations are happy if their program breaks even in 2 years. They use more expensive media such as face-to-face fundraising or direct response television as they want to increase their number of monthly donors fast and furiously. For...

Some of you may know I’m Dutch, so occasionally, I put on my Dutch hat… Here’s a Dutch expression that pertains to monthly donors especially: “He who does not honor the small, is not worthy of the big”. Sadly, I still come across too many large organizations  who poo-poo the impact of a monthly giving program for them. They don’t seem to care about the many, many small donors they have and how they could...

By now, I trust you’re convinced that you must truly get going on generating monthly donors. Here are three simple tips to get started: 1. Ask your donors to join Is it really that simple? Yes, it is. If you ask them, they will come. How else are donors going to know that you have a program and you’d like them to join this really convenient way to support your mission? 2. Make it easy to find Occasionally, an organization calls me...

Last week I talked about upgrading your monthly donors, a very important part in growing your program. Today I’ll go back to something that’s even more important with any monthly donor program: Retaining your monthly donors. Like anything with fundraising, the rule of thumb is: If you can keep a monthly donor, that’s still cheaper than bringing in a new one. To calculate how you’re doing with your program, we use the...

This post was also published in Network for Good.   5 Big To-Dos for Monthly Giving Programs One of my favorite breakfasts is the Big-To-Do at Friendly’s. French toast, scrambled eggs and bacon well-done! I’m getting hungry just thinking about it! While this is not breakfast, it’s even more important to ‘enjoy’. So, if you’re serious about your monthly giving program, make sure that you follow these 5 big To-Dos.   Big To-Do 1: Ask...

CAPTCHA  means Completely Automated Public Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart. Captchas are those funny looking characters you see on some web pages before check out or before donating. Basically, they want to make sure the person filling in the form is real. While this is a great idea and essential, Do Not Make The Captcha Too Complicated! This is an example of where the web folks and fundraisers have to get together and get on the...

“Thank you for all your guidance as we implement a monthly giving program.   Your assistance really helped us in our decision making… Thank you greatly”. – Michael   Lately I’m hearing from more and more organizations who just have a few questions as they’re implementing their monthly giving program. You’ve figured out the basics. You’ve implemented the program but you’re just stuck...

I was talking to someone recently who was very concerned. And I can see why. Virtually every time a donor goes online to make a donation to an organization, he or she sees the word Recurring. Many organizations have simply added the word: “Make this gift recurring” message to their online donation form. That’s what their online forms or donor base system’ allowed them to use. But, do donors really know what that word...

I’ve been working in direct marketing, fundraising and monthly giving for a very long time. And of course, I ran into problems. One of the things I learned early on though is that sometimes it’s really important to make sure that you solve the problem where the problem needs to be solved. In other words, sometimes, it looks as if something is causing the problem, but when you analyze it, it’s really caused by something else....

This post was also published as a guest post on About.com  Fundraising, thanks Joanne Fritz! As you know, I’ve been writing about what to do when starting a monthly giving program. Recently, I’ve been talking to a lot of clients about their programs and helping them become more successful. What I found was that those organizations that were struggling to grow their program, undoubtedly were doing one or more of the following 7 no-no’s. The good...

If your answer is YES, I am serious about your recurring giving program, then you MUST: 1. Evaluate your current processes. 2. Project what you can expect, in terms of number of new recurring donors, existing, types of gifts and projected revenue. 3. Decide if you’ll be able to manage the processing in-house or if you should decide to outsource. This is the third in a series of blog posts addressing each and every one of these areas. In...

If your answer is YES, I am serious about your recurring giving program, then you MUST: 1. Evaluate your current processes. 2. Project what you can expect, in terms of number of new recurring donors, existing, types of gifts and projected revenue. 3. Decide if you’ll be able to manage the processing in-house or if you should decide to outsource. This is the second in a series of blog posts that will address each and every one of these...

I truly hope that you’ve made your resolution that this is the year you’re really going to go all out in growing your recurring giving program. You’ve heard me say this before. There is not one standard plan for a recurring giving program. Each plan is tailor made. That’s simply because your potential depends upon a number of factors. The most important ones: the number of donors you have the number of email addresses...

I’m putting on my running shoes! As you’re getting ready to finish this year, here’s my recommendation for your firsts New Year’s Resolution: Start a monthly giving program!  I recommend that you run, not walk so you can reap the results sooner than later and really start building donor’s retention and long-term revenue for your organization. Here are 5 rules to review before you start but don’t take too...

For some this may be a bit controversial, but I think it’s time it’s written: Why is that phone call coming into your living room? Because TELEMARKETING WORKS!! Especially when it comes to generating new monthly donors or reactivating lapsed donors or upgrading monthly donors, it’s an absolute MUST to include telemarketing into your communications plan. Here are the top 6 reasons why: 1. Your donors LOVE to hear from you! 2....

This post was posted as a guest post for Litltle Green Light:  6 tips to awaken the sleeping giants in your donor database: Monthly donors Here’s the full post: According to Erica, “it truly is possible to start and grow a program with even a small staff in a very short period of time, as long as you keep these six tips in mind.” 1. Commit Building a monthly giving program is definitely a long-term investment. This isn’t a...

Another Monthly giving myth debunked… You do not have to have a large staff to run a monthly giving program! You can certainly start small by just offering the program online.  But you must be committed and everybody must understand that everything you do is aimed at generating long term revenue growth. It’s less important what the size of your staff is, but rather the commitment that counts! I recently did a presentation for a group of...