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4 Ways to Generate More Monthly Donors Via ACH Transfer

Just Ask

Many nonprofits are considering ways to upgrade their recurring donors to higher levels. I’ve written in the past about best practices for getting recurring extra gifts and upgrades, but here are a few different approaches you can use with your recurring donors. Ask your monthly donors for a straight upgrade. Ideally, segment your donors by source of […]

Expert Q&A: Laying the Groundwork For Your Monthly Giving Program

When I first started fundraising monthly, now more than 30 years ago, there were only mail and phone appeals. Face-to-face conversations had just started, and some nonprofits were putting their toes in the water with direct response TV. Now, things are quite different. Just about every payment processor and constituent relationship management system (CRM) allow […]

It’s OK If Monthly Donors Start With Low Gift Amounts

One time, on a movie set, Chris Davenport, president of 501 Videos and founder of the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference, noticed a nickel on the floor in a hallway that had a lot of foot traffic. Every other person probably looked at it but decided to walk by, Davenport shared earlier this month during his event’s opening session. […]

What to Do When Your Agency Doesn’t Want to Ask for Monthly Gifts

Monthly gifts

Sadly, I still hear about direct mail and digital agencies and consultants that don’t see the value of monthly giving. A friend of mine, a nonprofit fundraiser, sent me this email recently:  “My agency is against monthly giving. We asked for it to be added in house appeals, and the agency says, ‘We’ll test it […]

Recurring Gifts Rocked It on Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday

The results speak for themselves. Giving Tuesday 2022 saw a 15% increase in dollars raised compared to 2021 with $3.1 billion in total. Wow. If you rocked the results for your Giving Tuesday campaign, congratulations. If you didn’t, there’s always next year and end of year. If you don’t ask, you’re certainly not going to get it. […]

10 Things I Learned From 30 Years in Sustainer Giving, Part 5

Positive People and Positive Things

As a fundraiser, your life is not easy. There are days when you wonder why you’re doing it all. There are days where you’re just Zoomed out. You can’t possibly think about yet one more event, one more direct mail campaign, one more Giving Tuesday or other giving day campaign. The stress is huge. There […]

10 Things I Learned From 30 Years in Sustainer Giving, Part 3

add one more button

I hope you’re enjoying this list of things to focus on when it comes to sustainer giving. So far, I’ve shared four things I’ve learned. Some I had to learn the hard way but certainly they can benefit any and all fundraisers. Here are lessons five and six.  5. Challenges Are Opportunities A prime example […]

10 Things I Learned From 30 Years in Sustainer Giving, Part 2

learn

In a previous article, I shared the first two things I learned during my 30 years of working on sustainer programs. Most of this is not rocket science, but it’s important to keep in mind when you’re looking to grow or retain your sustainers. Here are my next two lessons. 3. Operations Is Your Friend When […]

What I Learned From 30 Years in Sustainer Giving

details

I recently had the pleasure to present a keynote at Sustainers Day, organized by the Direct Marketing Association of Washington. It was a packed house, filled with nonprofits of different sizes and sustainer experiences. I always learned that rather than a how-to session, a keynote was meant to be inspirational in nature. So, I reflected on […]

Add a Monthly Gift Ask to Your Welcome Email Series

ask

At a recent conference, I finally had a chance to meet some of the NextAfter folks in person. We talked about “The Nonprofit Recurring Giving Benchmark” study from NextAfter. It’s now a few years old, but I have a sneaky suspicion that the organization is working on something new and I can’t wait! Its research on digital activities is […]