April 23, 2015 |

Donor Retention is a Problem; A Monthly Giving Program Can Help

The Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Urban Institute have partnered with leading donor management systems (DonorPerfect was a founding member), to help provide data on a major problem facing nonprofits: retaining donors.  It’s called the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, and they have been collecting data since 2006. Unfortunately, the situation has not improved greatly over the years: for every 100 donors gained, nonprofits are losing 102.  This infographic reveals and explains some key findings from the most recent report, and below that we’ll share a way to help you improve your donor retention:

So, what’s to be done?  As the infographic noted, starting a monthly giving program that encourages donors to donate small amounts of money each month can greatly improve donor retention. Not only that, it can lead to more money in total than just a single gift, even though the monthly gifts are smaller.  Plus, studies have shown that recurring gift donors are more likely to increase gift size over time, still contribute larger one time gifts, and include these nonprofits in their planned giving.

DonorPerfect provides tools to make monthly giving easy to do. Its called EZ-EFT, and it enables you to securely retain donor payment information (credit/debit cards, bank accounts), and schedule the dates when the donation will be made.  The donor’s record in DonorPerfect will be automatically updated, and receipts can be sent depending on the donor’s wishes.

Two Ways to Learn How to Start a Monthly Giving Program

1. A few weeks ago, Erica Waasdorp, from Adirectsolution.com presented an Nonprofit Expert Webcast on how to start a monthly giving program. Click here to watch.
2. Near the end of May, we’re going have monthly giving starter kit available for you to download for free! It takes you step by step through Erica’s program, from why you’d want to do it, how to get board approval, to the 5 steps you’ll need to get started. We’ll even provide templates for you to use in your communication with donors!

Armed with these tools and info, you’ll be able to reverse the donor retention numbers for your nonprofit. This means more money raised and less money spent – a win/win for your mission!