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
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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.
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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.
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7. Improve donor retention
• Average retention rate for Russ Reid Missions?
62%
• Retention rates for monthly givers can be as high as 80-95%
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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
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9. Expand your planned gift pipeline
• One of the strongest indicators of planned gift likelihood is . . .
• Income
• Assets
• No Children
• Loyalty
• Age
ge
• Education
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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
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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.
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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