The nonprofit sector has seen some recent challenges, as year-end giving was down 2.8 percent in 2023 compared to 2022. Many organizations are looking to monthly giving programs to help offset these giving declines.
Monthly giving is a form of recurring giving in which donors contribute a specific amount each month to your nonprofit. This amount varies depending on each donor's level of commitment to your cause and giving capacity.
According to the 2024 M+R Benchmarks study, revenue from monthly giving increased by 6% in 2023 and accounted for 31% of all online revenue, showing the growing popularity of this donation avenue.
If you're building up your organization's monthly giving program, this guide will help you by highlighting the following tips and best practices:
As you review each tip and example, note the program elements that will work best for your nonprofit's audience and consider how to adapt them to your unique needs.
You may wonder about the return on investment (ROI) for monthly giving programs. Are they really worth the time and effort to get them going?
In our opinion, monthly giving programs are well worth the investment because of the many advantages they can bring to your nonprofit, allowing you to:
Boosting monthly giving program participation is much more cost-effective for your nonprofit long-term than new donor acquisition. According to Bloomerang, "The cost to continually acquire new donors can easily run 50% to 100% more than the dollars collected from them."
If your nonprofit already has a solid online donation process, you can simply add an option on your donation page for supporters to make a recurring donation. For example, here's what the monthly giving option looks like on CARE's online donation form:
This donation page even includes social proof by saying, "Most people are choosing to give $50 a month." When potential donors see what the most common giving amount is, they'll be more likely to choose that option to align with the norm.
While adding a monthly giving button will be a simple update, you'll need to strategically promote monthly giving to your donor base to encourage supporters to sign up for your program.
Follow these tips to get your program and marketing campaign up and running:
While you should promote your monthly giving program to all of your supporters, focus your marketing efforts on existing donors rather than prospective donors. It's easier to engage individuals in an opportunity that requires continued commitment when they have already shown an interest in supporting your cause.
Use your donor management software to identify long-time donors, annual donors, and other engaged supporters who would likely be candidates to join your monthly giving program. Then, reach out to these supporters with information about joining your program, including the impact and benefits.
When you promote your monthly giving program, explain how making a monthly gift supports your mission. For example, it's much more compelling to say that making a $25 monthly donation would allow your nonprofit to provide school supplies to 50 students than just asking your supporters to sign up to donate $25 every month.
If you're going to use the revenue from the monthly giving program to cover your everyday operating expenses, give an example of what that looks like. Would it help you keep the lights on by covering the electric bill for your office? Would it provide the funds needed to hire paid interns?
Whatever it is, let your supporters know. Showing how they can provide your nonprofit with a sustainable revenue source will get them even more invested in your cause.
Let potential monthly donors know about any program benefits, such as shoutouts in your monthly newsletter, free merchandise, or invites to exclusive events.
Fundraising software streamlines the process of recruiting, engaging, and retaining monthly donors. Our recommended platform is Bloomerang Fundraising, a robust fundraising tool that facilitates monthly giving with custom-branded donation pages. These additional features make it easy to recruit and retain more recurring donors:
Bloomerang Fundraising enables unlimited donation forms and support, giving you the helping hand you need to maximize fundraising. Plus, social sharing options make it easy for donors to spread the word about their giving to their networks, helping raise awareness of your cause.
As you would for other donors, send monthly givers an automated thank-you email every time you process a donation. Incorporate other appreciation efforts, such as sending handwritten thank-you notes or calling donors on the phone to express your appreciation for their generosity. These relationship-building efforts show recurring donors that you recognize and appreciate their ongoing support.
Keep your nonprofit's branding and story in mind when brainstorming a name for your monthly giving program. These tips can help you come up with the right name:
Your giving program's name will be an important part of branding the program and increasing its recognition. Make sure the name you choose is memorable and descriptive. You can even workshop the name among staff members or long-time supporters to gather input.
Here are some examples of our favorite monthly giving programs, including what we think they did well.
We love that TWLOHA shares the meaning of their program name right on their donation page: "From the blue stitches on the first TWLOHA T-shirt, the color our team calls 'TWLOHA Blue' has become a powerful reminder to stay true to our mission, knowing what's at stake."The name comes from one of the organization's brand colors, providing a tangible image that the donors will be familiar with. For your monthly giving program, look at your logo, brand colors, and fonts. Does a visual or color come to mind that's consistent with your mission?
TWLOHA sets a public goal and tracks progress on the giving program page with a fundraising thermometer. We recommend setting a goal—even if you don't make it public—so you can gather data, track your progress, and adjust your tactics in the future.
Also, by listing the number of TWLOHA Blue members and including their names on the page, the organization invites new supporters to become part of a community while showing appreciation for existing monthly donors. You may not want to list numbers or names on your giving program page, but the more you can do to make the supporter feel like they're part of something important and exclusive, the better.
Another way the organization makes members feel special is by incentivizing them to donate. Members receive additional perks based on their giving levels, all of which tie back to the organization's brand. They receive monthly updates from the team, perks on their birthday, discount codes to the organization's online store, and a TWLOHA Blue Partners Coin.
Finally, we like that TWLOHA created a short tagline for their program: help hope go farther. It's a simple but strong reminder of what donors' support means for those in need.
"The Spring" brings to mind the tangible image of building wells and bringing water to underdeveloped areas. Powerful names combine tangible images and the intangible emotions that come with those images.
Think about your organization's work. Are there any tangible images that could serve as your giving program's name? What feelings might the image bring to mind for the donor?
On their giving page, charity: water has strong visuals that immediately grab the supporter's attention and remind them how important their support is. If you have photos or videos that tell your nonprofit's story, this would be a great place to include them!
The organization uses this page to educate the donor on their history and mission while talking about how the giving program ties into the organization's work.
By inviting supporters to sign up to receive a monthly impact report, they're encouraging the donor to get more invested and take an active role in the mission. There's also the powerful message of "You belong here," which is followed by photos and testimonials of other people who have joined The Spring.
They also note that the community includes people from more than 100 countries. And, perhaps the most important thing charity: water does is state the impact of different giving levels on the nonprofit's overall mission. For example, the page explains that a $40 monthly donation allows 12 people access to clean water for a year.
When we asked Henah Parikh, the former Development and Communications Manager for She's the First, about the name of She's the First's giving program, she said, "Our work chiefly supports girls' education and rights, and so we wanted to play with that 'classroom' theme a bit. Commonly, students who sit in the front row are usually the most engaged, and that paralleled nicely with our monthly donor community."The Front Row is an image that connects directly with She's the First's education initiatives. It also has a meaning beyond the image that creates an emotional connection with the donors and invites them to engage with the organization's mission. How can the name of your program invite your donors to feel engaged and invested in your work?
She's the First has given each donation level a name. For example, donors who give more than $100 per month to the organization are called Girl Champions. Other donor level names include Equality Advocates, Academic Ally, and Monthly Changemakers.
By listing the names of each donor under their donor level, they're illuminating the community that prospective donors can join when they sign up to give monthly.
You can learn more about how they got started, how they promote the program, and what advice they have for other nonprofits in our She's the First interview.
By calling monthly donors Field Partners, Doctors Without Borders sends the message that donors are just as important to their work as the members of their own organization. In short, Doctors Without Borders couldn't do the work they do without their monthly donors' support.
Consider extending the name of your giving program to your monthly donors too. What can you call them that will make them feel even more ownership of your mission? How can you make them feel like partners in your work?
The Doctors Without Borders giving program page breaks out each donation tier based on the impact it will have and includes information on how donations make a difference in the organization's work.
Doctors Without Borders also embedded a video thanking donors on that page, which is one more way of showing how much they appreciate those who support their mission.
WWF's regular monthly donors are known as WWF Heroes, a name that places donors as the protagonists of the conservation story. The organization takes its monthly giving initiative a step further with its Partners in Conservation program. This is the name for donors who contribute annual gifts of $1,000 or more or monthly gifts of $100 or more.
By calling major recurring donors Partners in Conservation, WWF achieves a similar effect as Doctors Without Borders does. The organization lets donors know that their contributions are so significant that they are part of an exclusive group of individuals who are working toward tangible change.
How can you use your monthly giving program name to place donors at the center of your mission? Giving recurring donors this sense of prominence shows them that your organization deeply values their gifts.
WWF makes its giving program's benefits clear. Monthly donors enjoy perks such as a free quarterly magazine, calendar, and exclusive member email updates. Partners in Conservation receive additional benefits such as direct access to speak to a personal WWF liaison and invitations to webinars and a partners symposium in Washington, D.C.
Many of your monthly giving program donors give because they're passionate about your cause and want to show their support. However, highlighting your program's additional benefits can help donors feel even more satisfied with their decision to give and help them form stronger ties with your organization by attending member events and other exclusive opportunities.
The Red Cross defines a Champion on its recurring giving information page: "A Champion cares. A Champion stands up for people who are suffering. A Champion changes lives." This definition helps monthly donors feel like they're part of a group standing up for something together.
This monthly giving information page hits all the right notes to encourage supporters to get involved. The page:
The page even includes the charity's awards and accreditations, including their Better Business Bureau accreditation, Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency, and Charity Navigator four-star rating. These third-party certifications show donors that the nonprofit is a trustworthy steward of charitable gifts.
Action Against Hunger's THRIVE monthly giving program allows supporters to join the fight against childhood hunger. Donors contribute directly to helping kids thrive, making this a fitting name for the organization's monthly giving program.
This monthly giving information page includes a compelling call to action that lays out a persuasive argument for why donors should give. The page tells the story of Mohamed, a young boy who recovered from severe acute malnutrition with the help of Action Against Hunger's lifesaving care.
After Mohamed's story, the organization outlines why malnutrition is a cause worthy of support, as well as their unique focus and expertise in fighting this issue. Plus, prospective donors can access several resources to get their questions answered, including a phone number and email for the donor services team, as well as a form to update their monthly giving information.
"Friends of" is a common moniker for monthly giving programs, especially ones that deal with preserving outdoor spaces. The Friends of Glacier monthly giving program name helps donors feel part of a larger community of friends and acquaintances united for a common goal.
This monthly giving page outlines clear benefits right at the top of the giving form. Starting at $35 per month, supporters will be able to access all of the following benefits:
Donors can clearly see how their gifts will not only support the organization's mission but will also give them access to exclusive opportunities that deepen their involvement.
Lastly, the monthly giving information page also leverages compelling landscape photos of the park, showing donors exactly what their contributions will help maintain.
Hopefully, you identified elements from these monthly giving program examples that will help you create or update your organization's program. Looking for additional resources? These articles can also help you build an engaging giving program that allows you to carry out your mission for years to come:
