Looking to increase donor retention and create sustainable growth for your organization? In this article, we share tips on how to turn one-time donors into recurring donors, giving your revenue a boost.
While there are many funding sources available to nonprofit organizations, it can be hard to decide on a funding model that will suit individual needs and circumstances.
Amongst the multitude of offline and online fundraising techniques available – from direct mail to events to crowdfunding – there’s one fundraising strategy that stands out: recurring donations.
Let’s explore some top tips to turn one-time donors into recurring ones!
Sometimes, the simplest actions work the best. Following a donation, you should always acknowledge your donor – regardless of the size of their donation!
There are many ways to thank your nonprofit donors. Thanking your supporters encourages existing donors to keep giving, demonstrates that you care about your supporters, and encourages one-time donors to give again, possibly even setting up recurring donations.
How you choose to thank your donors will depend on the resources your nonprofit has at its disposal. If your resources are scarce, a thank-you e-mail is probably the most cost-effective solution.
You can get really creative with your e-mail outreach and make your donors feel special.
If you have more resources available, consider sending out hand-written thank-you letters or personalizing thank-you videos for your donors.
Whatever you choose, remember to show your donors that you care and appreciate their support!
Good fundraising software is the key to making a recurring donation program a reality!
Your systems should be ready to handle a recurring giving program by being able to accept and process recurring donations. Ideally, your fundraising system should process the payments securely while safely storing donor information.
Donorbox is a powerful and efficient donation management system optimized for recurring donations. It will make building your own donation pages much easier and provide you with several features and benefits, such as:
Donorbox Premium members can also utilize our Recurring Upsell feature. This will enable your donation form to prompt donors to make a monthly donation, turning them into recurring donors.
Check out the Donorbox recurring donation system today!
In addition to a “thank you,” good post-donation communication should include a report of some sort that details how the donation was spent.
Letting donors know how their gifts were used is a good second communication to send out. After all, showing a donor how their gift has made a difference will make them more likely to sign up for a recurring donation program!
To showcase the impact of your donors’ gifts, consider sending a photo or video, or even just an e-mail sharing a story of an individual their donation helped.
If you’re able to successfully showcase the impact their donations have made, your donors will know that their gifts will be well-used, and they’ll be more likely to give repeatedly!
If no one knows about your recurring giving program, it will be very hard to grow it.
Drive program awareness by actively promoting recurring donations through clear calls to action in your communication outreach. Remember to let your donors know the benefits and impact of recurring donations, and include a button or link with instructions on what you want them to do. For example, “Set Up Your Weekly Gift” or “Join our Monthly Giving Program.”
Ensure your ask (call to action) is compelling and remember to track the effectiveness of your activities. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to recurring giving programs. Therefore, it’s essential to measure and evaluate to know what works best for your nonprofit when it comes to asking for recurring donations.
Storytelling has a unique power to move people to give in a way that nothing else does.
Stories help create context for your mission and its impact. People are more likely to relate to individuals and families, not abstract causes or large groups of people.
Stories move us to act by stirring up emotions, and people make decisions on an emotional level.
You can also use videos to tell stories and put them on your blog or website. Don’t forget that visuals are more effective than text in grabbing and keeping attention!
Storytelling can help your one-time donors form genuine emotional connections to your nonprofit, which will make them more likely to become recurring donors.
For more storytelling tips, check out our guide to nonprofit storytelling.
Donors can be incentivized in many different ways.
For example, make it known to your supporters that they can cancel or change their donation at any time. This is likely to put them at ease and they will feel a lot more comfortable setting up a recurring donation.
Also, don’t forget to offer a variety of options for the frequency of gifts, as some may find a monthly donation too much (or too little!).
You can also use public recognition as a way to incentivize your one-time donors. Public recognition evokes social proof – people are more likely to give when they see others give.
For example, publicly recognize a donor by sharing their photo and a quote on your social media profiles. Just make sure you check this is okay with the donor first.
You can also frame the ask in a way that makes donors feel valued; perhaps you could name the tiers/levels of giving, e.g. “Premium Patrons” if they give a monthly gift at a certain level.
Offer gifts to your one-time donors when they make a contribution at a certain level (e.g. mugs, tote bags, umbrellas, hats, etc.).
Gifts make donors feel special and like they’re part of something exclusive. Since the gifts are usually branded, this will also help spread awareness about your organization and might encourage others to give, too. When talking about the gift, make sure you present it as another altruistic gesture.
In addition to material gifts, you could also incentivize your one-time donors by offering experiences (e.g. a visit to one of your programs or a day at the office meeting the staff).
Note: It’s smart to offer the donor the opportunity to not receive a gift with language such as, “No thanks, I’d like 100 percent of my donation to go toward [name of nonprofit].”
If you’re trying to create an engaged community of recurring donors, a “thank you” won’t be enough – although it’s a great first step!
To engage with your donors, make sure you communicate with them regularly and enthusiastically. However, don’t make all of your communication about asking for donations or signing up for the recurring giving program. If you do that, donors can come to resent you and you will achieve the opposite effect.
These campaigns are usually referred to as “non-ask campaigns.”
Non-ask campaigns are any communication or marketing campaigns that have the primary purpose of informing and acknowledging your donors without asking for a monetary contribution (www.accelevents.com/).
Show your donors that you value them for and beyond their donations. Use social media, organize events, meet them in person where possible, and send them direct mail and newsletters to keep them informed. Ask them for feedback on your projects and initiatives, and acknowledge their opinions and input.
In addition to that, structure an email drip campaign to send emails based on the amount of time since a donor’s most recent activity (donor segmentation). Drip emails are usually automated – which ensures no donor is left out and saves tons of time for your team. Make sure all automated emails are carefully written and thoroughly checked by your fundraising staff.
In short, maintaining a relationship with every donor, regardless of the size of their gift, is the most important thing when it comes to turning one-time donors into recurring donors.
A great way to value your donors is to effectively engage with them at the right time. Make sure to reach out to your donors at key moments to remind them how their contribution and support have helped your nonprofit. For example, when a donor gives to your nonprofit for the first time or on the anniversary of their first-ever donation made to your organization.
To help, Donorbox CRM – our all-in-one donor management software – offers a dedicated feature, called Moments. Moments automatically notifies you about important donor moments/events based on specific donor actions, including when a donor has:
To use Moments, you’ll need access to Donorbox CRM’s Mail Center. Use this tool to keep track of moments and personalize your communication with donors!
See Moments in action with this quick demo video.
Watch this video for a quick recap
Check out this video for a quick overview of how to turn one-time donors into recurring donors:
When a donor sets up a recurring donation, they choose to give a pre-determined amount of money on a regular basis. Many donors choose to give monthly, bi-monthly, or yearly, but they can give as frequently as they’d like.
While one-time donors are, naturally, very important, recurring donations are the most sustainable source of income for an average nonprofit.
Recurring giving programs (e.g. monthly giving programs) have a much higher return on investment compared to one-time giving programs.
The average monthly online donation is $52 ($624 per year) compared to the average one-time gift of $128. According to Network for Good’s donation data, the average recurring donor will give 42% more in one year than those who give one-time gifts. Monthly donors also have a greater lifetime revenue per donor. Finally, 52% of Millennials are more likely to give monthly vs. a large one-time donation.
Recurring donations are also much easier for donors. Instead of having to remember to donate and constantly being prompted to give again, donors enter their payment information once. The process is automatized from then on until the donor decides to stop giving. Monthly giving, for example, is also easy to understand for most donors because many people are used to monthly payments (e.g. rent, bills, etc.).
The retention rate is also higher with recurring donors compared to one-time donors.
Finally, developing a strong recurring donation program means that you can plan more and plan smarter because your income becomes more predictable. This can create space for innovation and growth.
To start building a sustained recurring giving program, you might want to consider starting by turning your one-time donors into recurring donors.
Recurring giving is the way to go to ensure stability and sustainability for your nonprofit organization. It allows you to create a steady income stream so you can plan and budget accordingly.
Recurring donations also provide an opportunity for your donors to engage with your cause in a more meaningful and frequent way.
Attracting first-time donors requires a great deal of effort and investment, so we hope these seven tips inspire you to retain your one-time donors and turn them into recurring donors!
Choose Donorbox as your donation platform and check out our Nonprofit Blog for more nonprofit resources and tips.
Raviraj heads the sales and marketing team at Donorbox. His growth-hacking abilities have helped Donorbox boost fundraising efforts for thousands of nonprofit organizations.
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