Blog Series: Level-Up Your Fundraising, Monthly Giving Programs

By StratusLive

July 14, 2021

Welcome to final post of our blog series, “Level-Up Your Fundraising.”

This latest blog series is written to help nonprofits of all sizes navigate through several different fundraising situations. Each tip is designed to help you raise more money with less stress and hassle for your organization.

If you missed part 10 which is all about finding (and using) good fundraising software, you can view it here. 

Part 11: Launch a Monthly Giving Program for Your Nonprofit This Year

Launching a monthly giving program can be a powerful strategy for nonprofits, both large and small. Studies over the past decade have shown that monthly givers give more money and stay with a nonprofit longer than non-monthly givers. Here are some of the reasons why monthly giving is so essential for every nonprofit:

Monthly Donors Give More

Once a donor signs up for a monthly giving program, he or she stays more loyal to the nonprofit and tends to give more than he or she otherwise would. This isn’t because of any “slimy” or ethically grey development practice… it’s because monthly donors, if cultivated right, build stronger relationships with the nonprofits they support, and because that relationship won’t be stopped just because the donor forgets to put a check in the mail. Ending a monthly giving relationship takes a proactive step from the donor, which is unlikely to take place unless they really mean to stop their support for a particular nonprofit.

Monthly Giving Programs Build Strong Relationships

One of the most amazing things about monthly giving is that once a donor signs up for a monthly giving program, you can stop asking them for money because the person is already giving to you every month. Instead of making regular asks, you can focus 100% on stewarding your donors. Imagine, donors that get tons of attention from your nonprofit, and none of it is an ask!

Ok… the truth is that you’ll want to send your monthly donors one ask per year, an opportunity to upgrade/increase their monthly gift. But other than that, all your communications are based on cultivation and stewardship. You can build amazing and robust relationships with your monthly donors, confident in the knowledge that the money is coming in every month.

Monthly Giving Programs Provide a Stable Foundation for Your Nonprofit

Good monthly giving programs build a nice monthly income that your organization can rely on, month in and month out. Instead of waiting around for donor checks to arrive or worrying about whether or not this donor or that donor will make a gift this quarter, you know that you start every month with a nice-sized deposit in the bank. Monthly giving is one of the very few strategies you can use in the nonprofit fundraising world to provide your organization with predictable income.

I’ve seen nonprofits with strong monthly giving programs starting each month with $2,500 -$25,000 in income and some large regional and national organizations bring in $100,000 or more per month from monthly giving. What a way to start each month!

Monthly Giving Programs Lower Fundraising Costs

While there can be some expense in launching a really good monthly giving program (including doing mailings and preparing materials), overall, the larger your monthly giving program becomes, the lower your fundraising costs will be. As donors sign up for monthly giving, you can stop sending them direct mail solicitations and stop worrying about scheduling asks and follow-up calls. And… because monthly givers are more loyal to your organization, you can spend less money trying to find new donors to fill in for all the donors who lapse each year.

Conclusion

Fundraising is the lifeblood of your nonprofit. Without fundraising, you can’t run programs, hire staff, or accomplish your mission. Every aspect of your development program should be analyzed to ensure that you receive maximum return for each investment of time, money, and bandwidth into your development program. Use the 11 tips in this blog series to maximize your revenue, so your organization can have an even greater impact on those you serve.