Recurring donations are among the best ways for your organization to create continuous revenue.
Monthly giving, quarterly giving, weekly giving…no matter the interval, recurring gifts provide consistent support for your mission and programs. But securing recurring donors takes time and strategy.
Let’s take a look at how you can create a successful recurring giving program for your nonprofit!
How Recurring Donations Help Your Nonprofit
Recurring donations and monthly giving are some of the most reliable revenue streams for nonprofit organizations.
Recurring giving is automated generosity. Donors set up a recurring donation plan by selecting an interval and a gift amount. This gift is then automatically pulled from a donor’s account at that selected interval until the donor makes a change.
Because of this automation, recurring donations bring in consistent income that your organization can count on year-round. This helps with planning ahead, starting new programs, responding to emergencies, and more. No more slumps!
Plus, it’s estimated that recurring donors give 42% more on an annual basis when compared to one-time donors!
Many of your donors may not have the capacity to make large financial gifts. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t want to contribute more. With recurring donations, your supporters can make several smaller, more affordable gifts that add up to have a big impact.
Why Your Nonprofit Needs a Recurring Giving Program
But it isn’t enough to just offer a recurring donations option to your supporters. To be successful, you need to build a strong recurring giving program.
A recurring giving program is a concentrated effort to secure these reliable donations through a variety of targeted strategies and tactics. Creating a program provides your team members with guide rails for engaging and recruiting recurring donors. It also helps your donors feel like they are part of something larger than themselves and builds donor loyalty.
Tip from the Playbook: Millennials are good targets for a recurring giving program. This is due to their familiarity with subscriptions, their propensity to provide ongoing support, and their desire for belonging.
9 Ways to Increase Recurring Donations
Impactful recurring donation programs involve several strategies focused specifically on securing ongoing gifts.
Here are nine ways you can increase recurring donations for your nonprofit.
1. Create a memorable name for your recurring giving program
Remember, one reason for building a recurring giving program is that it helps donors feel like they are part of something bigger.
Developing a creative name for your group of recurring donors gives them that sense of teamwork and belonging!
Your program’s title can include the name of your nonprofit, it can allude to your mission, or it can be focused on the sustained impact of its members.
To spark your creativity, we came up with a few ideas for your program name.
Name Ideas for a Recurring Donation or Monthly Giving Program
- Sustainer Circle
- (Nonprofit Name) Heroes
- (Nonprofit Name) Changemakers
- (Mission-Centric) Buddies
- Team (Nonprofit Name or Mission)
- Impact Partners
- Friends of (Nonprofit Name)
- (Mission-Centric) Warriors
- (Nonprofit Name) Community
2. Make it easy to start a recurring donation plan
Starting a recurring donation plan should be just as easy as making a one-time donation. The faster and easier the process is, the more likely it is that a donor will complete their gift!
Even better, include a recurring giving option wherever your supporters can donate.
Recurring Gifts on Online Donation Forms
Make it simple for donors to start a recurring donation plan online by adding giving intervals to your online giving form on your fundraising page.
Tip from the Playbook: If your donation form includes suggested donation amounts, adjust them so that these suggested amounts are smaller for recurring donors.
Recurring Giving Options on Return Devices
If your nonprofit sends direct mail, add recurring giving interval options to your return devices. This way, every appeal letter, impact report, or newsletter becomes an opportunity to grow your recurring donor base.
In-Person Fundraising & Recurring Donations
Does your nonprofit do a lot of in-person fundraising? Perhaps through a digital donation kiosk at events or in your lobby, place of worship, or gift shop? See if you can make recurring donations via your giving kiosk!
If you don’t have a kiosk, use tools like QR codes and text-to-give to direct donors to online donation forms with recurring donation options.
3. Make it possible for donors to manage their own recurring gifts
Build donor trust by providing supporters with the autonomy to edit, upgrade, or cancel their recurring donations at any time.
This is best done through a donor portal or account. Donors log in to view and change their recurring donation plan, contact information, communication preferences, and other details.
For those who don’t wish to go online, offer a direct phone line or email address. Respond to any change requests in a timely manner.
4. Run a fundraising campaign focused on recurring giving
Whether you’re launching a new recurring giving program or promoting an existing one, running an omnichannel fundraising campaign focused on appealing for recurring donations is a great way to get your messaging out there.
Your campaign may run for a short period – say, a few weeks to a month or two – or you may spread it out over the course of the year. Either way, set a SMART goal, determine your target audience, and hone your messaging before starting a recurring or monthly giving campaign.
MVP Playbook Resource: Use our free Fundraising Campaign Checklist to guide you through the process of planning and implementing an effective fundraising campaign.
5. Target existing donors or volunteers with recurring donation asks
Audience segmentation and personalization are the keys to the success of any fundraising campaign.
The audience segments who will likely be the most receptive to an appeal for recurring gifts are those who already know and love your mission. These potential target audiences include:
- Volunteers – Your dedicated volunteers give a lot of their time, but might feel like they don’t have the capacity to make a difference with their dollars. Letting your volunteers know about recurring giving may open the door for a few to start making smaller contributions that add up.
- Repeat donors – You likely already have a pool of donors who are giving fairly often, but they have yet to automate their gifts. Thank them for their ongoing support, fill them in on the convenience of recurring donations, and help them get started.
- One-time donors – These are donors who have given at least once to your organization, but not on a regular basis. They may be interested in becoming a regular supporter, but they haven’t been asked! Add a donation upsell feature to your website that prompts these donors to upgrade their one-time gift.
MVP Playbook Resource: Developing target personas helps refine your communications planning and messaging so that it resonates with the right audience. Download our Target Personas Worksheet to get started!
6. Add the benefits of recurring giving to your messaging
No matter which audience segment you’re targeting with your outreach, talk about the benefits of recurring giving in your messaging.
Include benefits for the donor – such as convenience, spreading out contributions over time to make a larger impact in a wallet-friendly way, and being a part of something bigger.
And the benefits for your nonprofit – like reliable revenue year-round, the ability to plan ahead for new and expanded programs, and emergency preparedness that enables you to quickly respond to increased need at any time.
7. Share impact and stories specific to recurring donations
Showcasing the impact your donors have on your mission and those you serve is one of the best ways to capture gifts, and this applies to recurring giving programs as well.
In this case, however, aim to choose data and stories that can be specifically applied to recurring donations.
Examples of Recurring Giving Data Messaging
- Your gift of $50 per month provides one week of groceries to a family in need.
- Your weekly donation of $15 provides medical transportation to a senior citizen.
- It costs $30 per month to feed one of our shelter dogs. Can you help?
Examples of Monthly Giving or Recurring Donation Stories
- One monthly donor shares their personal “why” behind giving each month.
- One beneficiary shares all that your organization does for them in a month.
- One volunteer talks about the impact they see first-hand, month after month.
8. Develop a stewardship program for recurring donations
Take your recurring giving program to the next level! Develop a stewardship program specifically for recurring donors.
This includes a donor cycle filled with 1:1 touchpoints. Complete outreach, such as handwritten thank-you notes and personal phone calls, at key milestones. Think the first recurring gift, after a set number of donations, when a donor increases their donation amount, and even when a donor cancels a recurring gift.
Your stewardship plan can also include a schedule of outreach for all of your recurring donors. You might produce a special newsletter, send invitations to exclusive events, or offer the opportunity to be featured on social media, on your website, or in your annual report.
9. Choose a fundraising platform with helpful recurring giving features
Want to make launching or improving your recurring giving program 10x easier? Choose your fundraising platform wisely.
At the very least, your fundraising platform should make it quick and simple to accept and track recurring donations. But there are fundraising software options available that will help you level up your monthly giving strategies!
Look for fundraising platforms that provide user-friendly donor accounts or portals, customizable recurring donation forms, detailed donor segmentation, and other tools that will lighten your load.
Tools of the Trade: Our favorite fundraising platform for recurring donations and monthly giving is Donorbox.
Not only is it free and quick to get started, but the Donorbox OmniGive™ Donation Form has a wide range of recurring giving features. Choose from eight giving intervals, select custom suggested donation amounts for both one-time and recurring gifts, and add features like a donor wall and a goal meter. Plus, Donorbox offers donor accounts that make it easy for supporters to manage their recurring donations on their own.
Plus, upgrading to Donorbox Pro brings you even more exciting options, such as Recurring Donation Boost. This smart prompt helps turn one-time donations into recurring gifts!
Start Bringing In Reliable Revenue Today
It’s time to stop worrying about fundraising slumps and start bringing consistent, reliable revenue for your nonprofit!
Use the strategies here to guide you through building an impactful recurring giving program that successfully secures more income through recurring donations.
If you need help bringing in recurring gifts, reach out to MVP Advisors. Our team of experienced nonprofit consultants is here to guide you through launching or improving your recurring donation program, engaging and stewarding recurring donors, and much more. Get in touch or set up a call today to get started!