Missions to Movements
This isn't just another nonprofit podcast - it's your weekly invitation to think bigger, take bold risks, and create lasting change in an ever-evolving social impact landscape. Meet Dana Snyder, your guide through the evolving landscape of nonprofit innovation. She's on a mission to help change-makers like you push the boundaries of what's possible in nonprofit marketing and fundraising. Each week, Missions to Movements serves as your personal mastermind session, delivering actionable insights and bold strategies that challenge traditional nonprofit thinking. Dive into revolutionary approaches to digital fundraising, discover how to build magnetic monthly giving programs that create lasting donor relationships, and learn to amplify your voice as a thought leader in the social good space. Whether you're reimagining your organization's impact or forging game-changing partnerships, you'll find the ideas, insights, and inspiration to take your mission further than you've ever imagined. Ready to turn your mission into a movement?
Missions to Movements
How Houston Food Bank Grew 5,200 Monthly Donors - The Importance of a Sustainer Role
Monthly Giving Week is here! So how do you grow a recurring donor program from a trickle to over 5,200 committed supporters?
In this powerful episode, Ashlyn Jones, the force behind Houston Food Bank’s “Faithful Friends” program, shares how the organization invested in a full-time sustainer role.
AND, why having someone solely focused on nurturing monthly givers has been a game changer for retention and revenue.
Ashlyn walks us through how emergencies, storytelling, and strategic touchpoints helped build long-term donor loyalty. She dives into the campaigns and platforms they’ve used, including paid social ads, telefunding, and stewardship emails - and how simple things like phone calls and handwritten notes have moved the needle on retention.
One of the most inspiring takeaways? Ashlyn’s approach to storytelling and writing in a way that donors feel their impact immediately, leading to an increase in their monthly gifts. This episode is jam-packed with actionable advice for nonprofits ready to build a loyal base of recurring donors.
Resources & Links
Connect with Ashlyn on LinkedIn and learn more about the Houston Food Bank on their website.
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Let's Connect!
- Send a DM on Instagram or LinkedIn and let us know what you think of the show!
- My book, The Monthly Giving Mastermind, is here! Grab a copy here and learn my framework to build, grow, and sustain subscriptions for good.
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We are right in the middle of Monthly Giving Awareness Week. I hope you are enjoying all of the resources at monthlygivingweekcom. If you have not yet visited the website, please go check it out Every day. This week, in partnership with Giving Tuesday and RKD Group, we are releasing three pieces of completely free content template webinars, podcast episodes for you to be able to create the discussion around monthly giving at your organization, to grow your sustainer program, to focus on retention, whatever you need this week to be Head to monthlygivingweekcom and every single day, we have three resources that you can utilize. And we have something new. It's our version of the webbies if you've heard of that called the monthlies. We want to highlight and celebrate three incredible monthly giving programs, campaigns that you've ran. So submit yourself for an entry and we have some really fun prizes at the end of the week to celebrate and honor the three people that we select. We have a fun group of judges. So please submit your monthly giving campaign, your program, to the monthlies and we cannot wait to look at all of your entries.
Speaker 1:And today I couldn't think of a better guest to bring on than an incredible nonprofit professional, ashlyn Jones. She is the leader behind Houston Food Bank's recurring donor program, faithful Friends, which is now over 5,200 members strong. Yep Say that in another way 5,200 monthly donors, which is incredible. And so in part of this special series with Giving Tuesday and RKD Group today with Ashton, we really get into what it takes to grow and sustain a community like that from the very beginning. Also, what it takes to invest in a full-time role just for sustainers and why that is so important for them and the success they've seen since making that investment.
Speaker 1:What it's like working with acquisition Spoiler. We talk about paid social ads. We talk about telefunding, how storytelling and what stories have really moved the needle and made a difference. Literally, having people reply to her emails asking to upgrade their gifts that's the power of these stories, like how she's getting them, how she's crafting them. This conversation is packed with so many real, tangible insights. And did I mention she homeschools four kids, so we also talk about boundaries, how she finds rhythms at work. So no matter whether you are just starting out with monthly giving or looking to take your program to the next level, I promise you this episode has some gems of inspiration. So let's go ahead, dive right in and meet Ashlyn.
Speaker 2:I came back and I wrote her story in a way that would not only show faithful friends their impact but also honor her and her family. I just put a lot of thought into it and then, once we sent it out, there was faithful friends writing back saying, hey, can you upgrade my monthly gift amount? And you know, and just thank you so much for sharing this story.
Speaker 1:Okay, ashlyn, I have to start this with my very first big question, which is also congratulations. Over 5,200 recurring donors is incredible. The monthly giving program is called Faithful Friends. Take us through the build of that community. Was recurring monthly giving always something that was part of the strategic plan of the organization? Was there a moment where it was like, okay, we're doing something and it's working? I think for so many listeners who are either just getting started or maybe have a couple hundred and are really looking to scale and grow, can you walk us through, like what did it take to really build that amazing community that you have?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I would say that it started more than a decade ago. So the amazing fundraisers that have come before me had the foresight to include monthly giving as an option on all of our donation forms, and they made sure that we had the technology set up to be able to support monthly giving.
Speaker 2:So over the years we've had several emergencies, like Hurricane, harvey and, of course, covid, as we all know, and during those times we saw that the donors who wanted to come make an impact, they wanted to make a long-term impact, so it wasn't just like I want to give to you one time. They had the desire to really support our organization for a long time.
Speaker 1:Was that because you in the emails and in the communication you led with that ask?
Speaker 2:We didn't lead with that ask, actually, it was just always as an option. So, do you want to give one time or do you want to give monthly? And what we saw is that, during emergencies, people or do you want to give monthly? And what we saw is that during emergencies, people so many poured in and they said I want to give to you long-term. And we have tons of those, whether from Hurricane Harvey or COVID, that are still with us today. Yeah, so we had fundraisers who were in my role, who are no longer here, but they had monthly giving us an option. And then they started to segment these donors so that we could start treating them differently, have communication set up for them that were tailored to them. As monthly donors, we have messaging that just highlights their impact, and so, yeah, Amazing.
Speaker 1:So 10 years ago and I know there's fundraisers before this when it was first getting started, the tech was there. There was messaging around it. I know right now there's also a separate page for the monthly giving program. Was it a slow trickle? Was there large chunks of growth? How did you, over time, acquire the amazing skill and community that you have today?
Speaker 2:Back in 2012,. That's whenever we first started really forming the group, and it was a slow trickle Up until 2017, we had Hurricane Harvey and then there was this huge influx of donors, and so that continued. In 2018, we had another small emergency local to the food bank, where a lot of our product was destroyed, and so we had a lot of news coverage and even more donors started coming in monthly donors and then in 2020, it just, I mean, it was crazy. So I think we went from maybe 1,500 donors to about 5,000 or right at 5,000. So it was this huge growth and then over the last several years, we've just been sustaining those donors, so we haven't had another huge emergency. So what we've just been doing is really focusing on retention and recapture and just yeah, so we've stayed at that amount around right around 5,000, for the last four plus years.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Okay, we just had a couple episodes ago Listeners, if you haven't listened Gloria came on to talk about the power of PR and how to get yourself in the news, and so that kind of goes to show like what you were talking about. If you can just raise the profile of the organization and the work that you're doing, it does actually move the needle quite literally in your case. I love the fact that you're talking about the thank you part, the retention part. I also know when you've worked with RKD Group, you've worked on some advertising. Can you talk about just like the constant drumbeat of using what kind of ads that you guys run? What's led to like the continued trickle of growth?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so over the last fiscal year we've really been focusing on paid media efforts, and so that came from Charity Water. I sat in a webinar of theirs where they were sharing that they really focus on paid media and that's how they acquire a lot of their sustainers. And so for the last fiscal year we've really just had an evergreen sustainer ad running and that has helped us in months where we don't have a huge match campaign. That's just helped us constantly acquire, I would say, maybe 10 to 15 sustainers every month.
Speaker 2:It's just another avenue to acquire and I think it expands our reach beyond the people that are on our email list and mail list and things like that. So we have seen success with that.
Speaker 1:Definitely. Do you know if those are video ads, if they're like graphic or it's a bunch of different types of content?
Speaker 2:We're just running like a graphic ad, but we are hoping in the next fiscal year to start using some video ads.
Speaker 1:Awesome and I think, what's amazing about ads. So I've recently been running ads to grow sustainer groups too, with some of my mastermind clients and VIP intensives. And it's been amazing because when you think about we've been spending less than $300 for an ad campaign and if you even get a couple of recurring donors from that, at the beginning you might think, oh, it's expensive. My cost per acquisition was $40. I'm going to make that up. Let's say it's $40. But that person's giving $45 or $25 a month and if you know that your average retention rate is a year or three years or five years, that's actually an extremely low cost per acquisition. Do you know in your ads, like those 10 to 15 usually per month do you know how much it's costing you to acquire them?
Speaker 2:I don't, but RKD would I mean? I know they know, so I need to find out. But I think we have. We have like goals for our CPA and we always are great Like we beat the goals and stay under the amount. So we're doing pretty well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's going to be different for any organization, like everyone's going to know. Like this is our average lifetime value of a donor. This is the average cost per acquisition. This is like what is a great acquisition cost for us. So, listener, I would say, just like, think about what that looks like for you based upon the longevity that you know you get with your sustainer donor base. Amazing, talk about also, like Outside of it, it's on the donation form which I think is crucial from the get-go. Do you have specific moments during the year or at events where you specifically talk about Faithful Friends?
Speaker 2:Yes, we, back in August of the last fiscal year or current fiscal year that's about to end we have a sustainer month where we just focused on acquiring sustainers, and so I went out and gathered stories from current faithful friends as well as just different community members, so that we could have different signers. And then we developed some emails and mailings just to highlight the program and, like I said, current faithful friends, so that donors could see just the impact that this group makes. And so, yeah, we have different times of the year where we'll highlight the program and we also have partnership with Gateway Communications, which is our tele-fundraising company that we work with, and we have a time of the year it actually just wrapped up where we have just dedicated sustainer phone campaign where we call and ask our donors to become faithful friends. That's one of our most successful channels.
Speaker 2:And so we acquire, yeah, a ton of sustainers from that effort. So we look forward to that campaign every year, but otherwise it's just like a natural growth because of the fact that we do have it on all of our donation forms. So we acquire year round, but we have those dedicated campaigns in August and then again in around February of each year.
Speaker 1:Okay, love that. So like some tentpole moments and then just like the evergreen with the ads and communication. Okay, I love that you talked a little bit just about storytelling and I want to like lean into that because I'm curious from like the phone call conversations, the sustainer Month that you have and maybe even in the ads, is there a story that you've seen that really moves people? Like you mentioned Charity Water and their. The core thing that they have always talked about is the story of the spring and really, like Scott Harrison's founder story is what really worked. Have you seen certain stories really make an impact when it comes to the growth of the program?
Speaker 2:Yes, honestly, I think every time we're very intentional about telling a story, it really resonates with our donors, because that's why they give every month. They give so that they can know that they're making an impact and that they're really helping our community members. And so there was one time in particular this is whenever I first started going out on my own and gathering stories where I went out to a mobile distribution and there was a mom there who was shopping with her kids. I asked her if she would be willing to share her story and she said yes, and so I got to talk to her for a little bit and she was sharing how her son had just been diagnosed with autism and he was struggling in school. She had talked with the school counselors and tried to see if she could get him some extra support, and they helped her as much as they could, but she just felt like she needed to do more, and so her and her husband had talked and decided to.
Speaker 2:She decided that they would go down to one income and so she left her job and she pulled out the rest of her kids from school and she decided she would homeschool full time, and so by doing that, of course, she obviously now needed a little bit more support, since they were on one income.
Speaker 2:But they did sell their home and they did a lot to make sure that her son was supported, and so she never thought that she would need the food bank services. But now she found herself turning to us for help, and so she was just sharing how much the food that she received at the mobile distribution made an impact that, you know. It helped her and her family stretch their budgets further, and so whenever I got back to my desk that day, I thought about how can I share this story with faithful friends that they see, just like what they're making possible for people you know, like? I think there's this idea that the people that come to the food bank are. You know, they don't work, or maybe they're dealing with homelessness and that's really all that they're dealing. You know, that's it. Those are the two kind of people.
Speaker 1:That's the stereotype.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, I like the stereotype. But whenever I'm able to share with faithful friends, just like the different kinds of stories that they're touching all throughout our community, I find that that really makes a difference. So I came back and I wrote her story in a way that would not only show faithful friends their impact but also honor her and her family. I just put a lot of thought into it and then, once we sent it out, there was faithful friends writing back saying, hey, can you upgrade my monthly gift amount?
Speaker 2:And just thank you so much for sharing this story, and so that's how I knew oh, this really does make a difference, like when you really take the time to really write a story in a meaningful way, it really makes an impact. And so ever since then, I make sure that when I go out and gather different stories, that I'm highlighting the neighbor in a way that honors them, so that that resonates with our donors.
Speaker 1:Incredible. Are you primarily sharing the stories via email? Are they on blogs, or do you guys do text messaging?
Speaker 2:We mostly do email updates. We just started incorporating text messaging into our strategy, but right now we're really only using it during match campaigns, and so it's just highlighting hey, we have a match and there's an opportunity to give. But during this next fiscal year we're definitely going to start incorporating text messaging more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was like, oh my gosh, you should totally do that, because I don't know what email open rates are, but I would definitely consider testing it also with just sending the stewardship retention type of text messages too. That's amazing. How did you think about crafting and I think we talk about storytelling a lot in the sector how did you I'm trying to think of the right way to like word this, translate it or draft it in a way that was, yes, absolutely honoring the mom and her family, but also making it in a meaningful way where it felt like person to person, like you're sharing, like a true human story? I think sometimes we can just like glaze over things.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Was there anything different that you did in crafting that?
Speaker 2:as an example, I was trying to share it in a way where, you know, we're all not we're all moms, but there's so many donors who give, who are mothers, fathers, and they have children, and so they understand a parent's love, you know, and the links that they would go to to help make sure that their child was supported.
Speaker 2:So I tried to show them how this mom was in this situation where she just was putting her son first, doing whatever she could to make sure that her son had what he needed. I kind of tried to share, like now she's in this predicament where she does need our services.
Speaker 1:That's so powerful in itself is like giving context, yeah, and speaking to like something that would be relative to the person on the receiving side of the email, which I think is huge, do you so? Obviously, if a majority of the growth happened during these difficult times, covid being one of them, that's five years ago at this point when it first started, right, so that's an incredible retention. How often are you communicating specifically with the Faithful Friends group in telling these stories?
Speaker 2:We send an update to them every single month, twice a month. We have an autoresponder every month where it just says thank you for your gift. But what we do is we go in there and we update that content every single month so that, in addition to their receipt, they also get an impactful update. And then we work with RKD to create their monthly update. So they get two. And so we try to communicate with faithful friends often so that they can continue to remember hey, I'm making an impact. And I think that's been very successful because, like I said, in 2017, when we had an emergency, that's when we started to receive a lot of new monthly donors, and a lot of them are still with us like 80, 90 gifts since then and they've continued to give. It's so impactful. So we try to make sure that they remember, hey, I'm making a difference, so that they don't decide that, oh, I don't need to give anymore. I've already helped. They see that there's still a need and they're still making an impact in our community.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's eight years later. Yeah, it's pretty incredible. I think that's what I've heard from reports about it being the average, so you're about to surpass that, which is really exciting. Do you do anything for those that have been with you for a long time like that? Is there any snail mail or special virtual things or event invites? Is there any fun extra benefits that you provide to that group?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we do a year-end event. It's actually in partnership with our major gift officers. I work with them and we put on this event during the holiday season it's just called Notes of Giving and so we'll have our local symphony come out along with our CEO and it's just a time of celebration and breakfast and networking and it's a really fun event and we actually get a lot of donors that come out. So it's really nice and just getting to see them face to face.
Speaker 1:And get them together. That's amazing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah. They all. They love the event. I have some this is going to be our third year doing it and some faithful friends are already asking me about it, like, hey, are you going to have the event this year? So it's nice have the event this year.
Speaker 1:So it's nice. That's amazing. I think it's so powerful when, I mean, you say a number like 5,200 and it can seem kind of like grandiose. What does that look like in perspective? And then, when you can actually get people in a room together that have, like this, values, aligned identity, call to support a mission, that's like so powerful, because sometimes you don't get to see the other community members that you're a part of, you just know you're a part of this thing that you talk about in emails, but then to physically, like face-to-face, be together. There's something really powerful and meaningful about that too.
Speaker 1:Okay, I really want to talk about you for a second, because it takes a team to do all the work that you're talking about. And so, if the Recurrent Giving Program started in 2012, you also I want people to know you are also homeschooling four kids. Is that right? Yeah, okay, that's amazing. You're a super mom and you're running this powerhouse recurring giving program. I mean, the real question is like, how do you do it? Is the recurring giving program like your sole focus at the organization? And, if so, still, how do you do it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm very fortunate to work for an organization where they prioritize monthly giving and so and they've been doing that, like I said, since 2017, there's been someone who just oversees this program and so, yes, that's my sole role here. And so it makes it really great to just be able to only focus on this so that I can like pour all that I have into it.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I think that's why we have been able to retain so many of our monthly donors. And then to your question about how I homeschool and do the monthly giving.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like your time. I'm sure so many people are just like wait what is it Like? Wait what?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I've been homeschooling now for two years, and so the first year when I was making, I was praying a lot and saying how can I do this, you know? And I reached out to my manager at the time and I just told her what, you know, what I was planning on doing, and she was so supportive and so my husband and I we have different work schedules and so he's able to help a lot, and I think that's very important to have that support at home.
Speaker 2:But there's also nights and weekends where we're doing like science together, different things that they don't do on their own time because they each have just like I clock in and I get to work, they have their own cubbies and they go to their desk and they get to work, and it's just so. It's so fun but so cute and, yes, but there are certain subjects where they need extra help with, and so we take that time as a family on the weekends and evenings to do those things together.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. Yeah, I think we're living in that. You just figure it out like what works for you, what works for your family, yeah, and I love that. Congratulations on like setting those boundaries, making that work. I'm sure that's really fun and to see them thrive doing that. If somebody is thinking about hiring somebody for a sustainer role, what would be your recommendations in how that person schedules out their time? And even if maybe they're starting, they're thinking about a part-time person, where would you recommend that person? If they have a set amount of hours, how would they structure their week, their days?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say, first welcoming the new monthly donor. So taking the time to call anyone who has a good phone number on file and really just get on the phone and call those donors and let them know hey, I saw your monthly gift come in and I think that makes such an impact because there's so many organizations that just like they don't have someone dedicated to that program and so they don't have the time to make the phone calls the majority.
Speaker 1:I think yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And so whenever I do get on the phone with people, they are honestly so amazed they're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe you saw my gift come through, and it just means a lot. And so I would say, definitely, taking the time to call the new monthly donors, send them handwritten notes, just make them feel, feel, seen. I think that's so important. And then another portion of their time I think should be to go out into the community and talk to the neighbors and gather the stories that you want to go back and share to the monthly donors. Because it's one thing to get a story and then try to you know from someone else that has went out and gathered it and then try to send it out to your members, but when you're the person that is out in the community and you're able to talk to the neighbors that these monthly donors are helping to support, I think it just gives you a different respect for this story and you really know how to share that back to your monthly supporters. And so I think that's huge just being able to really see the impact that's happening in the community and then being able to go back and communicate that to your donors, and then another huge, huge portion.
Speaker 2:I would recommend to anyone who's overseeing monthly giving is to really focus on retention and reducing involuntary churn, because so many monthly donors don't even you know. We all have busy lives and we're all doing so much, and so so many monthly donors have fallen off of our file, not even knowing and not even realizing that their gift has stopped. And so when you have those people who want to make a difference but they just accidentally fell off to have someone dedicated to running reports and seeing who canceled due to a card issue, and they can just call and say, hey, I saw your gift canceled, and then I'll tell you just from my experience how grateful donors are that you take the time to call them. They're like, oh my gosh, thank you so much. I didn't even realize. I'll just say that I would really, really recommend that you have someone that can make those calls or send those emails out, because you're going to see instant ROI.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love you saying that, because I think there's a lot of fear around phone calls and.
Speaker 1:I think there's a lot of fear around even making that ask or fear of letting somebody know that they had a gift and the gratitude is what you're hearing, and I think that's amazing. I think we make up sometimes in our like the person had already said yes, it was already a gift happening, and psychologically we think, oh, I don't know if I want to remind them that they were giving. Are they going to be mad or think that I'm annoying?
Speaker 2:for calling.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think that's made up, or maybe they don't answer right and you leave a voicemail. I'm sure that happens a lot, where you're just leaving voicemails and giving them the next steps of what you can do. But I love that and I will speak from experience where I've received. I couldn't answer the phone, but I saw the voicemail from an organization I give monthly to and I was so pleasantly surprised and I was like, oh, that's lovely, and there was no action to call them back. But it was just like, hey, we's lovely, and there was no action to call them back, but it was just like, hey, we just wanted to reach out and let you know that we saw your gift come through. We're super grateful, and it just keeps them top of mind and just gives me that extra little jolt of oh, I'm doing something good yeah.
Speaker 1:So, love that you do that. Was there something that you had to personally get over when doing phone calls, or something that you had to personally get over when doing phone calls?
Speaker 2:Or were you just like, okay, how did you work through that? Yeah, I think just forcing myself. I will say that this is my first fundraising role, and so a lot of the things that I do it's because I hear experts like you or Dave or Erica say, hey, this works. And so I'm like, okay, well, I'm going to try it. If they say it works, let's do it. It's just, I think, me knowing that this could benefit the program, I just had to get over the things that are in my head. I'm like, oh, I can't make this phone call, but I think, reminding myself, hey, if I make this phone call and I recapture this donor, then that just pushes my mission a little bit further. And so just getting out of the way and remembering that you're working for an organization that's doing incredibly important work, and every phone call you make is, you know it's, it's just making so much of an impact.
Speaker 2:And then, with experience, like you said, me calling and hearing I've never heard anyone say why did you call me? You know, so I've never and I've been doing this for a year and a half now, where I've been making these phone calls, and they're always so grateful that I took the time and that I see them as a monthly donor. And not only do I see them, but I see, hey, their gift stopped and it wasn't intentional, and so I'm reaching out to remind them. And so, yeah, it's just, I think, doing it so much. Now I'm more comfortable with it, but at first it was hard, I was not comfortable making the calls at all.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it just takes practice, like anything else, I'm guessing. Yeah, but that's amazing A year and a half in positive reinforcement, re encouragement. So I hope, listener, that this can resonate with you and maybe have you take that first step into doing some phone calls.
Speaker 2:And I will say, with the outreach, just within the first year we've reduced involuntary return by over 50%.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's just with me, just one person making phone calls, sending emails, and I also do text messages from my own. I have a line that the organization has for me, and so I try every avenue I can. But that's been very successful, so I'll say it's worth the effort 1,000%.
Speaker 1:I mean, look what's really interesting is so literally today I got a text message from my dentist office that I haven't scheduled my appointment and sure enough, I have forgotten a bazillion times. Their text message reminded me. I called them and I booked my dentist appointment because they texted me.
Speaker 1:Like phone call, probably would have like thought it was a spam number gone to voicemail, taken longer. They had a link in the text message. It's like easy peasy. It's just how we communicate, so that is so, so smart. Thank you so much, Ashlyn, for everything that you're doing, for sharing your story with us. I always like to ask this question to organizations joining the show Is there anything that you would like to ask for help or support on?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would just like to ask how to convince not just leadership but just anyone who's kind of like on the fence about how to promote monthly giving, kind of first I would say like sustainer first mindset, like what your thoughts are on that, because I've had a few instances where we've had some campaigns and we haven't had a monthly giving box on the forum and I've asked about it. The thought behind it is that, oh well, these are major donors and so we don't want to downgrade them and so. But what are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 1:Oh, wow. So I think you should always present the option, and I think there's one thing that we know and you probably see this it'd be really interesting to look at your recurring donor base is that recurring donors usually often make additional gifts throughout the year, throughout the years when they are asked, and a monthly donor base. This is also something that I think, if you have some data to showcase, that's helpful. If there's been recurring supporters that have increased their gift, or they started as a recurring and then they've become a major donor, that's always interesting. Or, especially with the climate that we're in right now, it could be that if a major donor is not going to give a big gift right now because they're feeling a little bit like I'm going to keep this closer to the chest with funds right now, However, I would give maybe that larger gift if it's broken down into 12 installments.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Because that feels more doable on the wallet right now. So I think that's the story that if you're seeing like a downward trend in major gifts where it's like, hey, instead of giving that one lump sum, would you consider breaking that up and joining Faithful Friends as a recurring supporter? I think it's always the option. I think when people want to be generous, they're going to be generous. When they feel compelled to give, they're going to give. I think sometimes it's we just have to be top of mind to give them that opportunity. But when somebody is feeling called and passionate about a cause, like they're going to make it happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, point blank.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for all you do and for listening to the show. It's always fun when I have a listener. Come on and be a guest. Yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thank you so much for just I mean I, when I think about the work that you support by you know, just encouraging people in roles like mine. You're touching every single mission all over, so I just can't thank you enough. I owe so much of the things that I've tried and have had success with to you, so thank you for what you do every day, dana. It really makes such an impact I love that, thank you.
Speaker 1:That's the whole goal. I love that, and actually when I get to speak with somebody that's implementing the things and hear the stories back, that fuels me and gives me so much joy. So, thank you, that was very sweet.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Missions to Movements. If you enjoyed our conversation and found it helpful, I would love for you to take a moment to leave a review. Wherever you're listening, your feedback helps us reach more change makers like you and continue bringing impactful stories and strategies to the show. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button, too, so you'll never miss an episode. And until next time, keep turning your mission into a movement.
