The busy year-end giving season is just around the corner, with GivingTuesday kicking off on November 29. While we still have months before the big day, now is the perfect time for nonprofits to plan and strategize for a successful GivingTuesday campaign. This way, you can get more recurring donors! 

Nonprofits receive a high volume of website traffic on GivingTuesday and throughout the year-end season as donor generosity pours in. In fact, US nonprofits collectively raised $2.7 billion on GivingTuesday in 2021, a 9% increase from 2020. 

Because there are so many people visiting and giving to nonprofit websites on GivingTuesday, it’s a golden opportunity to convert these once-a-year donors to recurring supporters who give consistently. While one-time donations are typically larger,  recurring donors improve nonprofits’ retention rate and create a sustainable source of income over time, resulting in a much higher lifetime value. 

Creating a comprehensive recurring giving program may sound like a daunting task in the middle of GivingTuesday campaign planning, but it doesn’t have to take up a lot of resources. It’s as simple as making a handful of tweaks to the donor experience so that supporters know that recurring giving is an option. 

At Fundraise Up, we even add elements into the donation experience that trigger an emotional response and incentivize giving — like the pulsing heart that appears when a donor clicks on monthly. 

Tap into donors’ generosity potential through an optimized giving experience 

Your mission matters. It’s how you get a wandering website visitor to become a donor. However, nonprofits that don’t invest in providing their supporters with a better donation journey are leaving a lot of money on the table. While donors might fill out your long donation form and still give to your nonprofit, you’re not tapping into the potential of how much they could give if the experience you provided them was more optimized, quick, and simple to complete. 

Let’s explore this a bit further. 

The truth is your donors are already receiving personalized and simplified online experiences with their favorite brands. These are the brands that your donors are loyal to and will return to time and time again. To garner this type of loyalty and convert someone who gives once on GivingTuesday to someone who signs up to give on a recurring basis, nonprofits need to provide lasting experiences that donors want to come back to.

The good news is that you have a few months before the kickoff to the busy giving season. Now is the time to evaluate your nonprofit’s current donation experience. Consider these questions: 

1. How long does it take to complete a donation? 
2. Are there too many required data fields? 
3. Is there a recurring giving option so that one-time donors can upgrade their contributions? 
4. Do you offer multiple payment options other than using a credit card? 
5. Is every donor receiving the same experience — generic messaging, donation asks, and payment options? 

Bottom line: Your donors deserve a unique giving experience. When donors know their experience was tailored specifically for them, you build trust with them and they will feel inclined to play a bigger role for your organization. 

At Fundraise Up, we understand how your organization can cater to every donor’s preference. That’s why we optimize the giving experience with your donor in mind to include personalized donation asks and payment methods based on device or geographic location.   

Prompt donors to upgrade with a recurring giving upsell

Are your supporters aware of your recurring giving program? If you have separate donation forms for one-time and recurring donations, odds are your supporters believe the only way to give is through a single donation. That’s why it’s even more important to give supporters a holistic giving experience rather than one that is on disparate, lengthy donation forms. 

Even when your donation experience includes both one-time and recurring donation options, donors might need a little extra encouragement to upgrade their gift. With a personalized giving platform like Fundraise Up, nonprofits can include a recurring upsell before or after the donation. Plus, we do the math so you don’t have to — our technology is able to intelligently suggest a lower amount than one the donor originally chose, but the donation adds up to a larger sum over time. 

For nonprofits like Animal Haven that once struggled with growing their monthly giving program, the recurring gift upsell is a way to significantly boost revenue. With the recurring giving upsell, Animal Haven saw a more than four times increase in the value of recurring donors and a 264% increase in the number of recurring donors.  

Let donors manage their own recurring plans with a self-serve donor portal

Similar to how frustrating it is for a consumer to have to call into a customer service hotline to make any updates to their subscription service, donors want a more accessible way to manage their own plans and one that doesn’t involve someone on the other line convincing them not to cancel or pause their plan. 

Fundraise Up believes in giving your donors full control of their giving with access to an online donor portal that allows them to manage their recurring plans, peer-to-peer fundraisers, and year-end tax receipts. This also alleviates administrative burden on your staff, as they no longer have to chase down donors to update expired payment information — especially during a time of year when your team’s time and resources are stretched thin. You can make sure that your donors receive automated emails to update their payment information in the Donor Portal whenever a donation doesn’t go through. 

The year-end giving season will be here before you know it. Taking the time to make impactful updates to your donor experience now will help you create more trust between your organization and its donors, grow your recurring giving program, and effortlessly lift your retention rate. To learn more about Fundraise Up, schedule a call with one of our team members.

Nhu Te