This document provides guidance on maximizing monthly committed giving by building a successful monthly giving program. It discusses why monthly giving is beneficial for both organizations and donors by providing predictable revenue, improving retention, and increasing long-term donor value. The document then offers recommendations on targeting frequent and loyal donors, appropriate timing for asks, customizable gift offers, and stewardship of monthly donors through communication channels and opportunities to upgrade their gifts.

1. Maximize your monthly committed g
y y giving
g
Charity Monte, CFRE
Andrew Olsen, CFRE
February 4, 2011

2. Overview
• Why build a monthly giving program
• It’s good for y
g your organization
g
• It’s good for your donor
• How to build a successful program
p g
• Audience
• Timing
• Offer
• Media channel
• Sustaining and stewarding monthly g donors
g g y gift
2

3. “Monthly giving is perfect for fundraisers because donors
love it. They find it easy, convenient and affordable. It
enables them to do a lot of good by giving a small
amount regularly that they will scarcely miss ”
miss.
Harvey McKinnon
3

4. It’s good for your organization
• Increase predictable annual revenue
• Improve donor retention
• Increase long-term donor value (LTDV)
• E
Expand f t
d future planned gift pipeline
l d ift i li
4

5. Increase predictable annual revenue
• Number of gifts annually from a “single gift” donor?
2.03
2 03 gifts US / 2 11 gifts Canada
2.11
• Average total revenue/donor of $113 annually
• Monthly gift donors give an average of 10 gifts per year for a total
year,
annual revenue per donor of $150.
Monthly donors contribute 33% more annual revenue per donor
than their single gift counterparts.
5

6. Are you leaving money on the table?
Active donor file 20,000 20,000 20,000
% giving monthly
g g y 2% 5% 5%
Monthly givers 400 1,000 1,000
Avg. gift $15.00 $15.00 $25.00
Annual value per donor $180 $180 $300
Total monthly gift income $72,000 $180,000 $300,000
• Target Analytics found monthly sustainers account for 10% of the
donor population, contributing 21% of the total income.
6

7. Improve donor retention
• Average retention rate for Russ Reid Missions?
62%
• Retention rates for monthly givers can be as high as 80-95%
7

8. Increase long-term donor value
• Average LTDV for Russ Reid Missions?
$227 US / $400 Canada
• LTDV for $15 monthly giver?
$750
US = $227 x 400 donors = $90,800
Canada = $400 x 400 d
C d donors = $160 000
$160,000
Monthly Givers = $750 x 400 donors = $300,000
8

9. Expand your planned gift pipeline
• One of the strongest indicators of planned gift likelihood is . . .
• Income
• Assets
• No Children
• Loyalty
• Age
ge
• Education
9

10. How to build a successful program

11. Audience
• Some good news for Missions . . .
• Russ Reid s Heart of the Donor ™ study found that 28% of domestic
Reid’s
poverty donors give at least once per month (loyalty)
• Heart of the Donor ™ also found that 22% of domestic poverty donors
have committed to a monthly giving program with at least one
nonprofit
Your donors are 69% more likely to become monthly donors
than the overall donor population
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12. Audience
• Newly acquired donors
• Likelihood to convert to monthly giving
decreases the longer a donor is on your file.
• Greatest opportunity to convert a single gift
donor to a monthly donor is within the first
45-90 days on your file.
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13. Audience
• Rapid responders
• Donors who contribute 3+ gifts in the first few months of their affiliation
with the Mission (acquisition request, thank-you receipt, early
cultivation appeal)
• F
Frequent givers
t i
• 3 – 8 gifts in the past 12 months
13

14. Timing
• 45 – 90 days of acquisition gift
• As quickly as possible after their third gift within a short timeframe
• On their anniversary with your organization
• Q
Quarterly or yearly
t l l
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15. Offer
• Fixed amount that relates to their last gifts or total annual support
• Any monthly amount they can give
• Specific, tangible, ongoing need such as meals
• C
Consider l
id leveraging a matching offer f the first twelve months of
i t hi ff for th fi t t l th f
support
• $10 * 12 months = $ 0 so you g t will actua y p o de $ 0 worth o
$ 0 o t s $120 your gift actually provide $240 o t of
support to the Mission this year.
15

16. Media Channel
• Telephone
• Online
• E-mail appeals
• Web pages or micro sites
• Upgrade at “checkout”
• Direct Mail
• Monthly within other mail packages (welcome package,
monthly appeals, newsletters, thank-you receipts)
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17. Sustaining and stewarding monthly gift donors
• Make them feel like partners
• Give them opportunities to upgrade
• At their anniversary
• When their credit card expires
• Include them in “extra gift” appeals
• 10-15% will make an extra gift annually
• Year-end or at special one-time gift at tax return time
• Seasonal, holiday request when need is particularly high
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18. The “ultimate” gift
• Monthly givers are some of your most loyal donors. Treat them
like insiders and focus on deepening the relationship.
• Sustainers are more than twice as likely to make a planned gift
commitment than the overall donor population.
• Factor this increased planned gift likelihood into your ROI discussions
when looking at the costs of launching and maintaining a monthly
giving program.
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19. Resources
• Harvey McKinnon, Monthly Gift Guru
• “Tiny Essentials of Monthly Committed Giving” book
• http://harveymckinnon.com/blog
• Target Analytics 2009 donorCentrics U.S. Recurring Giving
Benchmarking Analysis
• “The Ins and Outs of Monthly Giving Programs” article by
FundRaising Success
• Russ Reid: Heart of the Donor™: Insights into donor motivation
and behaviors for the 21st century
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20. Thank You
Charity Monte, CFRE Andrew Olsen, CFRE
Account Director Account Director
cmonte@russreid.com aolsen@russreid.com
(626) 463-9272
463 9272 (626) 463-9459
463 9459