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Recurring Giving 101: The How and Why

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Will Tober • Development Director

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Meet your hosts

Brad Chrisakis • Account Manager Will Tober • Development Director

Agenda

PLANNING

DESIGN

IMPLEMENTATION

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Planning

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Why Invest in a Recurring Giving Program?

A FEW REASONS:

!  Individual giving campaigns are seasonal and cyclical

!  Monthly donations bring financial stability to nonprofits

!  Allows nonprofits to maximize the annual contributions of donors and increase donor lifetime value

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Step 1: Identify Your Campaign Goals

METRICS TO CONSIDER:

!  Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)

!  Number of monthly donors

!  Monthly gift increases

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Step 2: Identify Your Target Audience

A FEW THINGS TO CONSIDER:

!  Past gift sizes

!  Supporters who have given more than once in a year

!  How a person gives, in-person or online

!  Pro Tip: Segmentation

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Step 3: Create a Promotion Plan and Calendar

BEST PRACTICES:

!  Establish a communication timeline

!  Start with a soft launch

!  Reach out to your most committed supporters first

!  Build momentum for when you share the campaign with your whole community

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WHY A RECURRING GIVING CAMPAIGN?

!  Maximize the impact of a large one-time gift with donation matching

!  Create a reliable source of income

!  Prove first-time success in a recurring giving campaign

Campaign Goals

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THE LEGACY’S IDEAL SUPPORTER:

!  One-time emotional supporters, eager to become a part of Kindred Image’s mission

!  As a startup nonprofit, looked first to their newsletter subscription list

!  Past donors who have given more than once

Target Audience

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TIMELINE:

!  Soft launch on the website

!  Introduce The Legacy to newsletter subscribers

!  Create and send segmented communications to make unique asks based on giving history

!  Promote the campaign via social media

Campaign Plan

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Design

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Brand Your Campaign

BEST PRACTICES:

!  Give your program a name

!  Use unique branding to set it apart

!  Treat your recurring giving campaign as a special group donors can join to invest in your work

Try using a catchy phrase or word to describe your recurring donors, as seen by Possible here.

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A FEW THINGS TO NOTE:

!  Unique logo

!  Strong campaign name

!  Distinct from the Kindred Image brand, but not incongruous

!  Signature colors incorporated into the campaign page

Branding

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Create a Campaign Microsite

BEST PRACTICES:

!  Your website is the base of your operations

!  This is where you should direct people to learn more about your recurring giving campaign

!  Highlight any special privileges recurring donors have here

Call out the microsite on your website. This shows monthly giving is an important part of the work you do.

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A FEW THINGS TO NOTE:

!  Call out the The Legacy from the homepage of the website

!  Explain the purpose behind the program and how monthly gifts help

!  Use strong imagery to show who is being impacted by monthly gifts

Microsite

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Create Campaign Specific Messaging

BEST PRACTICES:

!  Explain why donors should join

!  Communicate the benefits of becoming a recurring donor

!  Link monthly donations with impact to show supporters how their gift is making a difference

Emphasize the impact of monthly donations by putting impact icons and descriptions next to the suggested gift sizes, as Possible does here.

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A FEW THINGS TO NOTE:

!  Create a concrete story

!  Communicate that monthly giving does not have to be a financial burden

!  Explicitly call out the donation matching

!  Use action oriented verbiage

Key Messaging

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Establish the Benefits of Being a Monthly Donor

BEST PRACTICES:

!  Offer supporters some type of membership with benefits

!  Don’t communicate with recurring donors the same way you do one-time donors

!  Provide unique access and exclusive news

Call out the benefits of becoming a recurring donor on your website, as Pencils of Promise does here.

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WHY JOIN THE LEGACY?

!  Upon joining, donors receive a personal thank you email from the Development Director

!  Members receive direct access to the Kindred Image team to ask questions, share their opinions, and suggestions

!  Exclusive impact updates to Legacy members

Benefits of Joining

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Brand the Donation Process

BEST PRACTICES:

!  Create donation pages that are branded to your organization and to your recurring giving campaign

!  The messaging on donation pages should relate back to the initial campaign ask

Present gift sizes by tying them to concrete results on your donation pages, as seen by Action Against Hunger here.

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A FEW THINGS TO NOTE:

!  Imagery on the website matches the imagery used on the donation page

!  The donation page is branded to The Legacy campaign with the logo and campaign messaging

!  Donors are only given the option to make a monthly donation

!  Final CTA is unique to The Legacy

Donation Pages

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Implementation

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Campaign Kick Off Checklist

Write email appeals

Segment communications

Launch a social campaign

Develop relationships with recurring donors

Maintain and optimize

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BEST PRACTICES:

!  Explain why your organization needs monthly support

!  Segment your audience so you can tailor your asks to different audiences

!  Include an impact image or link to a blog post to make the cause more tangible

Write Email Appeals

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KINDRED IMAGE’S PROCESS:

!  Reached out to newsletter subscribers, excluding existing Legacy donors

!  Sent a separate communication to current Legacy donors, asking for additional support

!  Reached out to donors who have given more than once, inviting them to become a recurring donor

!  Identified committed, large one-time donors and asked them to join

Segment Communications

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BEST PRACTICES:

!  Use social channels to spread the news of your recurring giving program

!  Give quick insight into the program to a large audience

!  Share campaign milestones and updates

Launch a Social Campaign

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BEST PRACTICES:

!  Establish some sort of ongoing communication with recurring donors

!  Consider creating a monthly email or newsletter

!  Brand the email or newsletter to your organization and recurring giving program

!  After 6 months to a year, ask monthly supporters to increase their gift

!  Pro Tip: Proactively reach out to recurring donors before their credit card expires

Develop Relationships with Recurring Donors

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BEST PRACTICES:

!  Track where new donors are coming in from

!  Monitor social performance – determine which posts perform the best on respective channels

!  Use data to create more targeted communications

Maintain and Optimize

Questions?

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Plan, promote, and grow your monthly giving program.