Your nonprofit has established a recurring giving program. Now what? You push to increase those gifts, of course. But how? Keep it simple.
You need to attract new recurring donors and encourage existing donors to upgrade to large or more frequent donations, according to the Radical Recurring Giving Guide by QGiv, a Lakeland, Fla.-based software provider to nonprofits.
The 32-page eBook aims to help nonprofits establish a recurring giving program to boost donor retention and the lifetime giving of their donors as well as upgrade and enhance existing recurring giving programs.
Upgrading current donors is simple — that doesn’t mean easy — but requires a basic strategy. QGiv’s Radical Recurring Giving Guide offers up a few basics to think about when aiming to ramp up your organization’s existing recurring giving program:
- Thank recurring donors. It’s important to thank donors before you ask them to give more or give again, something as simple as opening your appeal, telling them what they’ve accomplished, and don’t be vague. The more specific you are about how and who their gift has helped, the more compelling your additional ask will be.
- Tell them why they should increase their gifts. Simply asking a donor to increase their gift might work but asking them and then showing them how it will make a difference can be much more effective. Remember that donors give to people, not organizations. Put the emphasis on the donor and the difference they make – not why your organization wants more funding.
- Make upgrading a recurring gift as easy as possible. This can be as easy as logging into your fundraising platform and updating a donor’s gift preferences but good customer service is key when upgrading donors. Make yourself available to help supporters, answer questions, and make sure they feel awesome about increasing their level of support to your organization.
