Boost your donation revenue with recurring donations

One of the simplest ways to smooth out cash flow and increase your overall donation revenue is by asking for recurring donations. This helps you break out of the feast or famine seasonal donation cycle and gain some cash flow continuity.

Smaller amounts mean bigger donations over time

Smaller, recurring donations are easier for a donor to get onboard with and result in larger overall donations over the course of a year. According to research by Network for Good, recurring donors give 42-percent more in one year than one-time donors do.

Let’s do some simple math. Let’s say your average one-time donation is $25. A $5 monthly donation-the cost of a coffee and a donut-results in $60 of donations over the course of a year. And assuming your recurring donors don’t stop giving after 12 months, that revenue continues year-after-year!

Not only are you getting more money, but it becomes predictable revenue that you can use to better plan your budget over the course of the year.

How to get more recurring donors

It’s actually absurdly simple: ask.

At the end of your donation form, just before the submit button, provide a simple checkbox that asks, “Would you like to make this a monthly donation?”

If you pair this with some comparative pricing, you can really drive recurring donations. For example, you might say something like, “For just $10 a month, less than the cost of lunch, you can provide feed a dog for a month.”

You can do this on your website right now

Visit your donation page and look for a recurring donation option.

1. If there is one, awesome! If you don’t already have any comparative pricing language on the page, spend a few minutes writing some examples you can share with potential donors.
2. If you don’t have a recurring donations option, set one up!