HOW TO BUILD AND GROW YOUR
MONTHLY GIVING PROGRAM
Alice Benson, ELCA Foundation
Kari Bert, Bread for the World
VALUE OF MONTHLY DONORS
• Loyalty and commitment
• Compound effect vs single gift donors
• Potential to give additional gifts
• Out-perform single gift donors:
• Higher retention rates
• Higher life-time revenue per donor
• Great planned giving prospects
• Predictable stream of revenue
• Worth 2 to 4 times more over 5 years
LET’S COMPARE…
Single Gift Donor:
Membership Gift
Year-End Appeal
Monthly Donor:
$50 Monthly Gift $20
$240
Year-End Appeal
$50
Total Ann’l Giving
$290
$100
Total Annual Giving $150
LET’S LOOK AT REAL NUMBERS…
Single Gift Only Donors in 2012
Average gift median
Median gifts/donor (includes new)
Revenue per donor median
Recurring Gift Only Donors in 2012
Average gift median
Median gifts/donor (includes new)
Revenue per donor median
Recurring and Other Gift Donors in 2012
Average gift median
Median gifts/donor (includes new)
Revenue per donor median
$59
1.5 gifts
$89
$22
9.6 gifts
$183
$25
9.9 gifts
$247
Source: Target Analytics Sustainer Benchmarking BBCon 2013
RETENTION
First-Year Retention in 2012
Single Gift Only Donors Acquired in 2011
Median annual retention rate
29%
Revenue per donor median
$66
Recurring Gift Only Donors Acquired in 2011
Median annual retention rate
78%
Median 13-month retention rate
56%
Revenue per donor median
$227
Recurring and Other Gift Donors Acquired in 2011
Median annual retention rate
91%
Median 13-month retention rate
71%
Revenue per donor median
$158
Source: Target Analytics Sustainer Benchmarking Group 2 (2012 Data)
LET’S DO THE MATH…
If you have 20,000 donors and you convert 5
percent of your file (or 1,000 donors) to
become monthly donors – giving an average
of $20 per month – you would realize
$240,000 in revenue per year.
CURRENT TRENDS
• Charitable giving is affected by culture and
infrastructure
• In many other countries, monthly giving is
how most donors give to charities
• The percent of donors giving monthly gifts is
growing nearly everywhere – including the
U.S.
• A higher volume of monthly donors are
acquired directly as monthly donors vs.
converting single gift donors
HOW TO GET STARTED?
• What has worked for you?
HOW TO GET STARTED?
The essentials…
1. Set a goal and develop a
strategy
2. Identify best prospects – begin with targeting
existing donors
• New donors
• Small to mid-level donors ($5-150
donors)
• Multiple gift donors (2+ gifts in 6 months)
• Credit card donors
• Suppress major donors
CREATIVE COMMUNICATION
STRATEGIES
• Brand your program – give your donors a
sense of belonging
• Craft a compelling offer – include impact of
their monthly gift, efficiency, ease, green,
benefits and/or premiums
“Your gift of $xx each month will provide
______ to help _______.”
• Coordinated campaigns across channels
often results in even better success
Become a monthly donor and
help eliminate poverty housing
CONNECT GIFT TO PROGRAM
MAKE THEM FEEL SPECIAL
HOW TO ACQUIRE MONTHLY
DONORS
• Invest in acquiring donors directly
as monthly donors
• Convert single gift donor to monthly
donors
• Use multiple channels for
recruitment – email, website, direct
mail, telemarketing, canvassing/face
to face
GROWTH MILESTONES
• Aggressive telemarketing campaign.
• Online promotion and ease in signing up.
• Survey of sustainers – motivations, frustrations,
interest in premiums, suggestions.
• Rebranding, centered on ads that featured
profiles of sustainers. Marketing.
• Drive for staff members – 83% joined
• “Sustainer Recruitment” month.
• Moving from “calendar club” to credit card/EFT
• Cross-unit teams to create infrastructure.
Greenpeace – online form
MPR – online donation form
UNICEF – Google Ads
LWR – easy navigation
CULTIVATION
• Keep monthly donors engaged and updated
• Special communication track for monthly
donors (welcome kit, annual statement,
newsletter and upgrade mailings)
• Special ways to thank them often
• Send monthly email receipts vs. mailed
acknowledgments
• Ask for upgrades
• Ask for 13th gift or special gifts
ANNUAL STATEMENTS
OPERATIONS, SYSTEMS
& VENDORS
• Assign one person to manage the
program
• Educate all staff about monthly giving
program
• Establish a seamless back end system
• Provide excellent customer service
• Processing – in-house or outsourcing
(processing fee ranging from 35-50 cent)
PAYMENT METHODS
• EFT – electronic funds transfer
 Retention rate – 98% (highest)
 Processing fee ranging from 10-15 cents per transaction
 Harder to acquire authorization
• Credit card
 Retention rate – 95%
 Processing fees - higher
1. Percentage of monthly charge (2.5-3.5%)
2. Per-transaction charge (ranging from 15-20 cents)
 Expiration dates and declined cards are a challenge
• Check
 Retention rate – 60-70% (lowest)
 Monthly reminders through mail
 Grandfathered in program
Source: Erika Waasdorp, Monthly Giving The Sleeping Giant
RETENTION
• Create “saves” program for declining
credit cards (about 5% a month)
 Email (sometimes automatic with
processor)
 Call
 Send letter
• Thank cancelled monthly donors and ask
for the reason of cancellation and seek
feedback
WHAT CAN GO WRONG?
11/27 SOJOURNERS 202-328-8842 DC
11/29 MILL MOUNTAIN COFFEE AND RICHMOND VA
11/30 CLEAN WATER ACTION 586-783-3277 MI
11/28 SHELL OIL 57543989206 FALMOUTH VA
12/01 GIANT FOOD INC #320 GAITHERSBURG MD
12/03 MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACT 510-524-3492 CA
12/05 GIANT FOOD INC #320 GAITHERSBURG MD
12/04 BREAD FOR THE WORLD INST 202-6399400 DC
12/13 LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES FALLS CHURCH VA
12/15 GIANT FOOD INC #320 GAITHERSBURG MD
12/14 EXXONMOBIL 47874615 GAITHERSBURG MD
12/15 OXFAM AMERICA-TEAM APPROA 800-7769326 MA
12/15 TRADER JOE'S #648 QPS GAITHERSBURG MD
12/18 BLK*ELCA 888-468-9966 CA
12/22 HABITAT FOR HUMANITY (OTH 229-9246935 GA
12.00
31.05
10.00
21.53
40.32
21.00
25.90
75.00
25.00
14.61
17.50
10.00
76.48
10.00
10.00
UPGRADING
EVALUATING AND TESTING
• Reporting and Evaluating – track:
New donors acquired as recurring (+)
Donors converted to recurring (+)
Reactivated recurring donors (+)
Newly lapsed recurring donors (-)
Recurring donor variance = (new recurring
+ converted + reactivated) – lapsed
• Be a monthly donor to your organization
• TEST, TEST, TEST ! ! !
CASE STUDY: Bread for the World
• Baker’s Dozen Online Recruitment
Campaign - September 2013
• Primary goal: Recruit 60 new Baker’s
Dozen members
• Secondary goal: Raise visibility of the
Baker’s Dozen program and the
importance of monthly giving
EMAIL 1
EMAIL 2
EMAIL 3
CASE STUDY: Bread for the World
• Surpassed our goal and recruited 82 new
Baker’s Dozen members
• Emails generated $2,500 from 71 gifts
($35 avg. gift)
• Raised the visibility of the Baker’s Dozen
program among membership
Q&A
Thank you!
Alice Benson
alice.benson@elca.org
Kari Bert
kbert@bread.org