Asking for Sustainers for Gifts on Giving Days
November is almost here. Many of you are probably working on your #GivingTuesday campaigns, or you may have other giving days you’re focused on. And of course everybody is on board with sending out several emails in the month of December.
The question always comes up: Should we ask for monthly donors in our giving day emails and social media messaging?
Well, if it were up to me, I’d say: Yes, absolutely! Try to get as many sustainers as you possibly can, but it does depend on where you are in your giving days “evolution.”
If you’re expecting that your giving day emails could generate a lot of new donors, because you’ve got that wonderful video that everybody would love to share. Or if you have a generous donor match, where the donor has indicated that it’s only aimed at new donations or is restricted for a specific program. Or if you’re not doing many email asks during the year, and this is your first time doing a #GivingTuesday campaign.
If you’re like any of the above, I recommend you start with single donations first and use the monthly giving ask as part of your welcome email series later. I also suggest you go with an all-out monthly ask in January to get that important second gift and ongoing commitment, especially from any new donors you’ve brought on during November/December.
Monthly giving is always a harder sell than asking for single donations. You’re asking for a monthly commitment after all. But, always build in the “make-this-a-recurring-gift” or “make-this-monthly” option on your giving page. Then, regardless of what you’re asking for in your emails, the donors can decide to make that monthly giving commitment. You have nothing to lose by doing this, and it’s certainly not going to impact your open or click-through rates.
If you have a robust email program now, and you’re looking at #GivingTuesday (or another giving day) as a nice additional boost, you can be a bit more daring and consider asking for a monthly gift as part of the emails leading up to that day/during the day.
You could consider a monthly ask for the first email and then a single ask for the email to the non-opens later that day. Or you can ask for recurring as the first option on your giving page (If you can do it).
Here are a few examples of what happens for these organizations when you click on the donate now button:
For the Environmental Defense Fund, monthly is first, and you actually have to click away to a single-gift option.
Credit: Environmental Defense Fund
Credit: Habitat for Humanity
You bet they have tested this, and they know it works.
You can also see that both organizations are not asking for huge amounts. Make the entry level for any donor on #GivingTuesday the lowest you can. That will help generate more donations in the long run.
The decision on single gifts versus monthly focus also depends on how many emails you’re planning to send as part of the giving day campaign—how many email names you have and how easy your donation process is.
If you’re starting to dabble in email asks to begin with, ask for one-time gifts. If you’re more mature, build in a sustainer ask in at least part of the campaign.
The more you ask, the more monthly donors you’ll generate, the decision what to do on giving days is totally yours!
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Erica Waasdorp is one of the leading experts on monthly giving. She is the president of A Direct Solution, a company serving nonprofit organizations with fundraising and direct marketing needs, with a focus on monthly giving and appeals. She authored "Monthly Giving: The Sleeping Giant" and "Monthly Giving Made Easy." She regularly blogs and presents on fundraising, appeals and monthly giving — in person and through webinars. She is happy to answer any questions you may have about this great way of improving retention rates for your donors.
Erica has over 30 years of experience in nonprofits and direct response. She helped the nonprofits she works with raise millions of dollars through monthly giving programs. She is also very actively supports organizations with annual fund planning and execution, ranging from copywriting, creative, lists, print and mail execution.
When she’s not working or writing, Erica can be found on the golf course (she’s a straight shooter) or quietly reading a book. And if there’s an event with a live band, she and her husband, Patrick, can be found on the dance floor. She also loves watching British drama on PBS. Erica and Patrick have two step sons and a cat, Mientje.
