How to Get Monthly Donors and Grow Your Recurring Giving Program

If you’ve already started your nonprofit’s monthly giving program, you’ve likely seen the results it can bring.

Now, let’s talk about growth and acquiring more donors.

However, if you haven’t taken the first steps yet, I highly suggest you check out our 6-phase playbook to starting your monthly giving program and then head back here.

When you’re ready to take your monthly program to the next level, expanding your recurring giving program isn’t magic; it’s a series of strategic, practical steps that build on what you’ve already achieved.

• Here at 4aGoodCause (4aGC), we’ve seen that the 4aGC average monthly donor gives $756 per year.
• And while the 2024 M+R Benchmarks study notes monthly givers donate an average of $24 per month, our 4aGC monthly gift average is $63!

This is HUGE for our clients, which are small to midsize nonprofits, and has resulted in a ton of success stories.

After 25+ years serving the nonprofit world, I’m here to get straight to the point and share exactly what you need to do to attract new monthly donors, keep them engaged, and even inspire them to upgrade donation amounts over time.

You’ll cover:

1. Find out what’s working and what’s not
2. How to acquire new monthly donors
3. The best ways to retain monthly donors
4. How to upgrade current recurring donors over time

From solidifying your acquisition tactics and retention practices to tracking your benchmarks and planning for future trends, I’ll clearly walk you through the work that needs to be done for long-term success

📝 Important note: There are no affiliate links included here. I do mention 4aGoodCause, our user-friendly monthly giving software, but every insight in this article is given freely from my 25+ years of hands-on experience with nonprofits.

Growing beyond your founding recurring donors: What’s working?

Before you invest in the work it takes to grow your recurring fundraising program, you need to find out what’s working—and what’s not.

When a client first launches a monthly giving campaign, I advise them to start with what I like to call founding members.

Your founding members are the first recurring donors who join your program, and they’re often prospects who are already deeply committed to your mission.

You can launch your recurring giving program with this initial group—not only honoring them with special recognition for being founders in the program, but also using them to determine what works and what doesn’t.

This group makes for an excellent, trusted testing ground to ensure your systems and software run smoothly before your full launch—or before you invest in growth mode.

These founders often include:

• Past and current board members
• One-time donors who have consistently volunteered over the years
• Routine annual donors who give at the end of the year
• Existing donors who give semi-regularly although gift amounts vary

Find out what’s working

Once you’ve launched with this group, after 2–3 months, ask them for testimonials to include in your promotional materials for your broader launch or promotions to grow your giving program.

Has your monthly giving program already been in place for years, and this year you have the goal to increase recurring givers?

Great! Go you. This guide will still be immensely helpful.

If you’ve already had a recurring donor program in place, now’s the time to reach out to your current monthly donors or founding donors before prepping to bring new ones on.

Here’s what you can ask to gather testimonials—these questions can be sent out in a simple anonymous survey in your next email marketing send:

• What inspired you to become a recurring donor with our organization?
• How do you feel about your ongoing support for the organization’s mission?
• What makes you the most proud about supporting our nonprofit?
• What do you like best about the recurring giving option?
• Can you describe what being a recurring donor means to you personally?
• How does our outreach and engagement make you feel valued as a donor?
• If you could say one thing to encourage potential donors or friends to join this program and help the cause, what would it be?
• Your stewardship has been an integral part in completing our organization’s work. In what ways do you see your ongoing support making a difference?
• Is there anything that you would improve about the program? For example, communications, perks, sense of community, etc.?

Feel free to steal a few (or all!) of the questions above to solicit testimonials to use in building your growth and donor retention initiatives.

Here’s what you really want to know: What caused them to take that first step in giving?

Take a play out of a for-profit marketer’s playbook, and use the actual language your target audience (or in this case, recurring donor base) uses to describe why they give and why they care.

These organic statements are great for sharing on social media, your donation pages, and in fresh campaigns to transform one-time donations into regular monthly contributions.

Next up, you need to find out what’s not working. But this isn’t as scary as it sounds.

💡Did you know? North American nonprofits generated 2.4X more revenue through recurring givers than single gift donors in 2023. (Source: 2024 Recurring Giving Benchmark Report.)

Find out what’s NOT working

In this step, you’ll need to scrutinize your current internal processes across your team and program.

If you launched your program some time ago and the growth has stalled or you’ve lost regular givers, this step is vital.

Here are 5 things you can do to uncover what can be improved about your monthly giving program for your donors or your team:

1. Analyze the data: Dive into donor retention metrics and donation trends throughout your calendar. Look for patterns or shifts in giving frequency, amounts, and timing that might indicate when and why engagement dropped. Did your communications about your donation program change? Is it a challenge to keep up with declined or expired debit cards, so you’re losing donors?
2. Survey your donors: Send out targeted surveys or conduct one-on-one interviews with current and past recurring givers. Ask about their experience, satisfaction, and any obstacles they’ve encountered in continuing their support. If possible, make quick phone calls to recurring donors who stopped giving to get their feedback.
3. Take a look at current program messaging: Evaluate whether the messaging and value propositions of your program still align with your donors’ expectations and your organization’s current impact. Do you need to make improvements before you expand?
4. Get feedback from staff and volunteers: Do you have the right systems, workflows, or software in place to make things easier on everyone? Are there overcomplicated workflows that are causing challenges? Will your software help you acquire, retain, and upgrade monthly donors? Your software should hit all three pieces and make your job easier on each front.
5. Test new approaches: Consider running small-scale experiments, such as A/B testing different messaging or donor engagement tactics, to see what might better connect with your audience.

⭐Did you know? 4aGoodCause understands the unique challenges nonprofits face, especially those with smaller teams. So we built a platform that makes monthly giving simple… even if you have zero tech skills. Learn more.

How do you know if you have a monthy donor retention issue?

In general, the annual retention rate for your monthly donors should ideally be 85% or higher.

Since monthly donors are often more committed or invested than one-time donors, typically they retain at a higher rate.

Here’s a monthly door benchmark to guide you based on my experience in this industry:

• 85-90% retention: This is a strong retention rate. It signals that your donor stewardship is successful. Go you!
• Below 80% retention: This usually indicates a possible issue with your donor engagement, communications, or stewardship strategies. So it’s worth investigating.
• 70% or below: For monthly donors, 70% or below would be setting off alarm bells for me. In this case, urgent analysis and intervention are necessary.

What donors to target for monthly giving programs

When you’re planning your outreach to grow your monthly giving program, consider creating a fundraising strategy to transform these types of donors into recurring givers:

• Loyal donors: Those who have given consistently or repeatedly in the past are great candidates. Their established trust makes them more likely to commit to regular, ongoing contributions. Consider including a QR code on your next direct mail campaign that links to the donation page for your monthly sustainer program.
• Engaged one-time donors: Donors who have made a one-time gift but have shown strong interest in your cause through reading your communications, volunteering, advocating, or sharing your cause can be nurtured into monthly supporters.
• First-time online donors: These folks are ideal candidates for becoming monthly donors because their initial act of giving already signals a commitment to your cause. They’re not just casual supporters—they took the step to donate, showing interest and trust in your organization. And since they gave online, they’re already comfortable with electronic giving. Think about creating a welcome email series to encourage them to become recurring supporters or try to convert them as they make their next online gift. To make this easy, 4aGC has conversion pop-up feature that asks a one-time giver to convert to monthly. It converted at 3% for our clients in 2024!
• Annual donors: Donors who already contribute on an annual basis often appreciate the idea of spreading their support over time. Plus, recurring givers have higher retention rates, so converting annual donors to regularly monthly donors is a smart use of your communications energy!
• Advocates and volunteers: Those actively involved in your organization’s community or volunteer efforts tend to have a deep connection to your mission—and they may also be more inclined to give regularly. Tap into this group, as it’s full of potential monthly donors!
• Younger donors: Younger supporters, who are often comfortable with digital credit card and debit payments and subscription models, might find the concept of monthly giving especially appealing. Offering self-selected suggested donation amounts along with a few core set monthly donation offerings is a good idea for this group.

By segmenting your audience this way, you can tailor your messaging and engagement strategies to highlight the benefits and impact of consistent support for each group.

📚Learn more: Simplify your donor segmentation with tags

How to acquire new monthly donors

Once you’ve explored what’s worked well and what needs changing, it’s time to go out and get those new donors.

These are some of the best ways to solicit for more monthly donations from prospective donors within your current audience and beyond:

1. Get the word out
2. Think “recurring first” at events
3. Branch out into partnerships

💡 Did you know? 4aGoodCause makes online fundraising simple with easy-to-use features. Plus, its intuitive donor management, integrations, and recurring giving tools help turn one-time donors into monthly givers. Learn more.

1. Get the word out

It’s time to do some good, old-fashioned marketing.

Announce your official launch of the program, and call on your founding members to join in the celebration by sharing the news in their own social circles.

If your program has been in operation for some time, ask current monthly donors to seek out at least one friend or family member to join in supporting the cause.

🧑🏽‍🏫Pro tip: If you have big growth goals this year and don’t have a set of founding members, think about “converting” your existing base of monthly donors into the founding members. Then, relaunch your recurring fundraising campaign with their help to ramp-up excitement.

You’ll also want to:

• Leverage social media: Share engaging social media content that tells your nonprofit’s story—and the story of your monthly giving program. Use short videos or donor testimonials on social platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram to illustrate the real-life impact of monthly giving.
• Do email outreach: Target your one-time donors with a dedicated email campaign that explains the benefits of recurring donations. You can do this in a short initial email series of 3-5 emails. Then, retarget one-time donors who didn’t convert into monthly givers again later in the year. Share clear calls to action that invite them to join your community of monthly givers and the incentives that make it worth it.
• Brush up on your content marketing efforts: If you’re going to run a big, fresh monthly giving fundraising campaign, make sure to freshen up your site’s content if possible. Create blog posts that feature success stories or case studies that detail how monthly contributions have made a difference. This educational approach builds trust and shows potential donors the tangible benefits of their regular support.
• Highlight the incentives: Share the special incentives that your recurring donors have access to. Do recurring donors get early access to special events or merch? Are there perks based on giving level? Get the word out about the benefits of the program compared to a one-time gift.

📚Learn more: Time for a refresh? A 6-step marketing checklist to reset your nonprofit

2. Think “recurring first” at events

Recurring giving and fundraising events go hand-in-hand and complement one another well.

• Shift your mindset to see every fundraising event as not just another fundraiser, but an event that advertises your monthly giving option.
• Consider your most popular, best-attended event, and decide if you need to do an extra push to get more monthly donors at that specific gathering.

To do so, create signage that highlights the monthly giving program and the lasting impact it can make all year long, and make it really easy for people to sign up on the spot.

Many 4aGoodCause clients like to use a simple QR code or text to donate option to pair with their monthly giving page. That way, online donation forms are right there with you for in-person events.

Have your team do a few announcements, highlighting the monthly giving program name, where to sign up, and the impact giving on a monthly basis can have, throughout the fundraising event.

And don’t forget about virtual events! Webinars or live Q&A sessions are a great way to expand beyond your local community, build emotional connection with potential donors, and highlight success stories from the program.

For example, a live session with a beneficiary or a behind-the-scenes look at your operations can inspire potential donors to commit to a recurring gift.

📚Learn more: How to Run an Online Raffle Successfully in 7 Simple Steps

3. Branch out into partnerships

To grow your program and get more monthly donors, consider developing partnerships with local influencers, businesses, and community groups to extend your reach beyond your current audience.

Keep in mind who your target donor is, and find new relationships that help you get in front of them.

This could look a variety of different ways, depending on your target donor, including:

• Working with a popular locally owned restaurant to feature the program
• Seeking out parenting groups and kids sports clubs to share about supporting the cause
• Asking corporate partners to present your program to their employees
• Partnering with local influencers or community events to spread the word

How to retain monthly donors

Monthly donors have a higher retention rate than one-time donors—as well as a higher lifetime value (LTV).

But that doesn’t mean you can let traditional donor retention practices fall by the wayside.

🤩 Did you know? A typical monthly donor’s lifetime value (LTV) is around $2,400 on average. (Source: Recurring Giving Benchmark Study 2024).

Whether you’ve been in the nonprofit world for two days or two decades, you know firsthand how crucial donor relationships are.

One of the best ways to retain your monthly donors is to develop a real relationship through communicating on a regular basis about the impact of their contributions toward your cause.

And these communications can be templated and sent when specific events are triggered. Think beyond your donation thank-you email or the regular, monthly thank-you on the receipt for recurring givers.

A simple monthly email newsletter targeted at monthly donors is an easy place to start.

📚Read more: 10 Simple Ways to Retain Monthly Donors and Reduce Churn

You can also plan thank-you emails for recurring giving upgrades—and even cancellations, thanking the donor for their time and generosity toward your nonprofit organization.

If you’re a 4aGoodCause client, thank-you emails go out automatically for every update and cancellation. You also have access to a seamless Mailchimp integration that will allow you send personalized newsletters and even segmented communications based on how you tag your donors in the system.

💡Pro-tip: Your regular templated email communications should include a personal touch and be audited and/or refreshed once or twice a year as demonstrated in the below LinkedIn post from T. Clay Buck..

I like to think about the work to retain donors as building:

1. A sense of community
2. Trust through transparency
3. Honor and gratitude into every touchpoint

And you can build all three of these elements into a single email.

For example, you likely designed your monthly giving program to include exclusive perks and communications. And you may have even chosen a name for your program that evoked a community effort, using words like guild, member, society, association, etc.

Those efforts will work to build a sense of community on their own, but allowing your recurring donors a regular glimpse into how—as a community—their gifts are changing lives or impacting others builds a lasting sense of collective purpose.

This helps with donor retention, especially if you connect it to the social aspect of the community. Getting monthly donors together at events where you can share the impact of their giving is where they get to hang out with like-minded people.

Plus, you can build trust through transparently sharing updates about annual needs, expenses, and funds that are anticipated—in person or through your digital outreach.

Here’s how to do this with just one email or communication touchpoint (like a webinar or in-person event):

• Share exclusive monthly or quarterly impact reports with this group of givers, showcasing their collective work toward meeting real needs—building both a sense of community and trust.
• Give birthday or giving-anniversary shoutouts in your regular communications to members of the program—building both a sense of community and honor/gratitude.
• Offer behind-the-scenes looks via videos or even in-person tours to show impact and operations needs—building a sense of trust and community.

And beyond communication touch points, you can get creative with showcasing your successful monthly giving program to members and increase donor retention over time:

• Have a “Sustainer wall” via mural or thoughtful design in your organization’s building or office that includes the name of each active recurring giver.
• Each year, host a gratitude party or “donor family night” event that celebrates the generosity of this group, showcases powerful impact stories, and offers a small gift or momento of gratitude.
• Invest in interviewing long-term donors, especially if they’re recurring donors, honoring their commitment and highlighting their “why” to inspire support for the cause.

How to upgrade current recurring donors over time

Before I wrap up this guide, I need to address this common concern that I run into with many nonprofit leaders:

How do you upgrade recurring donors over time? Especially without creating fatigue?

You can upgrade your monthly donors with similar, well-timed campaigns that you’d send to your one-time donors, including:

• Their giving anniversary
• In a Giving Tuesday or end-of-year annual campaign
• For a special cause, increased need, or new fundraising initiative
• At a special event, like your annual fundraising dinner

However, in addition to these tried-and-true upgrade touchpoints, you can create a system that is customized for your monthly givers.

If you’re a 4aGC client, this step is easy. You’ll have access to donor upgrade links, which are unique URLs for each donor with an offer page to increase their gift.

Some other examples include:

• A personalized (but templatized) check-in every 6 months, saying thank you and adding a post-script note that they can upgrade through their donor account at any time.
• An annual educational email about payment methods, letting your donors know it costs your nonprofit less if they use e-checks or autodrafts from their bank account, allowing more funds to directly go to the cause.
• A biannual campaign that includes a celebratory offer of a thank-you gift or organizational merch when they upgrade, also allowing them to forgo a gift if they prefer.

📚Learn more: The donor journey and the importance of content marketing

Test and grow

When strategizing a plan to increase your monthly givers, don’t hesitate to repeat the core messaging of your program to your prospective monthly donors.

What may sound repetitive to you about the monthly giving option is still something that needs to be “downloaded” by your potential donors.

For example, you might feel hesitant to send 5 emails in a month with similar messaging upon your launch of the monthly giving program. However, it’s likely your donor base “downloaded” very little of that information on the first and second email send.

In fact, studies show that people forget about 50% of the information presented to them within one hour.

So don’t be afraid to say what you need to say—and then say it again.

Test your messaging as you implement your strategy, and determine what works best with the audience you’re targeting.

Some core key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor include:

• Email open rates: Are your subject lines enticing curiosity and are your digital communications being opened?
• Email read times or dwell times: If potential monthly donors are reading your emails and/or are lingering on your monthly donation pages, this is a good sign.
• Click-through rates: Is the copy compelling enough to earn a click? If you have solid open rates, read, and dwell times, but aren’t seeing as many clicks as you’d like, you may need to change the language you use and test out new copy. Think through how to increase a sense of urgency or commitment.
• Engagement with monthly-program-related content: If you’re sharing about the program via your social media accounts or accounts of those you’ve partnered with, monitor the engagement and interaction.
• Monthly giving progam statistics: Track the health of your monthly giving program with stats like the number of active recurring donation subscriptions, average recurring donation size and MMR (monthly recurring revenue). 4aGC clients have access to this data on their donor crm dashboard.

If you use 4aGoodCause, you can make the donation page match your other fundraising communications and continue your story, so you have a seamless experience from one-time donors.

Bonus? 4aGoodCause users also have unlimited campaigns, so you can create, test, and pivot as much as you need to.

Reach your monthly fundraising goals with 4aGoodCause

Ultimately, growing your monthly giving program isn’t about magic—it’s about following strategic, practical steps that build on your initial success.

But you need to have the right tools in place to expand your program.

After 25+ years working with nonprofit teams, I developed 4aGoodCause’s Monthly Giving Toolkit to help grow and manage your entire monthly giving program from start to finish.

And get this: It’s affordable, and there are no hidden asks that take fees off the top of your donor’s gifts.

I’d be happy to walk you through how it works! Sign up for a free demo.

Acquire new monthly donors: Common questions

Here are a few questions I get from nonprofits about how to get monthly donors and grow recurring giving programs.

Don’t see your question here? Find me on LinkedIn and ask!

I’m happy to help however I can.

Q: What’s the average lifetime value of a monthly donor?

A: According to the 2024 Recurring Giving Benchmark Study by NeonOne, the average recurring donor gave $949.19 annually for about 8 years. That adds up to $7,669.45 during their lifetime!

Q: How can we use donor segmentation to grow recurring donor retention?

A: Segmenting recurring donors lets you tailor your messaging and engagement strategies to each group’s unique interests, giving patterns, and demographics. You can do this in 4aGoodCause with the tagging feature.

Segmentation means you can provide personalized stewardship—like customized thank-you messages, impact updates, or upgrade prompts—that resonate better with each group. Ultimately, by addressing specific donor needs and motivations, you can enhance communication personalization, which (in theory!) can drive higher retention rates.

Q: How do you turn one-time donors into recurring donors?

A: Encourage one-time donors to switch to recurring donations by clearly communicating the impact of steady support on your mission.

Make the process as easy as possible with a simple, dedicated recurring donation option on your website (like with 4aGoodCause’s Monthly Giving Toolkit), and follow up with personalized thank-you messages that illustrate the difference their ongoing support makes.

And guess what? 4aGC clients have access to a conversion pop-up feature that asks a one-time giver to convert to monthly. It converted at 3% for our clients in 2024!

See all that 4aGoodCause can do for your organization today. Learn more.