Why is Your Monthly Giving Program Not Growing?

Did you know monthly donors often have 85%+ retention rates, while many nonprofits are lucky to retain just 40% of one-time donors?

In this episode, I’m asking you to take a hard look at your fundraising calendar and answer one simple question: Is monthly giving actually a priority? For most organizations, it’s not.

We’ll talk about the shift from constantly raising money to building predictable, sustainable revenue, what metrics you should be tracking, and why making monthly giving a core part of your strategy is one of the most important moves you can make right now.

Resources & Links

Bloomerang is the proud presenter of Missions to Movements. 

Bloomerang is the trusted, all-in-one giving platform that connects your data, streamlines your systems, and helps your mission go further. Learn more at bloomerang.com.

If you’re building a movement, join Bloomerang’s GiveCon in St. Louis May 15-17 to learn what’s working in donor retention, AI, major gifts, recurring revenue, and community-driven campaigns. Register now and use code M2M to save $200!

The Monthly Giving Builder: Generate your comprehensive monthly giving plan and build your program step by step - with a guided companion working alongside you from start to finish. 

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Transcript

Raising Money Versus Predictable Revenue

Habit Keeps Monthly Giving Out

Retention Data And The Mindset Shift

The First Action Put A Meeting

Key Metrics ARR MRR Churn

Tools Resources And Closing Challenge

SPEAKER_01 0:54

Most organizations have a full fundraising calendar. There's end of year appeals, there's Giving Tuesday, there's spring galas or events. Maybe it's a golf tournament, maybe it's a luncheon or a breakfast. There's direct mail pieces that go out. There's constant ask going out. It's packed. And it might be working. Like at least it feels like it's working, right? Donations come in, goals get hit. Maybe your board is relatively happy. But then I really wanted to take a step back and think about what that calendar actually represents. Not too long ago, I was standing on a stage in Norfolk, Virginia, and in front of me there were 145 nonprofit professionals, people who care deeply about their missions, just like you do, who work incredibly hard, who are really, really good at what they do. And I asked them a question. I said, okay, everyone, like I want you to think about your annual fundraising calendar. Do you have it in your head? And everyone's nodding, right? And I said, great. Then I asked this follow-up question. Is monthly giving a priority in any of those upcoming asks? Not one hand, not a single one. There were 145 people in that room and zero hands went up. And so today I wanted to bring that into today's conversation on the podcast and ask you the same question right now. Does your annual fundraising calendar have monthly giving built in as a priority? Or is it still kind of an afterthought? If you have not listened to the show before, welcome to Missions to Movements. I am Dana Snyder. And today we are busting one of the, I think maybe biggest, I don't know if it's a myth anymore, but it's something that's just kind of been like an idea that monthly giving is something we'll get to eventually, or it's secondary. It's someday. It's I'll add it in when things slow down. And I think spoil alert for anyone is we know those things don't really slow down. And that someday mentality is costing you. So here's what I see all the time. Most organizations have a full fundraising calendar. There's end-of-year appeals, there's Giving Tuesday, there's spring galas or events. Maybe it's a golf tournament, maybe it's a luncheon or a breakfast. There's direct mail pieces that go out. There's constant asks going out. It's packed. And it might be working. Like at least it feels like it's working, right? Donations come in, goals get hit. Maybe your board is relatively happy. But then I really want us to take a step back and think about what that calendar actually represents. Every single item on it that you're doing requires an ask. Every single item requires that you go out, find new funds that maybe doesn't exist yet, re-ask people who have maybe given to before, make sure that they come to the event, every campaign, every mailer. Essentially, you're saying I'm starting at zero. And that is exhausting. That is the hamster wheel that we have been living on for decades. And I want to make a distinction that I think changes everything. And I've talked about this before is that there's a huge difference between raising money and having revenue. Raising money means you're always asking, right? Just raising is the verb here. Raising money. You're always asking. Revenue, having revenue means money is there when you need it. It's more predictable, it's compounding. Ideally, it's building on itself. And that's what a monthly giving program creates. Now, I want to share another story because I think it also really illustrates what's happening in our work. So last fall, I spoke at the Sarkeys Foundation conference. It is a beautiful event. They do such a great job. This was in the fall. And after my session, I keynoted a lunch session. Someone came up to me and said, Dana, I read your book. It's been a game changer. We've really been working on our monthly giving program. And because this was the fall, I was one, so excited and honored. And I asked, like, that's amazing. Like, tell me, like, what are you working on? How are you implementing it into your like end-of-year appeal and Giving Tuesday? Like, how did you work monthly giving into that? And she just stopped and kind of like looked at me. It was like deer in the headlights kind of look. And was like, oh, actually, we didn't put monthly giving in our end-of-year appeal at all. And she kind of went on to say, like, it's kind of always just gone the way it's gone. It's we're doing things that we've always done. And I don't want anybody to feel behind on this, but she, it wasn't like she was uninformed. Like she had read the book, she was doing the work. But when it came to an end of you, or maybe you feel this way with a campaign or event, like you're defaulting to just what's always been done because that's what we do. Like we are habit creatures. Like we fall back on habit, on what maybe the board expects, on what feels safe, what feels familiar. But that familiarity is what keeps us stuck in the raising money cycle instead of building real sustainable revenue. And when I say that, I want you to think about what would be a great percentage of your revenue to be recurring. That could be 30%, 35%, 40%. Like what does that look like to you? That would really give you a peace of mind. And I want to ask you something, honestly. This is from my voice to your AirPods or car or wherever you're listening to this is when do you think you might be ready or leadership might be ready, board might be ready to make the shift? And I'm asking this because I genuinely, so genuinely believe in what's possible. And I have seen it over and over and over again when organizations make monthly giving a true priority. It's not a nice to have anymore. It's not an add-on, but it is a core part, core infrastructure of how you fund your mission. Now, many of us know this on retention rates, monthly giving programs. A lot of times, on average, we have an 85 plus percent retention rate, give or take. Compare that to one-time donors. Please look at your own data for this. But we're lucky to see 40% of them give again. And yet, even knowing this, even with all the data, we still pour most of our energy into the one time asks. And I talk about mindset a lot in my work. And I know some people might roll their eyes at that, but I think it's really important. And this is why it matters is the strategy oftentimes isn't the problem. The tools aren't the problem. There's a more amazing tech out there now than we know what to do with. It's the willingness to make this a real priority. And that's where the work is. So if you go back to your desk or wherever you're working from today, after this episode, and nothing changes on your calendar or in conversations, like nothing will change in your program. So the first step, if any of this is resonating with you and you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, Dana, I know. The most actionable thing that you can do right now, no matter the size of your team or your organization, is put a monthly giving meeting on your calendar. Invite whoever the right people are that need to be in that conversation. Just start there. A real meeting. Even if it's you or you and one other person, add it to a board meeting agenda item, a planning session. And when you sit down, look at your numbers. If you don't know where to find them, talk to your CRM platform. Figure out stats. Because a lot of times we don't even know where we're starting from. Like, what's your ARR, your annual recurring revenue? What's your MRR, monthly recurring revenue? What's your percentage of your total donations that are recurring? What's your annual donor retention rate on year one, year two, year three, et cetera? What's the monthly churn, right? Like these stats a lot of times aren't readily available in our CRMs, which is something I am working on. And we are building these out, which I'm very excited. There's forecasting in the monthly giving builder tool right now. And then we're adding a tracker that will track all of this for you, which is very exciting. But these numbers tell the story of where you are. And once you know where you are, you can actually plan where you want to go. So, as I mentioned, the builder, it's one of my favorite features is the forecasting tool because it forces you to like really look at the numbers first. So, monthlygivingbuilder.com. And if you're not familiar with what I'm talking about, the previous episode dives all into how I built the builder, why, what it's all about. So coming back to this, the group in Norfolk that I started with, after I had my keynote and I did a fireside chat, I heard so many things that just made me so hopeful. And one person came up to me and said, I have so much to think about, so much to go back and consider. And I hope that that's exactly how you feel right now. Like this should feel big because it is big. It's a fundamental shift in how we think about funding our work. And I have seen what happened. Like from the monthly giving retreat last year, one organization went from 30 monthly donors to 105 in just a few months, right? Like it's a big deal. The organizations are doing this, like they're not unicorns. They're just organizations that have decided that monthly giving was worth the calendar, worth the time, worth the focus, and made it a priority in their asks. So again, my closing challenge to you is as this episode ends, open your calendar. I know our attention is all over the place. Probably find a window in the next two weeks. Block it for a monthly giving strategy. Whether that can be an hour, even 45 minutes, if you can make it longer, awesome. Make the time because your monthly donors, they are your most committed believers. They give for an average of eight years. They become legacy donors, like they become major donors. They deserve to be at the center of a fundraising strategy and not squeezed in where you can find it. So again, you can find links in the show notes here. I'm gonna leave you some resources to the monthly giving builder and you can check out episode, I think it's 231, where I talk all about it. GiveCon coming up is Bloom Rangs event. You can use code M2M to get$200 off that ticket. It's coming up in May. And I have an upcoming virtual workshop for free with We Are For Good, all about forecasting your monthly giving growth. And that's all in the show notes. And if this episode in any way resonated with you, please share it with a colleague. The more of us who make this shift, truly the stronger our whole sector becomes.

SPEAKER_00 13:38

With that, I will see you in the next episode. Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Missions to Movement. 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.