Increasing Recurring Donor Acquisition

Almost every nonprofit is looking for ways to increase recurring donor acquisition. Your best, most loyal donors are the ones who continue to engage with your organization.

Recurring donor acquisition is any activity that actively seeks and attracts individuals or entities who commit to making ongoing contributions. Finding these donors involves strategies and efforts aimed at convincing individuals to pledge continuous financial support at regular intervals, rather than making a one-time donation. You can accomplish this through a variety of methods, one of the most common being to offer a recurring donation option for online giving.

Successful recurring donor acquisition involves compelling storytelling, targeted outreach, streamlined donation processes, personalized communication, and cultivating relationships to inspire long-term commitment and sustained support from donors. The goal is to create a community of supporters who are dedicated to the cause and contribute regularly to help achieve the organization’s mission and goals.

Whether you already have some ideas in place or need to rethink recurring donor acquisition, this guide has everything you need to do to maximize those efforts.

Understanding Recurring Donor Acquisition

Recurring donors are important for a nonprofit because they can help you anticipate cash flow and giving levels. They often have higher lifetime donor values than those who give one time or sporadically.

Think about it like this. If a one-time donor gives your organization $100 annually, that’s the extent of the gift. Acquiring a recurring donor could mean that someone gives $10 per month annually, a total value of $120. Those values can really compound and add up over time!

Recurring donors can also cost less for your organization to engage with and keep in the fundraising circle and are often some of your nonprofit’s biggest ambassadors.

There’s a lot of unique value potential with recurring donors.

• Recurring donors provide a predictable and consistent stream of income that makes it easier to plan budgets over time.
• The cumulative contributions from recurring donors often surpass those of one-time donors. Recurring donors give an average of 30% more each year than one-time donors. 
• Acquiring recurring donors typically involves lower costs compared to acquiring new one-time donors. Once established, recurring donors require less marketing and solicitation efforts, saving resources that can be allocated elsewhere.
• Recurring donors tend to have a deeper connection and commitment to your cause and may support your organization in other ways as well such as volunteering or additional campaign-specific gifts.
• During periods of economic downturns or unforeseen challenges, having a base of recurring donors provides stability. It mitigates the impact of fluctuations in funding and helps organizations weather difficult times more effectively. Because recurring donations are often made of smaller, more incremental donations throughout the year, they may not be stopped as suddenly as larger gifts if a budget is cut.
• The ongoing nature of recurring contributions allows organizations to maintain regular communication with donors. This facilitates relationship-building opportunities, feedback collection, an understanding of donor preferences, and fostering a stronger donor-organization relationship.

Strategies for Recurring Donor Acquisition

The best strategy for recurring donor acquisition is to ask!

You need a simple ask that outlines the benefits of an ongoing gift with an easy call to action for getting started. Online donations are an ideal solution that puts donors in control of their gifts.

The World Wildlife Fund does a great job emphasizing recurring gifts with a form that outlines each monthly option, provides a thank you perk (optional), and has a special “partner in Conservation” designation for certain gift levels.

The ask is easy to understand, there’s a benefit for the donor, and it’s all topped off by a compelling story about the impact of each donation. (And if you are more interested in a one-time donation, there’s an option to get there as well.)

This landing page is designed and targeted toward people who have an interest in sustained giving with smaller amounts that are easy to give on a monthly basis. Note that if a user lands on the option to give once, there’s a banner showing them how they can contribute in a greater way with a recurring gift.

This strategy works for several reasons:

• It uses storytelling to connect donors to the organization.
• It appeals to people who can’t make huge one-time gifts while making them feel important.
• It uses subtle cues that a monthly donation is the “right” choice – a heart icon, design elements to shift one-time donations to monthly, and strong “thank you” language to cement your choice.

GiveWP has a recurring donation option that allows you to add this feature to any of the donation forms on your WordPress website. Plus, GiveWP includes all the reporting tools you need to keep track of donations and create reports to analyze performance.

Tactics to Amplify Recurring Donation Campaigns

Set a goal for how many new recurring donors you want to acquire for a campaign and then you can deploy some tactics for that specific fundraising channel.

Here are five tactics to help you encourage new donors to act and opt for a recurring gift.

• Create a call to action with a sense of urgency. This could be an immediate need to fund a specific project or limited access to recurring donor benefits, such as a swag item.
• Add a personal touch to the ask where you can. Social media outreach is okay, email outreach is better, a phone call is great, and a meeting is phenomenal.
• Create tiers for giving to encourage higher recurring gifts. Tiers could be based on donor level and organizational access or show different impact levels for donations.
• Make it easy. If someone can make a single donation in just a few clicks, the same should be true for recurring gifts. (That’s where GiveWP can help!)
• Follow up with donors to keep them engaged after the initial donation. You may ask if they want to increase their gift, learn about other opportunities, or take advantage of a corporate match.

Keys to Retaining Recurring Donors

While the initial focus is acquiring recurring donors, retaining them is just as important for long-term success.

Think about some of the organizations you support and what keeps you coming back. It’s likely a combination of effective communication, appreciation, and experience. When a recurring donor feels valued and like their contribution had an impact, they are more likely to continue the donation and may even increase the recurring amount.

Ensure that recurring donors have regular touchpoints from your team, including thank yous and access to campaign information or reports.

Other ways to help retain recurring donors include:

• Share how their donations are used and the impact they’re making.
• Provide exclusive content, updates, and opportunities for involvement.
• Tailor communication and engagement efforts to donor interests and preferences.
• Maintain regular touchpoints throughout the year to keep donors engaged.
• Seek donor feedback and give them opportunities to get involved.
• Ensure the donation process is simple and gives them control to manage their accounts.
• Analyze donor behavior to identify trends and proactively re-engage at-risk donors.

Maximizing Recurring Donor Acquisition

Now that you have the tools to jumpstart a recurring donation program and stay engaged with those donors, you want to maximize your results.

Reporting and dashboard in GiveWP can help you understand trends in giving, who your donors are, and even connect with them in hopes of sustained donations. The tools are easy to use and integrate with your WordPress website.

Learn more or request a demo.