Nonprofits need as much help as they can get. So to make things easier, many nonprofits created a monthly Donation or recurring giving program. That’s when nonprofits automatically withdraw a certain amount from donors’ bank or credit card accounts monthly. Recurring giving programs help nonprofits cover their administrative costs and keep them from constantly asking for donations. Here is a list of the steps you should take to create a nonprofit recurring giving program.

• Determine your donor type.
• Create an easy-to-use donation page.
• Find a software partner.
• Test the fundraising process.
• Increase revenue with recurring giving programs.

Determine Your Donor Type

When creating a nonprofit Monthly Donation or recurring giving program, you first need to consider the donor type. In this case, you want to determine who gives to you as one-time donors and those who give to you every month. The chances are that you have attrition, and you have donors who only gave you one gift. A Monthly Donation Program is an excellent chance for them to support your cause in small monthly contributions.

If you have monthly donors who contribute regularly, you’ll want to consider if you’re going to ask them to increase their monthly giving. We recommend growing your monthly donation program first if you’re just getting started. Once you have a critical mass of supporters, you could bump donors to a higher giving level. But, remember, for a recurring giving program, you want to make it easy for donors. It’s essentially a ‘set it and forget it’ approach to supporting a cause, much like having a subscription.

Create an Easy-to-Use Donation page

Next, you want to ensure the online donation experience and contribution button are simple for your monthly donation program. In short, the donor must find your donation page online easily, enter the amount they want to donate, and complete the transaction. All of it has to happen effortlessly. So, if you haven’t updated your site or have a cumbersome donation process, this is the time to change it for something easy.

It would be best to make it easy for your donors by having a simple-to-use donation page. Visitors should easily navigate your site and contribute without any confusion or hassle. It’s important to consider what steps you want them to take when donating and ensure no dead ends exist on your website. You also need a user-friendly checkout process that doesn’t require much additional information about your donors beyond their email address and payment information.

Find a Software Partner

The easiest way to create a recurring giving program is to find a software partner to help you. The software you use will do all the heavy lifting and should include the ability to customize the look and feel of your donation page, automate monthly donations, and more. When you look for a software partner, you want to be sure to look at your options. But, if they don’t have the functionality you need, the time may be suitable to explore options. Always start first with your current provider.

The reality is that a monthly donation platform should be something easy to get in a platform. Excellent platforms exist for doing so, including Salesforce, BoodleAI, and Classy. Moreover, with the power of artificial intelligence and technology, these platforms increasingly offer powerful features. For instance, some platforms use predictive technology to help your monthly donation program because you can easily find the best prospects.

Test the Fundraising Process

You should always keep in mind the donor experience on the front and back end of creating your monthly donation program. So, at the outset of the process (e.g., before finding any new software), you want to speak to friends and close donors. Ask them to use your site and offer feedback. Do they find it hard to donate, or is it too complicated? Are there any bugs? What are your donors’ thoughts on the design? Once you have settled on how your recurring giving program will happen with selected software, it’s time to test it again.

For instance, you need to create a dummy account on your website. You can then input donations of $1 for 30 days. After this, check your balance to see how much money you raised in that time frame. Did everything work correctly? Remember, you want to know any glitches that could happen on your recurring giving program before the first donation happens.

You should also ask volunteers not working with your nonprofit to go through the donation process to see what they think of it. Allowing people outside of the organization to test it will help find any mistakes or issues that could be confusing for donors. If there are any problems, you will want to consider them before launching the monthly donation program!

It’s crucial to ensure you’ve taken care of all your steps before launching. Test the donation process and make any necessary changes before people start donating. The testing process should happen in real-time. You also want to test any errors in the recurring giving program settings and ensure users can recover their password when necessary.

Increase Revenue with Recurring Giving Programs

Nonprofits need to provide the most efficient service possible. Not only is this good for the mission, but it’s also beneficial for donors, who may not want to be solicited for donations constantly. Recurring giving programs can come in different shapes and sizes. For instance, you may have one donor making a $5 donation every month or 10 people donating $5 once per week. Both options can be equally successful.

In sum, it’s essential to think carefully about what suits your organization best before moving forward with anything. However, make sure you have the items discussed in this article covered. They will help ensure you succeed, and we find that they’re items that could often get missed—even by experienced fundraisers.

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