Monthly Giving Prediction #6: Monthly Donor Communities Move IRL

We close our 2026 monthly giving predictions with a bold call: move donor communities into real life to deepen belonging, retention, and advocacy. 

Sincere gatherings beat big productions when donors feel trusted, included, and invited to co-create.

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Transcript

Final 2026 Prediction Revealed

From Noise To Belonging

What IRL Community Looks Like

Belonging Deepens Retention

The Hope Booth Vision Night

Designing For Real Belonging

Culture, Community, And Fandom

Why Monthly Giving Still Works

Build With Joy, Not Pressure

Connect And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Welcome back to Missions to Movements. This is the final episode in my 2026 Monthly Giving Predictions series, mini-series. That is prediction. Number six, monthly donor communities move IRL in real life. So I think everyone knows this, but we live in a pretty loud world. It's a pretty saturated one. It's honestly a lonely one for a lot of people. We are surrounded by content, notifications, noise, and sometimes meaningful connections can feel harder to come by than ever, especially for the things that we truly believe in. So this is why my final prediction for 2026 is that monthly donor communities will expand beyond screens and into shared experiences. Not because it's trendy or events are cool, but because it becomes necessary. I don't think people just want to support causes anymore. I think they want to belong. And I'm actually curious if we're going to see a heightened volunteer, volunteerism in 2026 for this too. Because monthly giving has always been identity driven. It's not about a single moment of generosity. It's always about saying this matters to me consistently. And identity doesn't really thrive in isolation. It thrives in community when we think about our favorite sports teams or favorite concerts we go towards. And like we're so excited to be in this experience with people. And I think in a world that can feel fragmented, monthly giving offers something really grounding, continuity, shared purpose, and a sense of I'm not doing this alone. I mean, really, that's the whole point, is that our individual gifts are compounded by others. And when you start to think about and brainstorm what could this actually look like for us, let me be clear. This does not mean that every nonprofit needs a massive conference or an expensive gala or a perfectly produced experience. It doesn't have to be big. It can be small local gatherings, donor dinners, vision nights, behind the scene moments, these invitations that just mean like you're a part of this. Scale doesn't matter. It's all about sincerity. Doesn't need to be flashy. And I think why this works and why donors feel genuinely included and why it's worth the effort is that retention deepens, advocacy increases, and generosity becomes relational. It's a shared identity now. And it shifts from I give every month because I should, to I'm part of this and I want to stay. And I saw this play out recently with the Hope Booth. I have been a monthly donor for them for going on three years, I believe, coming up in February. And a few weeks ago, more than a few weeks ago now, in December, I received an invitation to their movement vision night, hosted by Gloria Umana, the founder of the Hope Booth here in Atlanta. Now, the invitation itself mattered. Let me just get that out of the way. Whether or not I was going to attend or not, the fact that they even put a movement, the movement is their monthly giving program, that they put together an event, an event in Atlanta, and that I was invited. It was a clear message to me that it was like, you're not just a donor, you're a part of this. So of course I went, I brought my husband. We shared a meal. I sat down next to people who believe in the same mission that I do. We learned what's coming next. We were invited to brainstorm ideas for growth. We celebrated the wins together. I wasn't being sold anything. And I think this is important to get across too. As a monthly donor, I was so excited to feel like I was brought in. I was trusted with this new exciting information. And I was trusted to brainstorm and share ideas. And I left even more on fire for what they're doing for the mission. Not because they asked more, which they did ask for more, but because they let me belong in that setting. There was this power of this in real life connection identity because it's always been about belonging. I think the difference that I want us to think about is we're being invited to ask this question is what does belonging look like in real life for our sustainers? I hosted the first monthly giving retreat last August and it was incredible. I went to Sub Summit, the largest subscription conference, and invited nonprofits. And it was incredible and we shared dinner together. There is nothing more valuable than being in person, truly, truly. If you are interested in in-person, I am hosting right now, applications are open for the mini mastermind. It's going to grow as big as we can let it. It's for organizations where you already have a monthly giving program and you want quarterly one-on-one planning support, monthly peer group calls, and there's an optional in-person retreat in beautiful Serenby. It's 30 minutes south of the Atlanta Airport in Georgia. It is a wellness community. We're going to have a great time, relax, rejuvenate, get excited for our missions, and make some plans happen together. But when I look at everything we've covered in this series, from Giving Tuesday performance, the subscription economy, the benchmarks in our space that led to the predictions around AI and donor care and the death of the traditional funnel, the rise of community. Here's where I'm landing is that monthly giving is changing because culture is changing. We live in a world with polarizing news, constant pressure, limited emotional bandwidth, very, very real burnout for a lot of people. And yet I still believe something deeply true. People want to help. They want to make a difference. They just need ways to do it that feel reasonable to them, that they feel invited, that's accessible for them. And when my favorite people, Dr. Marcus Collins, he wrote the book for the culture, defines culture as the system by which we translate the world around us, which influences our collective behavior. Say that again. He defines culture as the system by which we translate the world around us, which influences our collective behavior. And you can see this everywhere. I have been watching the Taylor Swift Eros Tour docuseries over the holidays with a whole lot of FOMO that I did not go. And what was so powerful isn't just the music. The whole like series had this amazing, and you saw it in the faces of people that were there. It's hearing the fans in the interviews describe why they showed up. It was the joy, it was the positivity, it was the feeling of being part of something bigger. Y'all, it is the same reason why we go to concerts or sporting events instead of just watching them from the couch. We want to be in the energy. We want shared experience. We want belonging, even if it's just for a few hours. That is the cultural shift underneath all of this data. So monthly giving works so much right now because it feels sustainable, it feels consistent, it is rooted in belonging, not in pressure if we tee it up that way. And I think that's always been the magic for me. And that's why, gosh, going in six years, why I've like rooted myself in monthly giving is giving monthly, knowing that my donation isn't standing alone. It is being compounded with hundreds or thousands of others. It's this collective impact. It's I'm in energy month after month. So as you plan for 2026, here is my hope for you that monthly giving, and please hear this: that monthly giving becomes something you build with care, not pressure. It's with joy, not urgency. It's with belonging and belief and not fear. Because when monthly giving is built this way, it becomes exactly what Web's meant to be. It is a steady partnership that fuels change month after month. Thank you so much for listening to this prediction series. Let me know what you think. Send me a DM on LinkedIn, Dana Snyder, or on Instagram, positive equation with one E. Happy New Year. I am so excited to go through this year with you. If you're not already subscribed, if you haven't already left a review, please do those things. It means the world. I hope to see you at the monthly giving summit. You can click the link in the show notes to RSVP for free on February 25th and 26th. And I am so excited for all that's to come on missions to movements this year and in your work.