There is a misconception that monthly giving programs take time and effort and, in the end, aren’t worth it for the dollars raised. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Not only can you raise more money through monthly giving over one-time donations, but your relationships with your donors can grow more positively. You’re nurturing a relationship that is ongoing.
Sustainability is a huge driver for nonprofits that offer monthly giving. While large gifts are great, it’s anyone’s guess as to when that money will come in. With monthly giving, you have a base of planned income for your organization. This affords you the opportunity to plan additional programming or services using numbers that are true to the budget versus making assumptions on what might come in throughout the year.
Give your donors the choice they never knew they had—to make smaller gifts on a recurring basis that, in the end, add up to big gifts.
The proof is in the numbers
In 2020, Erica Waasdorp, president of A Direct Solution, presented a webinar to the 4aGoodCause community. During this discussion, she mentioned that of the 57% of donors between the US and Canada enrolled in recurring giving and 94% of them gave on a monthly frequency. And from there, the average monthly donor gives monthly for a period of 5 to 7 years.
In 2023, the recurring gift average for 4aGoodCause clients was $63 per month. If you do the math, $63 per month x 12 months per year x 7 years equals $5,292 per donor. It’s a nominal fee for the donor to have automatically withdrawn from their account that adds up to an impactful amount throughout the years for your organization.
Steps to collaborate with your executive director
Monthly giving can be an easy option to add to your online giving platform. If your organization has been hesitant to start a monthly giving program, approach the subject with leadership with these ideas.
Pull a report of current donor and donation amounts
Forty-one percent of donations made using the 4aGoodCause platform in 2022 were recurring gifts. As an example, take your 2022 donor base and multiply by 41% to get the projected number of potential donors that could move from one-time to recurring giving. Then, use the average of $63 per month as a starting point to calculate how much more that could mean for your nonprofit in dollars raised each year.
Make the case
Your nonprofit offers services and support to those in need year-round. Recurring gift options are a great way to keep the fundraising funnel full year-round, too. It may be easier to ask donors to consider a monthly gift of $60 versus a one-time, lump-sum gift of $600 (which only equates to $50/month). Show your leadership team how talking about donations in smaller dollar amounts more frequently can increase the total dollars raised.
Streamline communication and lower costs
We’re all doing more with less—with monthly giving you can make the case that you won’t need to send as many individual solicitations, asks and follow-ups. Lower your printing, postage and design costs along with the time your team is spending asking for gifts throughout the year. Time can be allocated to capital campaigns, larger gifts or new program initiatives instead.
For more guidance on monthly giving, check out these additional resources:
