October 29, 2018 | Categories #GivingTuesday, Donation Processing, Donor Management, Featured, Fundraising Strategies, Monthly Giving

5 Tips to Boost Your Monthly Giving Program for Giving Tuesday

Recurring donations are funds you can count on. They provide reliable cash flow for your organization. Why? Because on average, recurring donors give more money for more consecutive years than single-gift donors. Here’s how to retain your existing monthly giving donors and get buy-in from new ones this Giving Tuesday.

 

1.Set “Recurring” as the Default Gift Type for Giving Tuesday Donation Forms

There’s no better time than Giving Tuesday to turn engaged donors into lifetime supporters! Make it easy for donors to give on a recurring basis by making it the default setting on your Giving Tuesday donation forms. Even if you don’t have DP Online Forms Plus, you can still configure this option. Edit your form to move the recurring option to the top of the list for the field on your form that offers the recurring donation. This is typically the field giftpledgetype with the prompt Type of Donation but your field name may vary. We take you step by step through this process in How to Make Recurring Donations the Default Setting on Your Online Forms in DP Community.

As a best practice, you should ensure all of your donation forms accept recurring donations, in addition to one-time. That’s even easier now! The last release of DP Online Forms added recurring giving options to both the Crowdfunding Form template and the Giving Tuesday template.

 

2. Adjust Your Giving Levels

Studies show that suggested “giving levels” for donations actually increase average donation amounts. You can adjust the amounts of your suggested giving levels in your Giving Tuesday Donation forms. You can also pre-select a recommended giving level for donations. For recurring donations, our data shows that $50 is the most successful suggested giving level. For other donations, set the middle giving level (e.g.,$50, $75, $100) just slightly above your average gift.

 

3. Send Timely Receipts for Monthly Giving Donors

While a receipt is not a thank you, it starts the relationship you’re cultivating with your monthly giving donors. Sending email receipts is a quick and easy way to acknowledge the contributions that your monthly donors have made to support your organization during Giving Tuesday. Be sure to acknowledge that they are monthly donors with a special role in your mission.

 

4. Thank Monthly Giving Donors Often

You should thank your recurring donors multiple times throughout the course of the year, not just during the Giving Tuesday campaign. Personalize your thank you letters with regular impact stories and updates that demonstrate the cumulative impact they are making. Using DonorPerfect’s Mail Merge Templates, you can easily personalize your Giving Tuesday thank you letters and emails with unlimited merge fields.

 

5. Keep Credit Card Information Updated

Donor payment account information changes for many reasons: card expirations, lost or stolen cards, and when credit card issuers buy and sell their portfolios of accounts. Don’t lose recurring donors that you gained during Giving Tuesday due to changing account information. DonorPerfect’s Account Updater service can pinpoint when your donors’ Visa, MasterCard, or Discover account information changes and update it automatically – before you lose out on donations.

Visit How to Have Credit Card Information Automatically Update to learn more about this service.

 

Share Your Ideas

Do you have a tip for retaining monthly donors? We’d love to hear about it! You can share your ideas and see how others are managing their Giving Tuesday campaigns in the Giving Tuesday Discussion group in DP Community.