Weekly, Monthly, or Annual Donors – Which Would You Rather Have?

As we continue to press onward into the 21st century, being pushed (sometimes dragged) by the advances of technology, those of us who are registered at a parish or church may be still making our contributions with a weekly offering envelope. In addition to being the way that contributions are made known to pastors and administrators, the weekly offering has its basis in the Hebrew Scriptures. Members of the congregation collected offerings from the people gathered to hear the Word of God proclaimed, and they were brought forth to the altar. Even today, weekly offerings provide consistency in development terms. The more often an action is repeated, the more habitual it becomes.

So what does this psychology mean for your school’s “annual appeal?” If you’ve answered, “We’ve always wanted to do an annual appeal, but there’s so much work involved,” here’s something to think about – make your annual appeal a monthly appeal.

Several years ago, the Non-Profit Times reported that Bob Wesolowski, president and founder of Caring Habits, Inc., a New York City-based third-party processor of nonprofits’ monthly donation programs, finds that donors who give monthly may be more prone to contribute in other ways, such as planned giving programs. His research showed that annual donors usually contribute about two years before they no longer give, and the majority of those annual gifts range from $25 to $100.

Monthly donors, according to Wesolowski, have a “life-expectancy” of 7 to 12 years, and a pattern of monthly gifts (ranging from tens to hundreds of dollars) can be an indication of who your most engaged benefactors are.

Perhaps you’ve experienced this in your own giving. After making a contribution to an organization, you receive a “Thank You” letter, accompanied by another contribution request. This practice can be upsetting to those who wish to be known as “annual donors,” who usually react to such practices with, “Why are they asking for another contribution again? I just sent one!” After a couple of years of this, the donor stops sending the organization anything. This is fundraising at its finest – it’s not development.

This is why the organization that wants to cultivate donors should encourage contributions to be paid over the course of the year. Moving a donor from $5 a month to $10 a month is easier than asking them, “We are thankful for your gift of $60 this year…could you double that to $120 for next year?”

Rather than a $25 annual contribution, perhaps a commitment of $5 or $10 a month could be made.

This happened on the radio – both in terms of public radio and faith-based radio programming. When I was a public radio program director, our on-air pledge drives encouraged annual memberships, and renewing one’s annual membership with a one-time contribution – perhaps $60, $90, or $120. Today, “Commitments” are requested, usually starting at $30 a month.

$30 per month. That’s $360 per year – certainly more than the one-time annual contribution of $25 that a fundraising mindset fosters.

$30 per month could also be thought of as $7.50 per week. Moving that to $8 per week increases the total contribution from $360 to $416. Moving an $8 per week giver to $10 a week increases the total contribution to $520. In moving your support requests from once a year to once a month to once a week, you’re not only increasing the potential of support to your school, but you build a mindset of generosity in your donors. Giving becomes a habit, rather than a “It’s that time of the year again, and they want another donation” event.

I’m sure the question in your mind is, “If we can’t get an annual appeal off the ground, how are we ever going to tackle something like this?” The question in my mind is, “I first wrote about this 15 years ago. Why are schools still wondering what they can do to help the survive and stave off mergers or closures?” Here’s your homework – and this is why this article is included in the “Marketing Matters” category: You need to create a vision for your school. A vision is WAY more than a plan. Why? Plans change. For the past four years, I’ve been faithfully using a “planner” to plan when the tasks and projects I need to get done can get done. Make no mistake, things get done, but sometimes not in the way things were planned. The vision, however, may not change. In fact, you may recall a song from “The Contemporary Mass” era by The Dameans titled “A Song of Blessing.” One of the lines from the song stated, “Your vision keep you changing day by day.” The impact of it didn’t fully hit me until just a few years ago. We change, since to change is to grow. In fact, everything changes. There is only one who does not change, as stated in the Book of Malachi, “For I am the Lord; I change not” (3:6). If our vision is inspired by God, then we need to change to keep our eyes on the vision. The vision isn’t just a long-term goal; it could be thought of as the long-term goal. More about “visioning” in the months ahead.

When you’ve created a vision for your school, you then need to bring in people who can help make that vision a reality. One of those people must be a development/advancement professional. Sure, you might add that person to your budget, and then when the budget is submitted for approval, you’re advised that the extra position must be cut. In that case, you’ll need to add two people, and come to a compromise at 1 extra person. In fact, you should really add three. Send an email to [email protected] with the words “Three Extra Staff” in the subject line, and if you’re an administrator at a school, you’ll receive some details about those individuals.

And remember, development takes time – don’t expect immediate miracles. They’re nice when they happen, but it will take 3 to 5 years to get the flywheel to the point that it’s rolling along.

This is also a Marketing Matters article because it’s important to not “over-market” when you’re asking for sustainable contribution. When you ask for a monthly commitment, and get one, don’t continue to “over-market.” That is, don’t necessarily send a “thank you letter” with an attached request for another contribution. Donors should, however, be reminded that their monthly contribution is due, so using a software program to help with recurring donations is one of those other things that should be part of your school’s Advancement “vision” (notice I didn’t say “plan” there). It’s not “a nice thing to have” today; it’s essential to your school’s continued existence. Remember Websites? They used to be considered nice things to have. Today, they’re necessary. Why? Things change.

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