The Accountability Gap: Why Knowing Isn't Enough (And What Actually Moves the Needle)

In this episode, Dana explores the gap between knowing about monthly giving and actually implementing it. She shares practical strategies from a recent mastermind call, emphasizing the importance of planning, community, and taking action to build sustainable revenue streams for nonprofits.

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Chapters
00:00 The Importance of Monthly Giving
02:08 Bridging the Gap: From Knowledge to Action
06:46 Strategies for Successful Monthly Giving
11:33 Building Community and Accountability
14:21 Taking Action: Making Monthly Giving a Priority

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Transcript

A Real 90 Day Planning Call

Turning A Gala Into Donors

The Mastermind Accountability System

Monthly Giving As Financial Resilience

Deadlines Discounts And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 0:55

Okay, so for today's episode, this is a solo one, just you and me diving in. And I want to start with the truth that I think most of us can feel, but maybe don't always say out loud. And that is, we know we should be prioritizing monthly giving. We've read about it. You've heard about it. Maybe you have listened to this very podcast for a very long time and nodded along and listened to the episodes. Maybe you've attended the Monthly Giving Summit and thought, yes, this is exactly what we need to do. Then you closed wherever you listened to this, you've opened your inbox and jumped into a meeting, and the next six weeks just happened. And the problem is it's almost never information. We have plenty of information. You probably have plenty of information about this. If you've been listening to this podcast, you definitely have plenty of information about it. The nonprofit sector, our space, is full of good, amazing ideas, frameworks, content. The problem is the gap between knowing and doing, between understanding something and then actually building it into your work, your calendar, your organization's DNA. And man, have I been proof of that over the years. It's why I have joined mastermind programs. It's why I attend in-person retreats. It's why I now am working with my coach again. Like that gap of between knowing and doing has a name. And it's called accountability. Is anybody else laughing and or nodding your head as you listen to this? Today I want to talk about how to close that gap. And to do so, um, this is very relevant. So why I'm recording this to you and releasing it this week is I want to take you inside a call I had recently because I think this is one of the best ways to understand on my mini-monthly giving mastermind program that I talk about all the time and what actually happens in our 90-minute quarterly sessions. And it also is so true about answering this question of this gap and how we actually do that. So I just wrapped a call last week with an organization here in the greater Atlanta area with a leader and ED who cares so deeply about her mission, her work. She's doing exceptional work and is generally building something really special with her monthly giving program. And her goal for the year that we set during this first 90-minute quarterly call of the year is 90 new monthly donors. And now I want you to hear that number without judgment, because for some of you, 90 might sound small. For others, it might sound enormous. And for this organization who is in the earlier stages of building their program, they already have 28. But 90 is a genuinely big, exciting, ambitious goal. And we own that. And so we started the conversation by one, thinking about an average of$50 a month at 90 donors, like what would that, what would that yield for them? And we started talking about how, how to do that. And in these 90-minute calls, we really think about the next 90 days. And so I was talking about what's on your calendar, what events are already happening, what campaigns are already planned, what opportunities are already built into your year that we can work with. And right away, one stood out. And it's her annual gala. There's 200 people every year. And historically, monthly giving has never been mentioned at it. So we went to turn this gala into a strong monthly giving moment. So we started to build out a strategy and talk about it. We talked about who's in that room. There's longtime supporters, there's mentors of her program, some OG donors, but then there's a lot of new faces, people that come there because maybe they believe in the mission, but they haven't necessarily made a financial contribution yet, or they're friends of friends, but they're all being invited and they're going to be in this room together. And here's the thing about new people that come to events, because I've been one of them that's been new, invited by a friend, somebody has a table. They're likely not going to raise their hand, maybe, but not likely, that they're going to raise their hand for$1,000 or a$500 ask. But they may be moved, if you do a great job in the room of storytelling, to give$10 a month,$20 a month. They've just spent an evening hearing incredible stories, feeling the impact, believing in the work. All they need is an invitation. So we mapped it out. How would we talk about monthly giving? How is it introduced? Who's going to speak about it? What does the video say that you're going to play? Who's in it? Are there captions playing in the video? Is everybody in the room in the air? Because this is going to be an outside event under a tent. Can people see the video? Are they all going to hear it? How do we make sure that everyone's there for this moment? And then what are specific dollar amounts listed for your monthly giving when people do scan the QR codes? Where are the QR codes? What is the call to action specifically on the table? What happens when somebody becomes a monthly donor to this program, which is called the Compass? Is there an something they receive that it makes it like a moment? There gets some social, fun social pressure in the room. Every detail matters because every detail is either inviting someone in, or it's just like not necessarily letting them off the hook, but it's kind of like, okay, like I'm not ready to make a large substantial compute contribution. So there's nothing accessible here for me to really give to. And our goal for this one event alone is 30 new monthly donors. Now that's a third of this annual goal from one single night. And we haven't even talked about the rest of the year yet. That is the power of sitting down, thinking it through, working backwards from a real goal. And you, what happens is you stop hoping that monthly giving will grow and you start building pathways for it to grow to actually happen. And this is why these one-on-one, I love these calls because it allows us to spend adequate time talking about this, building it out, flushing out a plan. And then beyond these quarterly one-on-ones, the mini mastermind also includes monthly group calls. And this is where I love these because this is when some of the most surprising things happen. It's a small group. By the way, we only have 10 spots remaining. This is capped at 30 individuals. We have 10 spots left. Um, and applications close March 25th. So if you're listening to this in real time, make sure to get your application in. It is only$199 a month, or you can pay that on an annual and get a little bit of a discount, but$199 a month. That's it. So we have these quarterly one-on-one calls, and then we have group calls. So in these group calls, you are sharing, you are hearing what other people are working on and wrestling with and celebrating. So there's like some state of the states that I'm going to talk about, some examples. Then we dive into small groups where you get to talk about what we planned in our one-on-ones. So, what is it you're working on? What are you getting stuck with? What do you need support with? And you troubleshoot it. We set these goals together and we hold each other accountable. We are brainstorming in these small groups. And over the months, something happens that is genuinely hard to describe, but you've probably felt in other communities. And is this sense of people? And if you've been part of the Monthly Giving Summit, you've seen this. It's a sense of people genuinely rooting for each other. Monthly giving and fundraising overall, especially with small teams, can feel lonely. It can feel like you're the only one in the organization who believes in it, who's trying to move it forward, who understands why it matters. And these group calls are a reminder that you are not alone. There are other people in the exact same situation working towards the exact same thing. So we have the quarterly calls, the monthly group calls, and then there's the Slack group. And this is the like day-to-day layer of the community. So between the calls, between the one-on-ones, where you get support. So let me give you a real example. You get support and feedback. So one member of the group had her one-on-one call, it was either in the end of January or February. And we spent a significant part of that call talking about her messaging and how she really needed to simplify everything on her website to make it crystal clear what her mission was, what her monthly giving program is, and what people were being invited into. And I was like, I'm confused looking at this, but the story you just told me was amazing. And I was like, that's what needs to be put on quote unquote virtual paper. So a couple weeks later, she posted in Slack, hey, I have updated these web pages. Can you go in and take a look? So I went in, I reviewed the pages. Maggie on my team, who's our co-monthly giving specialist, looked as well. I gave some specific feedback, and other group members can do the same and chime in. And that kind of real-time input from someone who knows your program, knows your goals, it's invaluable. There's no waiting for like next month's call or next quarter. You get there's no like searching through emails. This is the difference between making a change and making the right change and not doing it in a silo. And this is where the needle starts to move. So I believe so deeply in this format because it changed everything for me back in 2021. And I've been in this work and in the nonprofit space long enough to have seen a lot of programs, a lot of masterminds, a lot of courses. And we designed this specifically to be the ones that combine real strategy with real accountability and community. This is so important. It's like three-prong approach. The quarterly planning that gives you a clear 90-day roadmap. We're not talking about six months from now or like in December. No, no, no, because that's too many variables are gonna happen. It's right now. Then the monthly group call, providing that momentum and that support. And then the Slack group that gives you that place to keep going when the going gets hard or you want to get feedback and the one-on-one, and you're gonna find people in the group that you're like, oh yeah, I vibe with them. They're on the same level as me. I really want to talk to them directly, and you can do that. So this is so important because again, it goes back to people being genuinely invested in your success. And so again, I just want to say we only have 10 spots left. We'll have about 30 people total in the group. It stays intimate, it stays a place where you can get what you need and you're not lost in a crowd. Vacations close March 25th. So if you've been thinking about it, again, it's$199 for the month. If you're a mastermind alumni, it's only$99 a month. And you can pay in an annual plan and there's a discount for that. So please don't wait. And I want to kind of like wrap this episode with this bigger picture because I think it's important to name it. Last year was a wake-up call, right? For a lot of nonprofits. Grants got cut, funding was uncertain. A lot of organizations that I spoke to had relied on government support, suddenly found themselves in very difficult positions. The same thing happened not that long ago with COVID when everything was in flux. Now there's so much demand on local community foundations. Like it's a it's a snowball effect. And the organizations that have been able to be the most resilient and keep their programs running and keep serving their communities are ones with these really strong, sustainable, predictable revenue streams with monthly giving. And that's not a coincidence, I think. Like that's the power of predictable recurring revenue. That's what 85% plus retention looks like. And yet, and yet, knowing this, we still fill our calendars, our campaigns, our end-of-the-year appeals, our gallows, our events with one time asks. This, and I'm saying this, I know because I'm I've been in the rooms talking to so many of you. Like, monthly giving is still at the bottom of the list. And we say, like, we'll get to it when things slow down, or I'm nervous about making the ask, or people just won't give that way, or it's going to take away from our major gifts. Excuse, excuse, excuse, myth, myth, myth. I'm here to tell you from years of watching this play out, from one-on-calls, retreats, summits, stages, podcasts, the organizations that thrive are the ones that decide in this moment, right now, monthly giving is not optional. It is a foundation. And the question is not whether monthly giving should be a priority. The question is, what is it going to take for you to make it one? Quite honestly, the mini-monthly mastermind is one way to answer that question. So is my retreat that I host in May. So is the monthly giving builder that's of access to you. So is simply just pulling out your calendar right now and blocking time this week to focus on your program. So whatever it takes, whatever that looks like for you, I'm rooting for you. I'm here for it. Links to everything that I just mentioned are in the show notes. The mini monthly giving mastermind applications close March 25th. That is next week. 10 spots left. The monthly giving retreat. There's four spots left. It's May 6th through 8th at beautiful Serum B. And I'll talk more about that in a future episode. But why not have a gorgeous place to stay? Be poolside, go on hikes, and be able to brainstorm and focus about monthly giving and have delicious food and drinks. I mean, that's that's what I'm about over here. That's what I'm about planning for you. So that's May through or May 6th through the 8th at Serinbi. It's just 30 minutes south of Atlanta of the airport. And then the Monthly Giving Builder. And because we are in the month of March, my birthday is March 17th this week, as this episode is debuting, and then it is a launch month for the builder. If you use code MGB, as in Bob, MGB Lucky, in checkout for monthlygivingbuilder.com, you'll get 17% off, which is$84 off the price. So you can snag that and DIY it. So again, what will it take? The question is not whether it should be a priority. What is it gonna take for you to make it one? And again, fill the gap between knowing and doing. Between understanding something and then actually building it into your work. What is that gonna take? And that's what I invite you to think about today and for the rest of the week. And I'm here, drop me a DM on LinkedIn, come say hi on Instagram, click the links, and we'll figure it out together. See you next week.