Study Shows How Monthly Giving Strategies Can Boost Revenue and Keep Donors on Board

Title: “Sustainers in Focus, Part 2: Proven Practices for Success”

Organization: Blackbaud

Summary: A new report by the fundraising-software company shows that monthly giving programs really work.

The study was based on data from a dozen nonprofits across various causes that have had successful monthly giving programs for many years.

Among the findings:

• Average gift size was much higher for monthly donors than for supporters who made one gift at a time — and monthly donors were more likely to keep giving the following year. From 2012 to 2014, 22 percent of single-gift donors gave from one year to the next compared with 45 percent of monthly donors. Average annual contribution size from single-gift supporters was $43, compared with $143 for monthly donors.
•  Converting loyal donors who made single gifts over multiple years to monthly donors was a smart strategy. In the case of one organization, 29 percent of donors who started giving monthly in 2008 (after making repeat single gifts in 2006 and 2007) remained active by 2015. By contrast, only 14 percent of supporters who made multiyear single gifts beginning in 2006 were still active supporters by 2015.
• Making monthly donations the default online option boosted revenue. In a single year, one organization saw a 5.5 percent boost in the percentage of gifts from monthly donors and a 15.5 percent increase in revenue from monthly donors by setting that as the default.
• Charities were more likely to retain donors who gave by bank transfers. Among the organizations evaluated in the study, typical donor retention rates ranged from 69 percent to 84 percent for those who made monthly gifts with credit cards and from 88 percent to 94 percent for monthly supporters paying through electronic-funds transfers. Gifts made through bank transfers were also less likely to be rejected.

See more expert advice on building and sustaining a monthly giving program.