It’s a problem every nonprofit or charity knows well – disappearing donors. The age-old question becomes: how do you retain monthly donors and possibly even increase their giving?
The answer? Host engaging events.
There are many factors to consider when determining why donors stick around and why they leave. Some of these reasons why donors leave are unpredictable. For instance, perhaps there has been a change in their household income or they’ve moved out of the region. However, there are several reasons for donor churn that are preventable.
These reasons include:
- A donor’s personal perception of your organization
- How passionate they are about the cause (which can wax or wane over time)
- What impact it may have on their lives, their community, or others
- And more
One way to keep donors engaged (and giving) is by hosting events.
Before we talk about how to keep your donors engaged through events, let’s talk about why recurring donors are so valuable and why they stop giving.
The Value of Recurring Donors
Recurring donors give about 30% more (per year) than one-time donors. That reason alone makes it incredibly important to retain monthly donors. The best fundraisers and organizations know that capturing and retaining recurring donors is the foundation of your organization’s longevity.
Here are two essential facts about how recurring donor relationships impact your organization (outside of increased fundraising):
- Retention Rates: Recurring donors are more likely to continue giving to your nonprofit because of an emotional investment in your purpose. This passion can boost retention numbers.
- Lower Operating Costs: Recurring donors can help your organization nail down a solid baseline budget and project annual funds. Recurring donors also help bring in additional recurring donors. As your sustaining donor community grows, your cost-per-new-donor will decrease.
Recurring donors give more frequently, no matter what schedule they choose. Increase your annual revenue for this year and years to come by turning one-time givers into recurring donors.
Let’s Talk About Donor Churn
If donors feel funds are not as impactful as originally thought – or that there isn’t transparency about funding- it’s bound to create donor churn.
It may seem that donors can be fickle, but it’s very unlikely that donors simply stop giving for no reason. Donor churn often happens because of a series of small circumstances that have happened over time.
These circumstances can include:
- No follow-up on donations
- Lack of personalization in donor communications
- Not seeing the impact their donation has on the cause
At any stage of the donor lifecycle, intervening to reinforce donor trust can help your organization retain monthly donors. For example, sending a personalized thank you letter or sharing impact reports with your donor can stop donor churn in its tracks.
Another tried-and-true donor retention tactic? Engaging events.
Five Types of Events to Retain Monthly Donors
Since recurring donors help with retention and operating costs, it’s important to make them feel special.
Here are a few ideas for events you could consider to show your recurring donors how much you value them and, in turn, retain monthly donors and create better donor relationships:
- Annual Banquets: These are typically formal in-person events that include dinner, drinks, dancing, and speeches about the organization’s impact. Many events usually have an up-front cost for donors, but could be seen as a “perk” for high-level donors instead.
- Donor Awards: Whether virtual or in-person, a donor awards ceremony can help increase the elements of gamification in your giving program while inspiring donors to reach for the “top donor” award. Awards help your donors feel seen and valued, leading to donor retention.
- Virtual Updates: Small, regular, virtual donor events can show off your impact. Share stories from volunteers and showcase people who benefit from your cause in these events. By scheduling quarterly virtual updates, you can keep your donors engaged and help retain monthly donors. Virtual events are trickier to keep folks engaged, so be sure to check out our tips for keeping up engagement.
- Early Access/Sneak Peek: Have something new you’re rolling out soon? Let your recurring donor pool get a “first look.” Host a small, private webinar just for recurring donors to demonstrate a new feature, test something out, or show off a not-yet-public initiative. Make it clear that you’ve been able to accomplish these things thanks to recurring donation funds.
- AMA/Q&A Session: Get on a call with recurring donors and peel back the curtain. Set aside some time to chat with donors, to answer their questions, and make a personal connection.
Events Are Upsell Opportunities for Nonprofits
Not only do events help to retain monthly donors, they also put all of your most dedicated folks – funders, committee chairs, donors, and volunteers – in one room together. Events are the perfect time to reinforce the good donors are doing (while subtly suggesting what more can be done).
You could increase the cost of a table at your donor banquet and then commit to using the extra revenue towards a new initiative. Banquets with no upfront table fee are typically used as an avenue to solicit large donations from your donors, including recurring donors.
Donor awards naturally inspire donors to increase their regular donation level. Asking for donations during the event can increase the likelihood that your donors will be inspired to give again.
Virtual events are also an opportunity for all donors, including recurring donors, to give a quick one-time donation on top of their regular gifts. Make sure to include messaging and links for giving as a subtle call-to-action at some point.
Get creative with how to use events to your advantage for your organization’s shining example donors.
How to Organize Events on Your Website
If you have several events scheduled, it’s easy for things to get lost in the shuffle. Find ways to make your events stand out. The Events Calendar is a StellarWP plugin and is one of the best ways to display events on your website.
To get started, we recommend using The Events Calendar plugin (free!), which comes with month, day, and list views. You can set the default view that you prefer and which view types to enable. This allows users to toggle between views and easily keep track of events.
The quickest and easiest way to change the styling of your donor events is to use the WordPress Customizer with an Events Calendar plugin.
Use settings to modify basic styling settings like:
- Font color
- Size
- Family
- And other things (like background colors)
Customization can give your events a professional and branded look.
The Center of Your Fundraising Strategy: Retain Monthly Donors
Research tells us that donors want to give more than money, but it’s hard to give it all at once. Recurring gifts enable your donors to feel an obligation and commitment beyond that of a one-time gift. The Recurring Donations Add-on for GiveWP makes it simple. Try out the recurring donations add-on today.
Want to test it first? Give our demo a try and drop a line and let us know how this strategy works for you.
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