Originally posted in NonProfit Pro  What’s the monthly donor experience when he or she fills in the online donation form and clicks the button to submit? In virtually all online donation platforms, it’s a two-step process. The minute the donor hits submit, he or she gets an auto-responder message, confirming that wonderful monthly gift. Then, secondly, an email is sent to the monthly donor confirming that gift again. In many online donation...

If you’re an organization that has had monthly donors for a while, you’ll know that some of your monthly donors can and will stay with you for decades! Of course that in part depends on their age when joining. Typically, I’m seeing that those donors continue to give monthly for 5 years to 7 years. That’s great news, isn’t it? If you treat your monthly donors like your best friends, the news will get even better! Because these “small” donors...

This post was written for and published by Nonprofit Pro.  One of the first things I recommend when you’re starting to work on growing your monthly donor program is to create the “promises” you’ll make to the monthly donors when they join. What will you send them? How are you planning to recognize them? So let’s begin with the end in mind. Think through the thank you opportunities then decide what you’ll tell them and what you’ll keep as a...

Be forewarned, this is a sad story… but it can have a good ending! As you know from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, based upon 2015 data, the typical donor retention rates were 46%, which is why monthly donors are so important as monthly donor retention rates are much higher. The good news is that more and more nonprofits have started a monthly donor program. And as monthly donor programs mature, upgrades, reactivations and...

This post was first written for and published by Donor Perfect and can be viewed here.  Happy new year! I hope you did fantastic and exceeded your year-end goals! Now it’s back to reality.  You’ve processed all of your donations for 2016.  You’re current with your thank you letters.  That should suffice, right? Then a monthly donor calls and wants a tax-receipt for all of her donations for the year, even though she gets her...

One of the neat things about the internet is that it’s really made asking for monthly donations so much easier. Especially after they’ve just done something else. There are so many success stories. Where to begin? Let’s start with your auto-responder. Say, you’re an advocacy organization and you do ask people to sign your petition. Did you know that you can use the auto-responder after they signed the petition not only...

This blog post was also published in Direct Marketing Advents, the publication of the Direct Marketing Association of Washington, DMAW. If you’ve seen or heard me present about monthly giving before, you know that I always recommend the following first step of running a monthly giving program: Put one person in charge! (Note, If you’re a large organization, the above guideline could be expanded to: put ONE department in charge, but it will make...

At a recent webinar, two people asked me the question: How do I integrate monthly giving with my workplace giving campaign: those individuals who have designated us and we receive a small amount through their pay check every pay period. My answer is: If you’d like, you can recognize them as monthly donors and tell the donors this either upfront before they decide to support you through their pay check or you can tell them afterwards. BUT,...

This post was prepared as a guest blog for Michael Rosen.  How can Nana Murphy make you a better fundraising professional? This is a post based upon the session I attended at the recent AFP International conference in Boston. Thank you, Michael, for sharing this post with your audience. The session I attended was called: From Ireland with Love, presented by Denisa Casement, CFRE, Head of Fundraising, Merchants Quay Ireland, Dublin,  Lisa...

As you’re wrapping up the year, consider starting the new year fresh with a bigger focus on monthly giving. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! Is this you? You’ve just brought on a number of new donors. With Giving Tuesday, perhaps a few targeted crowd funding appeals, through your facebook donate button and of course directed to your site through your holiday appeal. Most of these donors could be and stay one-time...

At a recent webinar, someone asked me: Are there certain parameters to use to find your best monthly donor prospects? The general answer is: Yes, there certainly are! But, it depends on what you’re trying to accomplish. And where you are in your monthly donor program. And how you’re offering monthly donors to give (credit/debit card only or credit/debit card and EFT)? And it depends on which media you’re using to raise funds...

Wait, you want me to ask a donor who just gave to give monthly? Does that work? YES, it absolutely works! As you know, the key with new donors especially is to get them ‘in the fold’ as soon as possible. That means that you have to ask them to give another gift as soon as possible. Research shows that the longer you wait, the less likely you’re going to get another gift. So, here’s what I recommend: for new donors: Send...

Here are the Top 3 take-aways from Ring, Ring, what’s that retention tool doing in my living room? session At the recent Bridge Conference, held in Washington DC National Harbor, I presented a session with Nick Stavarz, Synergy and Anna Averling of the American Bible Society on the use of the phone in improving donor retention. Here are the top 3 take-aways from this session: 1. Telemarketing is one of the most successful and versatile tools in...

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...

A question fundraisers often ask me, is: “Can I send appeals to my monthly donors?” My answer is a resounding YES!! Sending annual appeals should be part of your ongoing cultivation and recognition process. Typically there’s this pause. Then they tell me: “But wait,  they’re already giving me a gift monthly. Wouldn’t these donors get upset and think we’ve become too greedy if we sent them an appeal with...

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...

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...

“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...

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....

Happy Fourth of July week! This is a really important myth to debunk as soon as possible. The number one reason why many organizations are now so interested in generating monthly donors is, because they stay with you for years and years and years. I’ve seen research from organizations that have been offering monthly giving programs for over 20 years and they actually have identified donors who are still giving monthly to this very day! Now, if...

This was published as a guest post for About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs How to Go Beyond a Receipt People often ask me, is it important to thank a recurring donor every month?  The answer depends on how they gave in the first place. Read more...

This past week I had the pleasure of presenting a webinar for Pamela Grow’s Simple Development System members. I’m very grateful to Pam as she introduced me to webinars a little over a year ago! Since then, I’ve joined the subject matter expert team of Charity How To and I am having a lot of fun teaching organizations how they can get started and grow a monthly giving program with very limited resources. A couple of key pieces...

You may have read Pamela’s recent post, called The Dark side of nonprofit monthly giving. Pamela Grow and Joe Garecht are two colleagues of mine who are tremendous advocates for monthly giving… In fact, I’ll be presenting a webinar as part of their monthly giving e-course soon. Thank you! It’s still absolutely astounding to me to see how even large organizations are struggling with this ‘no-brainer retention...

I’m totally excited about this post. It came in when I was on vacation. Thank you, Roger and the Agitator for the Raise on the book! Here’s a short intro and a link to the full post. Fundraising Land Grab By Roger Craver   |    February 14, 2014 On Valentine’s Day, it’s fitting that The Agitator focus on fundraising’s equivalent of the ‘going steady’ relationship — the sustaining, committed or monthly giving donor. Chuck Longfield,...

“Difficult things we do quickly. The impossible takes a little longer”  –David Ben Gurion Today I’d like to focus on what I consider the most crucial part of any monthly giving program, small or large, called Retention. After all, the beauty of generating monthly donors or sustainers is that they are supposed to stay with you for a very long time and they’ll generate lots of revenue to support the mission of your organization. So, once...

So, you’re thinking about starting a monthly giving program. And you’ve talked to your boss and he’s ‘willing to test it’.  He’s giving you 6 months to ‘make a go of it’. I hear this a lot.  Please go back to your boss and tell him that you need everybody in your organization to commit to the program!! Here’s why. You’re asking your donors to make a monthly gift to your organization. You’re asking them to make a commitment to you and you want...

People love check lists, so I created one for monthly giving. Here’s a simple list with 10 Tips to Awaken Monthly Giving. The Sleeping Giant to help you get started right away. Also, if you’d like to receive more practical tips on how to start or grow your monthly giving program in your inbox once a month, just sign up for blog posts right here. And if you have any specific questions, just send me an email at...

I’m a true Direct mail junky! And I’ve been one for many years! Once I started working at Reader’s Digest, I got totally hooked. There’s a lot more to it than we know. Psychology, who are you mailing to, checking how people read, where do we put the picture, what’s a good headline, what’s the best story? Who signs the letter? What are we doing with the ask amounts, and so much more… But what I...