Missions to Movements
Missions to Movements is the nonprofit marketing and fundraising podcast that helps you grow recurring donors, scale monthly giving programs, and build digital campaigns that convert.
Hosted by Dana Snyder—speaker, strategist, and founder of Positive Equation—this show is packed with actionable nonprofit growth strategies, social media tips, and fundraising best practices.
Each week, you’ll hear how organizations are increasing donor retention, building thought leadership, and using digital fundraising to drive real impact. If you want to learn how to attract monthly donors, master nonprofit marketing, and transform your mission into a movement, this podcast is for you.
Missions to Movements
2026 Monthly Giving Prediction #2: The “Easiest Yes” Wins
What if the smallest monthly gift unlocks the biggest lifetime value? We’re digging into our second Monthly Giving Prediction for 2026: lower entry points will become the norm in monthly giving - and they’ll outperform the high-ask mindset many of us grew up with.
Donors aren’t less generous; they’re less willing to overcommit.
That’s a signal, not a setback, and it’s time to design programs around the easiest yes.
We break down recent data trends from major giving moments showing growth in recurring signups alongside smaller average amounts, and explain why that’s good news when you care about retention and lifetime value.
Drawing on lessons from the subscription economy, we look at how streaming and SaaS brands prioritize momentum over pressure, starting with doable plans and earning trust over time.
The same playbook works for nonprofits: invite people in with a low, human entry point, then nurture them with clear impact stories, flexible options, and upgrade moments that feel earned.
This conversation is a practical roadmap for nonprofit leaders, fundraisers, and digital teams who want sustainable revenue, wider reach, and a supporter community that stays.
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LettrLabs is the proud presenter of Missions to Movements.
LettrLabs helps nonprofits build lasting donor relationships through real, handwritten mail that’s fully automated - turning moments of intent into meaningful connection. From thank-yous to impact updates, they help you cut through with mail donors actually open, remember, and trust.
Register now for the FREE Monthly Giving Summit on February 25-26th, the only virtual event where nonprofits unite to master monthly giving, attract committed believers, and fund the future with confidence.
The Mini Monthly Giving Mastermind: A high-touch Mini Mastermind + optional in-person retreat (May 6-8) for nonprofit leaders that have an existing monthly giving program and ready to take it to the next level with 1:1 and peer support. Apply now!
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Welcome back to Missions to Movements. In the last episode, we talked about monthly giving prediction number one. And that was it becoming core infrastructure in 2026. So head back to either two weeks ago, which is where I gave kind of the overview to what we're talking about here. And then I'm laying out my six predictions around monthly giving for 2026. So last week was all about becoming core infrastructure. These are short, form, juicy little episodes, um, bites to run through. And today I want to talk about the shift that tends to make maybe some nonprofit leaders a little uncomfortable at first, but I think it ends up feeling freeing. So here's the prediction lower monthly entry points will become standard and they will drive higher lifetime value. So I think old thinking for a long time was within a monthly giving strategy is what could the biggest monthly gift be that we reasonably ask for? And I've even been someone who's looked at asking, what's your what's your average one-time gift? And kind of like trying to create this geometry math to what's the biggest monthly gift we can reasonably ask for that somebody could go towards. And I think that made sense when acquisition was easier, when donors felt less stretched, and when maybe tension was more available. But that is not the reality. That's not what the data is telling us. And it's not that people aren't willing to give, they're unwilling to overcommit. So some of the signals that are going into this prediction is some Giving Tuesday data. We saw great growth in recurring gifts, much smaller average monthly amounts, but that leads us to even knowing retention rates that can be stronger long-term value. And when we look at what the subscription space is doing, a lot of these brands are already know this, they're already doing this. You'll notice, and probably now you'll see it all the time, they don't often start you on like the premium plan. They start with the doable plan because momentum getting you in beats pressure every time. So, what I want to ask, what I want you to ask in 2026 is this shift of a question from what's the biggest ass to what's the easiest yes. Smaller monthly gifts can feel safer, more flexible, easier to say yes to and on certain times, more accessible. Think about the audience space that you want to be growing. And over time, over years, over months, those yeses compound. So practically, I don't want you ever to think that this is undervaluing your mission, undervaluing the work of what you do. What it means is that we're designing entry points that just feel human. We're trusting that growth is going to happen through the relationship you have with the supporter and that you're letting donors grow with you. Smaller doesn't mean weaker. It can mean just more people being able to say yes and staying, which is very important. So the reflection question that I'm going to leave you with is what would happen if you optimize your monthly giving program for momentum instead of maximums? Momentum instead of maximums. I think it can be really fun and sexy to be like our average monthly gift is$200, and that's great. That's great. And if that is continuously growing for you, amen. Holy, fabulous. If you're seeing some stagnation and that group of people has been tapped in your list, maybe those donation amounts need to change. So in this next episode, I'm going to talk about something that quietly determines whether donors stay or leave. And that is flexibility and why pause options are a non-negotiable in 2026. I mentioned this at the end of last week. But if you have not signed up yet for the Monthly Giving Summit, February 25th and 26th, go to monthlygiving summit.com. It is free, it is virtual. We have more than a thousand people registered already. And I cannot wait to see you there for the incredible knowledge that's going to be shared about calling in your believers. So I will see you in prediction number three.
