Episode Transcript
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1:12
Monthly giving is not
1:14
just about a donation . It
1:16
is about giving people a way to
1:18
channel their purpose consistently
1:21
, like if you're showing up shy or
1:23
with low energy or lack of confidence around
1:25
making this monthly ask . I promise
1:28
you your supporters will feel that
1:30
this is a transformational
1:33
gift that you are providing the
1:35
wonderful opportunity for them
1:37
to make . So be so amped
1:39
to ask them that they feel that excitement
1:41
.
1:47
Hey there , you're listening to the Missions to Movement
1:50
podcast and I'm your host , dana Snyder
1:52
, digital strategist for nonprofits
1:54
and founder and CEO of Positive
1:57
Equation . This show
1:59
highlights the digital strategies of organizations
2:01
making a positive impact in the world
2:04
. Ready to learn the latest trends
2:06
, actionable tips and the real
2:08
stories from behind the feed , let's
2:10
transform your mission into a movement
2:12
.
2:17
Hello , hello . Today I
2:19
am super pumped because we are officially
2:21
wrapping up the monthly giving
2:23
framework with the steps
2:25
that you've probably been waiting for , and
2:28
that is step number four make
2:30
the ask right . We have
2:32
to make the ask to get the gifts . And
2:34
step five share constant
2:36
joy and gratitude , aka your
2:40
beautiful retention plan
2:42
to keep these supporters around
2:44
and feeling so appreciated
2:46
. So just a quick recap steps
2:49
one through three are the foundation
2:52
. When I get asked where
2:54
should I start with my monthly giving program , that's
2:56
where to go . That's where to
2:59
start . So if you missed those episodes
3:01
, go back to 131
3:03
and 132 and you will
3:05
learn . Step one create the product . Step
3:08
two make it easy . And step
3:10
three call in the
3:13
believers Now to hear
3:15
your peers talk about their personal
3:17
stories . Through each of these phases , I
3:19
hope you will join me for the Monthly Giving
3:22
Summit on September 5th and 6th
3:24
. It's two half days , from 1 to
3:26
4 pm Eastern time , and it is
3:28
for free . So head on over
3:30
If you want to hear some of these things very
3:32
practically discussed . Head to monthlygivingsummitcom
3:37
to RSVP Now
3:39
at this point . Over the past few episodes
3:41
, we have reviewed the why and the structure
3:43
for your program . Your donation
3:46
process is optimized
3:48
. Your website copy is clear
3:50
. It draws people in . So now
3:52
, in step four , it is time to
3:54
make the ask . Now
3:56
, before we dive into some of the tactical information
3:58
, I want to be super clear
4:00
around the mindset that we
4:03
need to have around asking for a recurring
4:05
gift . Monthly giving is
4:08
not just about a donation
4:10
. It is about giving people a
4:12
way to channel their purpose
4:14
consistently . If you are
4:16
shy , like if you're showing
4:18
up shy or with low energy or
4:20
lack of confidence around making this
4:22
monthly ask , I promise you your
4:25
supporters will feel that this
4:27
is a transformational
4:29
gift that you are providing the
4:31
wonderful opportunity for them
4:33
to make . So be so amped
4:35
to ask them that they feel that excitement
4:38
. Y'all . If I was inviting you to join the monthly giving
4:40
summit and I was like , yeah , I would really
4:42
like if you would join the summit , I think it's going to
4:44
be fun . Are you going to want to join ? I don't think
4:46
so . If I'm like , oh my gosh , you guys should be there , you
4:48
won't imagine the amazing keynotes I'm going to
4:50
have . You'll be part of this community together , that
4:53
community together . That's how you want people
4:55
to feel about joining your monthly giving program
4:57
, and I understand if you're
4:59
in a tough spot right now , if things are challenging
5:01
right now , you
5:10
can share that with your supporters , but in a hopeful manner . Be real and be honest
5:12
, but with hope , with that light and I've seen this so much
5:14
, even in social media ads . That's something else
5:16
that I teach with the copy and
5:18
what we share . So there used to be
5:20
this kind of like older social media strategy
5:22
approach with copy that you go in hard on sharing
5:24
the pain point that someone's having
5:26
to get them to convert . But now there's
5:29
been a switch , I think really ever since COVID
5:31
, with sharing , with hope , guiding . With
5:33
that you're providing this opportunity of , of positivity
5:35
and that's really working best . So
5:38
please make sure your mindset
5:40
whatever that's going for a walk , if it's putting on
5:42
good music , if it's surrounding yourself with a community
5:44
who's going to rally behind you and have your back
5:46
, to get yourself in a positive
5:48
mindset . When you start to make these asks
5:50
and to cultivate them , big question
5:53
how often should
5:55
you ask for recurring gifts ? Now
5:57
, in my humble opinion
6:00
, subtly , I think you should
6:02
ask them all the time , but then
6:04
have one to three big tentpole
6:07
campaign moments that you have planned
6:09
out throughout the year . Because
6:11
if you want sustainable
6:13
, consistent revenue . Then , yes
6:15
, all roads lead to recurring
6:17
giving gifts and based on Classy's
6:20
State of Modern Philanthropy report , they
6:22
found that 29% of
6:25
first-time donors who became
6:27
recurring donors they did so within the first
6:29
90 days of their initial
6:31
gift . So do not be afraid to make that ask to recurring after that one-time
6:33
gift . So do not be afraid to make that ask to recurring after that one-time
6:36
gift . And then , once
6:38
they have established that regular giving
6:40
cadence , those supporters are
6:42
so loyal they
6:44
are over nine times more
6:46
valuable to your organization
6:48
. So sometimes I see
6:50
there's this fear in the sector
6:52
that if we ask for a recurring gift
6:54
then major donors won't give
6:56
when we're asking for a larger one-time
6:59
contribution , or that people see
7:01
the commitment of a recurring gift and they just won't give
7:03
at all . And that is false like flashing
7:05
lights false . I had a wonderful
7:08
conversation with Cubby Graham from
7:10
Charity Water . He has been on this podcast
7:12
before and we were talking
7:14
about this . I asked him I was like importance
7:16
of major versus recurring and
7:19
he says the spring has honestly
7:21
created a bridge for them
7:23
to discover and welcome in
7:25
new major donors because
7:27
they have been giving monthly . I
7:29
also just had a call with a potential
7:31
new monthly giving mastermind client and
7:34
they recently have had two recurring
7:36
donors that have been giving for years and
7:39
they just left six figure
7:41
gifts in their passing . Now
7:44
, this is why that mindset
7:47
mentality all of this is around mindset really
7:49
just has to be put away . We have
7:51
to be thinking in a new way about
7:53
the powerful reason
7:55
for why recurring gifts matter so
7:58
much . Your
8:01
fears what are the fears when
8:03
it comes to asking for recurring ? But
8:06
then think about there's this wonderful
8:08
video I'm going to link to it in the show notes where
8:11
Vic Harrison and Scott are talking
8:13
about why they wish they would have started
8:15
the spring sooner . And Scott
8:17
references receiving this I
8:19
think it was a $50,000 , like one-time
8:21
gift . But then he's like , after that money is given
8:24
, it's like then you're looking at your budget , it's like
8:26
, oh , the next year . Oh , poof
8:28
, that just disappeared . Versus wishing
8:30
that that would have been $50,000 just
8:32
split into $50 a month donations
8:35
, because then it's consistent recurring revenue
8:37
, like what's the list
8:39
of the fears and what are the ways that we can
8:41
get over that hump to be able to move
8:44
in this direction ? So again
8:47
, another thing to think about when to make
8:49
these asks . According to and I
8:51
always go to data , the Neon One Recurring
8:53
Giving Report , giving Tuesday
8:55
accounted for 11 to 12%
8:58
of all recurring gifts that were
9:00
processed . That is huge
9:02
. So , on Giving Tuesday
9:04
, with now this episode is being released
9:07
in June lots of time to think about it how
9:09
can you make Giving Tuesday all about
9:11
the recurring first ask how can you make sure
9:13
steps one through three are
9:16
all set up foundationally so that you're ready
9:18
to make that really impactful ask on
9:20
Giving Tuesday Now , literally
9:23
, where should you make this ask ? Now , literally , where should
9:25
you make this ask ? If you're not currently booking
9:27
yourself or a team member or
9:29
a spokesperson on podcasts , highly
9:32
recommend doing so . I have
9:34
a list of 30
9:37
podcasts that you can pitch
9:39
and I share a video with tips
9:41
on how to get booked on a show . If
9:43
you go to positiveequationcom backslash
9:46
podcast list , just
9:53
literally enter that into Google or click the link in the show notes , totally free . It's a list of
9:55
30 podcasts to pitch , to share your story , because what a podcast
9:57
does , and what I hope this says when you're
9:59
listening to this , is these aren't a
10:02
minute and a half video
10:04
where it's like a quick peek , like hopefully you
10:06
feel like you're getting to know me . These are 15
10:09
to 40 plus minute episodes
10:11
and you get to share a much longer
10:13
story with potential
10:16
supporters and get them hooked and feel
10:18
compelled to give to you Two
10:20
kind of in the same vein is speaking
10:22
If you can get yourself in front
10:25
of audiences to share
10:27
your story . And this is not
10:29
just I'm not saying to book yourself at
10:32
nonprofit conferences , no , because that's not
10:34
your donors I'm saying there
10:36
are so many events out
10:38
there that are looking for the
10:40
social impact , the feel good , the change
10:43
, the world stories that the
10:45
people sitting in the audience are your donors . And
10:48
so I think one of the most underrated
10:50
roles that you can hire as a contractor
10:52
is like a booker for
10:54
these kinds of speaking opportunities to work with you on
10:57
creating a story . This is
10:59
something that I just talked with a good friend
11:01
about that used to work at news story
11:03
and that's a big way about how
11:05
they cultivate supporters . So really thinking
11:08
about a strategy for speaking
11:10
locally , regionally and
11:12
nationally about your organization . And
11:15
then , on a more smaller scale , of course
11:17
, make the ask in your email marketing , in
11:19
your social media organic and paid
11:22
. Make the ask to your board
11:24
members . If your board members aren't bought
11:26
in they should be , they
11:28
need to be . How can they support you financially
11:30
? Make the ask in events
11:33
that you attend or that you host If
11:35
you are not making the
11:37
ask for a recurring gift
11:39
at your events ? I think that is a massive
11:42
missed opportunity . If you are just
11:44
doing and ask for one-time gifts or you're just
11:46
having them sign for a silent auction
11:48
item , like it's poof , like given and
11:50
then gone , instead of saying it
11:53
would be so much more beneficial . Instead of them giving
11:55
a one-time $500
11:57
donation , what if they gave a hundred dollars
11:59
a month ? Right , it seems like less
12:01
to them at the time , but that's obviously much
12:03
more over the long run and , according to
12:05
data , they will give for years and years and
12:07
years to come . Next , if
12:10
you can invest in a long form
12:12
video kind of similar to what I'm saying with the podcast
12:14
that can tell your story , that
12:16
compels people to care , aka
12:19
look at the spring video as a reference this
12:22
is huge . It's a long form
12:25
video that can tell your story
12:27
and it works at scale . Also
12:31
, where to make the ask ? This is where those partnerships
12:33
come in from . Step three , I talked about values
12:35
aligned partnerships , and
12:37
this is huge to help amplify your
12:40
mission . So how can you work with these partners
12:42
to integrate the ask
12:44
to join your program with
12:46
their audience . And then , lastly
12:49
, work with influencers . If
12:51
you don't already have a and I'm
12:53
not saying like Kim
12:55
Kardashian influencer level , think
12:58
about micro people in your
13:00
in top voices , in your community
13:03
, in your cause area that could
13:05
elevate and add credibility and
13:07
raise their voices around what it
13:09
is that you do and coming up with a
13:11
strategy for that . So those
13:14
are a couple ideas about where to
13:16
make the ask . Now
13:18
, we kind of talked about with make it easy
13:20
, but I just want to like reiterate , because I think this is important
13:23
when you're going in with the ask
13:25
is when possible
13:27
to visualize change
13:29
with their gift . So if
13:31
it's possible with your organization to create impact
13:34
based donation , amounts equaling
13:36
like $40 can provide X
13:39
and $27 will provide X
13:41
. These can be averages , of course , but
13:43
this really helps someone start to visualize
13:45
what their impact can be each month . If
13:48
this isn't possible , I do wanna highlight a previous
13:50
episode I think it was episode 130 with
13:53
Helen Quinn from the Clio Institute . They're
13:55
focused on climate change
13:58
in Florida , and so that can seem really
14:00
like a big audacious thing that doesn't
14:02
really have exact dollar amounts
14:04
for things . So what we decided
14:06
to do here in building their program is we
14:08
spoke to the daily impact someone
14:11
can have every single day If they give
14:13
a dollar a day , $31 a month
14:15
or even 50 cents a day . Those
14:18
were their donation amounts and that way they
14:20
are doing something every single day to
14:22
progress for change with
14:24
the climate there . Now there
14:26
is so much more to
14:28
cover with making the ask , and I go through
14:30
a ton of examples in
14:32
my upcoming book , the monthly giving mastermind
14:35
. It's coming out September 3rd . So
14:37
much more to come on that soon . But
14:39
I just wanted to give a few ideas
14:42
. I think there's a lot here that you can already brainstorm
14:44
. I didn't want to like overdo it . So make
14:47
some notes and think about what will work for
14:49
you and just start to make those small changes
14:51
. Those small moves can make a big difference
14:53
. All right , Transitioning
14:56
to step five , which is share constant
14:58
joy and gratitude . Now
15:01
, honestly , retention is the cornerstone
15:04
of a sustainable monthly giving program . What
15:06
you are trying to do here is evoke the
15:09
same feeling that donor
15:11
originally had when they said yes to
15:13
give every single time
15:15
that gift is processed on
15:17
their bank statement . So what
15:20
I want you to do is start this process
15:22
by checking some data . What
15:24
is the current churn rate each month of
15:27
your recurring supporters ? Do you know why they're
15:29
leaving ? Is there a trend about why they're leaving
15:31
? This is really , really important
15:34
. I'm actually traveling to do an intensive in-person
15:36
session with a nonprofit on this very thing
15:38
. They've noticed a trend of when
15:40
people are leaving their recurring
15:42
giving program and we're going to look at all
15:44
facets of the program and build
15:46
a dynamic retention plan to
15:49
try and increase the longevity of their
15:51
average donor . If you have
15:53
a low churn rate , keep
15:56
focusing on growth , like acquisition
15:58
time . Bring in new people . If
16:00
you have a high churn rate , I
16:03
would pause on any acquisition
16:05
or growth right now because it looks like
16:07
there might be something wrong that's making
16:10
people leave and you should fix that first
16:12
. But if you're in a good spot
16:14
, you should have at least a
16:16
monthly email correspondence that
16:18
is going out specifically to this group
16:20
of monthly supporters , sharing updates
16:23
on impact stories , et cetera . I
16:25
interviewed Brown Bagging for Calgary
16:28
Kids in my book and I just want to share a
16:30
sample of what their automation
16:32
email sequence looks like . When somebody signs up
16:34
, they have four emails that are automated
16:37
and then they have a beautiful 12-month
16:39
and beyond plan that they go into afterwards
16:41
. So email number one they
16:43
have a welcome and a thank you . This
16:45
is when their executive director says thank you
16:48
for signing up to be a hunger hero and why
16:50
sustainable giving is so important to them . Email
16:53
number two is information about
16:55
BB4CK . They're sharing
16:57
some stats , they're talking about food insecurity
17:00
, they share a graph and they also use
17:02
this email to talk about their greater mission
17:04
and their vision . Email number
17:06
three is to connect . They're
17:08
sharing a story . And then email number four
17:10
is they're saying thank you and they're prepping you
17:12
for what's next . Thank you again for
17:14
following along and what they can expect
17:17
in the coming months . So once you
17:19
have that initial email
17:21
automation sequence that's set up and
17:24
you have something every month that's going out , it's time
17:26
to get creative , and
17:28
sometimes people miss emails
17:30
. Right , we're busy and sometimes emails
17:32
can bounce or they accidentally go to spam or trash
17:35
, and so I always like to have at least
17:37
one to two other backup means
17:40
of communication . So that can be SMS
17:42
with text messaging , direct
17:44
mail , phone like literally
17:46
calling someone or social media
17:48
advertising . So what I want you to do is pull
17:50
out a sheet of paper or Google doc and
17:53
write out each month of the year and
17:55
what special moments you can create
17:57
throughout the year for these supporters . It
18:00
might be exclusive access If you
18:02
have an event coming up . What can you do ? That's
18:04
different , or can you do something virtually with
18:07
a Q&A ? Are there custom gifts
18:09
that you can provide ? Is there recognition
18:11
in an annual report ? A recent
18:13
Monthly Giving Mastermind alumni from
18:16
Mulatto sent me their recent annual
18:18
report and not only was
18:20
there a beautiful brochure included
18:22
all about their monthly donor program in the report
18:25
the table but they also had
18:27
a full page dedicated
18:29
to all the recurring supporters and the impact
18:31
that community has made together
18:33
, which is awesome . So this
18:36
constant sharing of
18:38
joy and gratitude just
18:40
continuously strengthens the relationship
18:42
between you and your monthly donors
18:45
, making them feel all that more connected and
18:47
appreciated . So in this mini
18:50
episode there's a lot to
18:52
brainstorm on and dive deeper , so I'm going to leave it here
18:54
, but I have listed a ton of
18:56
great resources in the show notes below
18:58
. I have my 12 month plus
19:00
joy and gratitude retention plan worksheet
19:03
, the video that I just mentioned with Scott
19:05
and Vic Harrison where they discussed the spring strategies
19:07
and why they had wished they had started sooner
19:09
, and I have a link to join
19:11
the sustainer Slack group . This is where
19:13
45 nonprofits are currently
19:16
together running monthly giving programs
19:18
, and they are gathered providing advice and
19:20
support to one another . So if you want those accountability
19:22
partners and support , we got your back and
19:24
you can join the Sustainer Slack channel . And
19:27
what I love about this group is , just the other
19:29
day , an organization posted
19:31
their monthly giving landing page and was asking
19:33
for feedback , and people rushed in
19:35
to provide it , and her response was
19:38
oh , thank you , Wonderful people
19:40
. I knew you were like-minded , smart folks
19:42
Love all of this feedback and ideas
19:44
. You guys are the best Like . Please
19:46
be a part of this . It like warms my heart to see
19:48
this like everybody just coming together to support
19:50
one another . So I hope this
19:52
little mini series on sharing the monthly giving
19:55
framework over the past few episodes
19:57
has been helpful to you and
19:59
I'm sure , as you can tell , I
20:01
am so passionate about this
20:03
for the greater health of the nonprofit
20:06
sector to truly thrive . Next
20:08
week I have Joey Goon joining
20:10
me . We're going back to some interviews to talk
20:12
about how to create an unforgettable
20:15
event experience . So
20:17
with that , I hope you have a wonderful day
20:19
. Check out all the links in the show notes
20:21
and I will see you next week .
20:24
Can you tell I love talking all things digital
20:26
To make this show better . I'd
20:28
be so grateful for your feedback . Leave
20:31
a review , take a screenshot of this episode
20:33
, share it on Instagram stories and
20:35
tag positive equation with
20:37
one E so I can reshare and
20:39
connect with you .
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