Five Steps for Building a Monthly Giving Program
by Harvey McKinnon on August 26th, 2015By building a monthly giving program, organizations can ensure a steady cash flow and deepen relationships with existing donors. Here’s a few important steps to help you build your monthly giving program:
1. Organize a backend system for payment processing
We recommend organizations collect donations through electronic funds transfers and credit cards. You should sort it out with your bank or use a third-party supplier who processes the gifts. Be warned though that in the United States credit cards are compromised more often, so extra precautions should be taken to protect donor information.
2. Make donation amounts seem manageable
Many organizations use lines like ‘For just 50 cents a day’, to make the gift seem manageable to donors. Find a way to present a monthly rate which the donor can easily justify paying. This way people will have a harder time finding a reason to say, “No”
3. Identify your fundraising touch points and maximize conversions
Identify all of the ways your organization fundraises, whether it’s by face-to-face conversations, telephone calls, e-mails or online calls to action. Find the most successful means for collecting donors and use these as a way to develop your monthly giving programs. Use all of the channels you have and cross-promote your monthly giving program as the best option for donors.
4. Leave monthly giving renewals open-ended
When someone signs up for a monthly giving program, avoid requiring them to renew. This can be easily avoided by using electronic transfers and credit card databases.
5. Avoid aggressive attempts at upgrading
We recommend you do not try to upgrade your donors to higher gifts more than once or twice a year. If your average monthly donor is giving $200 a year, you’ll need four people to give an extra $5 a month to cover a loss if one person quits, so it’s a fine line.
If you’d like more information about growing your monthly giving program please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us as info@harveymckinnon.com.
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