There’s no question that solid recordkeeping and donor processing systems form an essential foundation for successful monthly giving programs.

And, given today’s ready availability of off-the-shelf CRM software and flexible payment processors much-feared complexity of managing monthly giving programs is no longer a valid excuse for jumping in.

Before I get to some of options currently available let’s focus on the main task, beyond mere bookkeeping, good recordkeeping and processing should perform.

Why Good Systems = Great Monthly Giving

Consistency and reliability are the two essential ingredients in building and maintaining human relationships including the relationships between a nonprofit and its donors.

The donor comes to know what he or she can reliably expect from you, and that his/her experiences with your organization are consistent.

Here are two very basic examples of consistency and reliability in our world.  Assume you’re an environmental/conservation organization and acquire a first-time donor using a powerful message to save baby seals.  It’s reasonable to assume the donor has a special regard for the ocean and its animals.  So, your follow-up appeals and communication would naturally focus on your work in this area. That would be consistent.

But if you acknowledge the donor’s original gift with an equally powerful message about the dangers of plutonium and then follow that up with a well-crafted appeal to stop strip mining, chances are you’ve lost that donor.  No consistency.

Or, say John Smith sends in his first gift.  His acknowledgement reads, “Dear John Smythe”.  He phones and requests the spelling of his surname be corrected and is met with the uncaring voice of a rude and unresponsive clerk. No reliability. No additional gifts.

Consistency and reliability are why when it comes to monthly giving and assuring the commitment of donors month after month and year after year an effective records and processing system is essential.

Effective Communication, Not Bookkeeping

Of course, the goal of a good records/payment system is to enable you to keep in regular touch with your monthly donors. To continually remind them that they’re part of a special group and that their continuing help, month after month, is making a difference.

If you simply want to collect their banking or credit card information so you can bill ‘em and collect every month, providing little or no additional you’re not really running a monthly giving program.  You’re simply abusing good donors.

A Classic Example

Let me illustrate the difference with an example.  More than 40 years ago my friend Morris Dees, a brilliant lawyer, fundraiser and founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center launched that organization’s Friends of the Center program. Four decades later it’s one of the most effective monthly giving programs in the U.S. or anywhere else.

Why?  Because from the very beginning Friends of the Center built in consistency, reliability, recognition and regular monthly communication from the very start.

I remember when the program first started.  Each donor’s contribution was posted manually each month a crinkly Thermofax copy of that donor’s ledger was mailed back to the donor along with a thank you, an envelope for sending in next month’s contribution and an update on actions Friends were making possible.  (In those days, the clerks who handled the Friends program would occasionally slip their favorite recipes into the package.

In short, a monthly donor felt special because they were treated specially.  The copy of their individual ledger listing month after month of contributions assured, like a perfect attendance pin, that the chain of donations was likely to go unbroken.  The enclosed thank you and progress report reinforced the special nature of the Friends group.

Of course, the old Thermofax at the Center has now given way to the computer.  But monthly donors continue to be treated specially.

Here’s a sample of the current monthly statement used by Friends of the Center and you can see a sample of the action update report that accompanies the statement here. On top of the monthly communications The Center also keeps its monthly donors involved and informed of the organizations ongoing work through its newspaper and also by offering the opportunity to make additional gifts.

My point is whatever payment records system and payment processor you use, be mindful that the key ingredient—providing the monthly donor with a consistent, reliable and engaging experience—is YOUR responsibility.

Monthly Giving Systems in a Box

Mercifully, you don’t need a big IT staff to effectively manage a monthly donor program.  Many software providers—DonorPerfect , Bloomerang and Blackbaud to name but three– already have monthly giving processes built in. They also have templates, guides and practical articles/blogs on the subject.

One organization I volunteer with uses Bloomerang’s system which has an “engagement meter” to alert you to who should be asked for a monthly commitment and who among current monthly donors should be asked for an upgrade.

This system also enables users to create custom communications for monthly donors, generate reports, provides automatic payment processing and can generate emails, letters and custom communications to monthly donors from the same system.

External Processing Options

In addition to self-contained software systems of the type described above there are external monthly donor processing options available. They’ve been around a long time, designed for organizations that started monthly giving years ago before the advent of contemporary CRMs.

Here’s a partial list of the some of the firms Payment Solutions, EFT Corporation, Caring Habits and Vantiv Solutions.

These payment companies are experts in processing your monthly donations, especially for Electronic Funds Transfer, as well as credit and debit cards. They’ll help guide you every step of the way, all for a small fee that will be more than recouped by the average annual U.S. value of a monthly donor ($288 a year!).

One tip: make sure whatever system or processor you use has an account recovery option, essential for maintaining current credit card payment rates.

With a toolbox like this, all you should worry about now is acquiring those monthly donors.

Oh yes.  A Few Thoughts About Online Monthly Giving.

I vowed at the start of this series I didn’t want to produce a “how to” compendium, but rather a guide to information that will help you get started.

However, since a great deal of monthly giving efforts take place online I did want to provide some additional resources on this critical sub-topic of monthly giving.

Too many fundraisers assume that donors are comfortable filling out their personal information into an online donation form and hitting the submit button.

Not so.  Many, many donors wonder where that information goes. And for some this thought can be unnerving. Is their credit card information safe? After all, the credit card abuse, even with chip, is still rampant.

Here’s Erica Waadorp’s take on this issue:

“The first thing I recommend you do is to look at your donation abandon rate numbers. How many donors go to your monthly giving page and complete their online donation?

“If you see that many donors stop and go away, this could be an indicator that: a) Your online form is too complicated, or b) the donor is just not comfortable giving out certain information online.

“Let’s address the form for a minute. Depending upon the online processor you’re using, you may not have that much control over the form, but you can take out anything that might “stop” the donor.

“A couple examples: If you ask them donors to think about supporting a specific program or if you ask them how they came to your page, you’re making donors think, and you’re distracting them away from what they really came to do:  become a monthly donor.

“So, take out everything that makes them stop and think too much. Rather, focus on the gift amount, confirming that they’d like to do this monthly, and of course, contact and payment information.

“Remember, you’ll be sending them a confirmation email, and you can ask a question there. You’ll have this monthly donor for many years to come so plenty of time to ask other questions later.

“Now, let’s look at b) the donor is not comfortable giving out information online.

“This is where a printable form is a good solution. It’s very easy to do. Just create a PDF of a monthly giving form, put it on your general monthly donor info page or next to a monthly donor-giving page and add it to your ways to give page. (You could simply say, “Click here to give monthly now, or print out this form and send it in to address.”)

“You’ll know that a donor downloading this form is truly committed to making that monthly gift. You’ve just made it easy for the donor to give the way they may be more comfortable to give.”

Here’ s a great example of how Habitat for Humanity does it. Scroll down to see the options. Remember, as fundraisers, everything we do is all about the donor. How can we make it easy for them to make a difference?\

I also recommend you listen to John Haydon’s Facebook Live presentation 3 Tweaks You Should Make to Your Monthly Donor Page.

John’s key recommendations:

1. Make monthly giving the default option on your current donation page. Remove any “end date”. Keep the commitment open-ended.
2. Create a separate donation page for monthly giving
3. Allow for all giving options. Offer check, credit card, PayPal, and EFT or direct debit options.

That’s it. Hopefully, you’ve found some goodies in this series that will motivate you to get started on your monthly giving program.

And, please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts on anything I’ve missed.

Roger

P.S.  Need more motivation to get into monthly giving?  With the uncertainty caused by the tragedy of Hurricane Harvey and questions about what it will do to the year-end results wouldn’t it be nice to have a source of dependable funds arriving each month, stormy weather or not?

P.P.S.  Monday, September 4^th is Labor Day here in the U.S.  So, Tom and I will be off duty, negotiating our labor contracts.  See you Tuesday with thoughts and tips on Hurricane Harvey steps you can take to assure a healthy year-end.