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HOW TO BUILD AND GROW YOUR MONTHLY GIVING PROGRAM

HOW TO BUILD AND GROW YOUR MONTHLY GIVING PROGRAM. Alice Benson, ELCA Foundation Kari Bert, Bread for the World. VALUE OF MONTHLY DONORS. Loyalty and commitment Compound e ffect vs single gift donors Potential to give additional gifts Out-perform single gift donors:

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HOW TO BUILD AND GROW YOUR MONTHLY GIVING PROGRAM

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  1. HOW TO BUILD AND GROW YOUR MONTHLY GIVING PROGRAM Alice Benson, ELCA Foundation Kari Bert, Bread for the World

  2. VALUE OF MONTHLY DONORS • Loyalty and commitment • Compound effect vs single gift donors • Potential to give additional gifts • Out-perform single gift donors: • Higher retention rates • Higher life-time revenue per donor • Great planned giving prospects • Predictable stream of revenue • Worth 2 to 4 times more over 5 years

  3. LET’S COMPARE… Single Gift Donor: Single Gift Donor: Monthly Donor:

  4. LET’S LOOK AT REAL NUMBERS… Single Gift Only Donors in 2012 • Average gift median $59 • Median gifts/donor (includes new) 1.5 gifts • Revenue per donor median $89 Recurring Gift Only Donors in 2012 • Average gift median $22 • Median gifts/donor (includes new) 9.6 gifts • Revenue per donor median $183 Recurring and Other Gift Donors in 2012 • Average gift median $25 • Median gifts/donor (includes new) 9.9 gifts • Revenue per donor median $247 Source: Target Analytics Sustainer Benchmarking BBCon 2013

  5. RETENTION First-Year Retention in 2012 Single Gift Only Donors Acquired in 2011 • Median annual retention rate 29% • Revenue per donor median $66 Recurring Gift Only Donors Acquired in 2011 • Median annual retention rate 78% • Median 13-month retention rate56% • Revenue per donor median $227 Recurring and Other Gift Donors Acquired in 2011 • Median annual retention rate 91% • Median 13-month retention rate 71% • Revenue per donor median $158 Source: Target Analytics Sustainer Benchmarking Group 2 (2012 Data)

  6. LET’S DO THE MATH… If you have 20,000 donors and you convert 5 percent of your file (or 1,000 donors) to become monthly donors – giving an average of $20 per month – you would realize $240,000 in revenue per year.

  7. CURRENT TRENDS • Charitable giving is affected by culture and infrastructure • In many other countries, monthly giving is how most donors give to charities • The percent of donors giving monthly gifts is growing nearly everywhere – including the U.S. • A higher volume of monthly donors are acquired directly as monthly donors vs. converting single gift donors

  8. HOW TO GET STARTED? • What has worked for you?

  9. HOW TO GET STARTED? The essentials… 1. Set a goal and develop a strategy 2. Identify best prospects – begin with targeting existing donors • New donors • Small to mid-level donors ($5-150 donors) • Multiple gift donors (2+ gifts in 6 months) • Credit card donors • Suppress major donors

  10. CREATIVE COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES • Brand your program – give your donors a sense of belonging • Craft a compelling offer – include impact of their monthly gift, efficiency, ease, green, benefits and/or premiums “Your gift of $xx each month will provide ______ to help _______.” • Coordinated campaigns across channels often results in even better success

  11. Become a monthly donor and help eliminate poverty housing

  12. CONNECT GIFT TO PROGRAM

  13. MAKE THEM FEEL SPECIAL

  14. HOW TO ACQUIRE MONTHLY DONORS • Invest in acquiring donors directly as monthly donors • Convert single gift donor to monthly donors • Use multiple channels for recruitment – email, website, direct mail, telemarketing, canvassing/face to face

  15. GROWTH MILESTONES • Aggressive telemarketing campaign. • Online promotion and ease in signing up. • Survey of sustainers – motivations, frustrations, interest in premiums, suggestions. • Rebranding, centered on ads that featured profiles of sustainers. Marketing. • Drive for staff members – 83% joined • “Sustainer Recruitment” month. • Moving from “calendar club” to credit card/EFT • Cross-unit teams to create infrastructure.

  16. Greenpeace – online form

  17. MPR – online donation form

  18. UNICEF – Google Ads

  19. LWR – easy navigation

  20. CULTIVATION • Keep monthly donors engaged and updated • Special communication track for monthly donors (welcome kit, annual statement, newsletter and upgrade mailings) • Special ways to thank them often • Send monthly email receipts vs. mailed acknowledgments • Ask for upgrades • Ask for 13th gift or special gifts

  21. ANNUAL STATEMENTS

  22. OPERATIONS, SYSTEMS & VENDORS • Assign one person to manage the program • Educate all staff about monthly giving program • Establish a seamless back end system • Provide excellent customer service • Processing – in-house or outsourcing (processing fee ranging from 35-50 cent)

  23. PAYMENT METHODS • EFT – electronic funds transfer • Retention rate – 98% (highest) • Processing fee ranging from 10-15 cents per transaction • Harder to acquire authorization • Credit card • Retention rate – 95% • Processing fees - higher • Percentage of monthly charge (2.5-3.5%) • Per-transaction charge (ranging from 15-20 cents) • Expiration dates and declined cards are a challenge • Check • Retention rate – 60-70% (lowest) • Monthly reminders through mail • Grandfathered in program Source: Erika Waasdorp, Monthly Giving The Sleeping Giant

  24. RETENTION • Create “saves” program for declining credit cards (about 5% a month) • Email (sometimes automatic with processor) • Call • Send letter • Thank cancelled monthly donors and ask for the reason of cancellation and seek feedback

  25. WHAT CAN GO WRONG? 11/27 SOJOURNERS 202-328-8842 DC 12.00 11/29 MILL MOUNTAIN COFFEE AND RICHMOND VA 31.05 11/30 CLEAN WATER ACTION 586-783-3277 MI 10.00 11/28 SHELL OIL 57543989206 FALMOUTH VA 21.53 12/01 GIANT FOOD INC #320 GAITHERSBURG MD 40.32 12/03 MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACT 510-524-3492 CA 21.00 12/05 GIANT FOOD INC #320 GAITHERSBURG MD 25.90 12/04 BREAD FOR THE WORLD INST 202-6399400 DC 75.00 12/13 LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES FALLS CHURCH VA 25.00 12/15 GIANT FOOD INC #320 GAITHERSBURG MD 14.61 12/14 EXXONMOBIL 47874615 GAITHERSBURG MD 17.50 12/15 OXFAM AMERICA-TEAM APPROA 800-7769326 MA 10.00 12/15 TRADER JOE'S #648 QPS GAITHERSBURG MD 76.48 12/18 BLK*ELCA 888-468-9966 CA 10.00 12/22 HABITAT FOR HUMANITY (OTH 229-9246935 GA 10.00

  26. UPGRADING

  27. EVALUATING AND TESTING • Reporting and Evaluating – track: • New donors acquired as recurring (+) • Donors converted to recurring (+) • Reactivated recurring donors (+) • Newly lapsed recurring donors (-) • Recurring donor variance = (new recurring + converted + reactivated) – lapsed • Be a monthly donor to your organization • TEST, TEST, TEST ! ! !

  28. CASE STUDY: Bread for the World • Baker’s Dozen Online Recruitment Campaign - September 2013 • Primary goal: Recruit 60 new Baker’s Dozen members • Secondary goal: Raise visibility of the Baker’s Dozen program and the importance of monthly giving

  29. EMAIL 1

  30. EMAIL 2

  31. EMAIL 3

  32. CASE STUDY: Bread for the World • Surpassed our goal and recruited 82 new Baker’s Dozen members • Emails generated $2,500 from 71 gifts ($35 avg. gift) • Raised the visibility of the Baker’s Dozen program among membership

  33. Q & A Thank you! Alice Benson alice.benson@elca.org Kari Bert kbert@bread.org

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