Does your organization emphasize monthly giving? Do you have a branded monthly giving club? Monthly giving programs offer great value. In fact, monthly donors give 42% more than one-time donors give over the course of a year.
If you struggle to make your monthly giving program a priority, these facts might help you get it back on the front burner:
- Monthly donation programs provide recurring revenue and budget stability by creating a steady income stream that allows you to plan and budget your nonprofit spending accordingly.
- A monthly giving program provides the opportunity for supporters to provide an amount they can afford monthly and feel engaged and connected to the cause.
- More than half of Millennials are interested in monthly giving—imagine developing relationships and support with them now and having your monthly donations from them grow as their incomes do.
- Monthly giving encourages donors to sign up one time and automates their payments moving forward—this helps avoid the problem of one-time donors procrastinating or waiting for the right time to donate one large amount.
- Monthly donors are usually active in communication and engagement with your nonprofit, giving you the opportunity to reach them with newsletters and updates.
Promoting monthly giving
When supporters visit your website, promote and encourage them to participate in your monthly giving programs. A great example of this can be found on The Universal Fund at Watsi website. When you land on their homepage the first thing you will notice is that they have carved out real estate to specifically ask for monthly giving, with a touching photograph, a large space to enter a monthly donation amount and a big blue button that encourages you to “donate now.”
Additional ideas to promote monthly giving on your website
While it’s wise to use multiple channels (social media, video, blogs, direct mail) to promote your monthly giving options, here are some website-specific ways to encourage donors to routinely give:
- Feature monthly giving on your home page – Make your monthly giving call to action a prominent part of your website. While it may not need to be front and center, it should be clearly indicated that this is an action you would like your visitors to take.
- Create a specific monthly giving page – Your nonprofit website can specifically set aside a page dedicated to your monthly giving programs. Express the reason your nonprofit needs monthly donations, how the support will be used and the methods that your supporters can sign up to give their donations.
- Add a monthly option to your donation page – While this may seem obvious, your donation page should have the option to sign up and donate monthly in addition to your one-time options.
You can also spotlight monthly giving across all channels—whether it’s on your blog, social media channels or website, share the impact of monthly giving and those your nonprofit is helping. You can include a visual that displays how various monthly amounts make a difference (i.e. $50 a month feeds a family of four for a year). In addition, provide updates on social media with your followers sharing how much a monthly donation impacts a life. Include a link in that post to your monthly giving page.
Making an effort to promote monthly giving on your nonprofit website will help your organization create a reliable, consistent stream of donations to help plan and budget. If you need help creating powerful donation pages or finding new strategies to increase monthly donations, we’ve got the resources to help you—give us a call!
