There's no doubt that a strong base of monthly gifts is a win for your fundraising strategy for four core reasons.

1. Monthly donors have higher retention rates than one-time donors.
2. Monthly donors provide a predictable and consistent stream of revenue for your nonprofit outside of one-time campaign and events.
3. Recent data suggest a majority of monthly donors give additional gifts throughout the year for special campaigns, when asked.
4. When donors decide to make a monthly gift to your organization, it's a clear indicator that they care deeply about your work and feel connected to your mission.

But, as with many of our fundraising activities, donors are looking for cues from you to ask for the support you need. Whether you currently have a robust slate of monthly givers or not, we suggest putting some time and effort into considering what your organization’s ask for people to join your monthly giving roster could look like, starting small and building from there.

Below, we’ve listed our first few pieces of advice for who to ask, and what you might say.

Whom to ask

When looking to identify potential monthly donors, start with these three groups who are already engaged in your organization’s work!

• Frequent donors: Do you have donors who make multiple one-time gifts to your organization throughout the year? If so, reach out to them and thank them for their consistent support! Tell them what their frequent giving has meant for your organization, and ask if they would be willing to set up a monthly donation schedule? (And, as referenced above, many monthly givers will make additional one-time gifts when asked for a special campaign or project!)
• Long-time donors: Who are the donors who have been giving to your organization from the start? People who have shown long-term dedication to your mission may also be intrigued by the idea of setting up a small monthly gift to keep their support consistent!
• Lapsed donors: It may seem challenging to reach out to lapsed donors to join a monthly giving program, but some of them may appreciate the opportunity to make small but consistent gifts to your cause! Consider reaching out to them to thank them for their past support, share what your organization is doing now, and ask if they would be willing to make a $5 or $10 monthly gift to help move you work forward.

Reminder: In our Warm Up Your Fundraising installment on donor acquisition, we shared a tool to help identify your best donor prospects. Take time to re-visit that worksheet to help further classify your potential donors!

What to say

There are a number of reasons donors may decide a monthly gift might be something they’d be interested in to support your work! Consider whether any of these general themes may be motivating to your ask.

• It’s like a subscription for good: Consumer behavior has changed in the last ten years to be focused more on monthly payments for apps, entertainment, food delivery, and so much more. By starting a monthly donation to your cause, they are committing to your work year-round by making an additional small donation to the good you do in our communities.
• They are among your organization’s most engaged supporters: As you build your monthly giving program, consider giving them special call-outs as a monthly sustainer of your work! Maybe that’s a special mention in an email, annual report, or on stage. It could be as simple as one or two emails to them in a year acknowledging their monthly support. Or, if you already classify giving levels to your organization, you might add all monthly givers for special designation.
• It’s simple: Life comes at us fast these days, and some donors will appreciate the simplicity of setting up an automatic donation each month as a way to support the causes they care about.

We’ve created a worksheet to help you build your monthly giving strategy! Download this sheet to work through your specific ask, channels for communication, and a monthly-to-annual giving scale to think about how much to ask for.

GiveMN.org and monthly giving management

Monthly giving on GiveMN.org is built with retention and easy management in mind, both for organizations and donors.

As organization administrators, you will receive notifications each time a monthly gift is made, have access to a report exclusive to monthly givers, and will receive notifications when monthly gifts have been canceled or adjusted.

Donors also receive email alerts each time their gift renews, may edit or cancel their gift at any time without calling someone at your organization, and also receive special alerts when their card is about to expire or no longer works, making it easy to set up their new payment information.

View the monthly giving FAQ for donors (via Mightycause)

View the monthly giving FAQ for organizations (via Mightycause)