Recurring giving is to nonprofits as roots are to trees—stabilizing and supportive of everything else.
As you’re no doubt aware, a strong recurring giving program provides an essential funding foundation for small to midsized nonprofits. While repeat donors make up just 15 to 20% of the donor base at most small nonprofits, they account for up to 40% of annual individual giving revenue. What’s more, recurring giving programs enhance donor retention. Nonprofits with recurring donation programs tend to have donor retention rates 60 to 70% higher than those without. The bottom line is that recurring giving likely has a profound impact on your nonprofit’s ability to operate and carry out its mission.
But how do you strengthen your recurring giving program? With limited staff and resources, what are the most time-and cost-effective ways to firm up this backbone of your fundraising strategy?
Fortunately, affordable, easy-to-use digital tools are available to help you optimize and grow your recurring giving program. By making simple adjustments such as branding your recurring donor program, making monthly giving the default giving option, using mobile-friendly donation pages, deploying text giving to promote monthly giving, sending personalized thank yous and impact reports, and following up with lapsed recurring donors, your nonprofit can build a more stable, predictable funding base, freeing up your staff to direct time and resources toward higher-impact, strategic efforts.
Here at Roc Giving, we believe in leveraging the power of technology for the greater good. We specialize in serving small to midsized nonprofits, supporting your missions by providing an affordable digital giving platform with intuitive tools, just the right amount of features, transparent pricing, and modern reporting and user interfaces.
Now let’s take a look at ways you can use digital tools to help your recurring giving program flourish.
If your recurring giving program doesn’t yet have a name or structure, now might be a good time to create one. After all, it’s human nature to enjoy being part of a group, and giving your recurring giver program a feel-good name helps members feel included and united with like-minded donors.
Hold a team brainstorming session to gather ideas. Consider names that tie in with your mission, such as Faithful Givers, (Name of Organization) Circle, Lifeline League. Also discuss the possibilities for a tiered structure, with different engagement benefits for each level. For example, entry-level givers might receive a welcome gift, while high-level donors might enjoy a quarterly Zoom Q&A with your director.
Once you’ve created and branded your recurring donor program, use all your digital outreach channels to showcase the program. Spotlight it on your website, on social media, and in your e-newsletter.
Be sure to make it easy to both sign up for and cancel recurring giving. As always, transparency and trust are critical for long-term nonprofit success.
If you haven’t already, consider making monthly giving the default option on all your campaign materials and donation forms.
On your digital giving platform, set “monthly” as the preselected first option on your donation form. Allow donors to choose one-time or other intervals, as well, but emphasize monthly as the standard.
You can also encourage monthly giving by using behavioral nudges. Highlight monthly giving as the most impactful choice. Use language that directs givers, such as “Join monthly supporters in creating lasting change.”
And don’t forget that many monthly donors prefer recurring giving because it’s simple. So frame your recurring giving options as easy and smart. Signing up for monthly giving allows donors to “set it and forget it.” On the nonprofit side of the equation, recurring giving allows you to “do more with less.”
To set your nonprofit up for recurring giving success, choose a digital giving platform that automatically converts your donation pages for mobile. The forms should scale properly for mobile screens. Buttons should be easy to tap. No horizontal scrolling should be needed.
Also, make your forms as simple as possible, with only essential information fields. Minimize the typing your donors have to do. Use dropdowns and toggles wherever possible.
On your donation pages, use clear, short copy and strong, simple visuals. Again, simpler is almost always better. And don’t forget to test your pages on multiple devices before deploying them! Nothing turns off would-be givers faster than a glitchy donation process.
Is your nonprofit using text giving yet? About 22% of nonprofits are, which leaves lots of opportunity for those that aren’t. The great thing about text giving is that it generates high engagement—a 98% open rate, with most messages read within 90 seconds.
Text giving is a great way to bring in entry-level monthly donors or upgrade one-time givers to monthly. If your digital giving platform offers text giving, give it a try.
In addition to using your text giving tool for asks, you can use it to communicate with donors. Donors who like text giving will also generally enjoy text communications from your nonprofit, such as brief, regular mission updates and thank yous, both of which enhance engagement and loyalty.
One more tip: Try a text giving message asking sustaining donors to share a giving link with their friends. It’s a simple, effective way to bring more recurring givers into the fold.
With minimal staff time and effort, digital tools can also help you deepen donor commitment and loyalty.
Use your digital giving platform to export donor lists and send personalized thank yous on your email platform. In your emails, include links that take supporters back to your digital giving platform donation pages.
If your recurring giving program is segmented by cause or project, keep recurring donors for each project updated on the impact of their giving. Share stories and positive change.
If appropriate, thank your supporters on social media as well.
Use your digital giving platform to monitor who stops giving. Often lapsed recurring donors fall by the wayside not because they no longer want to support your nonprofit but due to simple data glitches, such as expired or replaced credit cards. While your digital giving platform should include an automated card updater service to prevent this, unintentional attrition can still happen.
Donors rarely suddenly stop caring about something they were recently passionate about. So try to renew your relationship in ways that make it easy for them. Send gentle reminders or reengagement messages with one-click reactivation. Offer a recommitment option at a lower financial level. Provide an incentive for lapsed donors to reengage, such as a t-shirt, mug, or other branded item relevant to your organization and mission.
Roc Giving, powered by Payroc, provides all the digital tools small to midsized nonprofits need to build recurring giving.
We look forward to helping you strengthen your recurring giving program. Visit https://payroc.com/solutions/roc-giving/ or contact us at rocgiving@payroc.com to get started. You can also schedule a demo here.