Top 5 Reasons to Give Monthly
Donating to your favorite charity on a monthly recurring basis, the giving method most popular among millennial donors, is now a mainstream giving option for nonprofit organizations. Studies show this isn’t just a trend, but a very effective fundraising strategy that provides benefits to both the cause you support and to you as the donor. Whether you already give monthly or have just been considering it, you should know how much more beneficial this method is than a one-time donation.
Top 5 Reasons to Give Monthly:
1 – Convenient Donor Experience
Monthly giving is an easy and effective way for you to enhance your monetary impact to your favorite cause through the entire year. It’s easy to set up with a credit card or electronic funds transfer, so donations are automatically withdrawn each month. Automatic payments made monthly are easier and more practical for the donor, and monthly donors report they can contribute more on an annual basis. In fact, “The average monthly online donation is $52 ($624 per year) compared to the average once a year gift of $128,” according to nonprofitsource.com. Monthly giving is a great way to increase your annual donation and increase your impact. The OBF offers a monthly giving option to its donors participating in the Partners for Justice Giving Program. Many OBF Trustees and Partners for Justice donors have set up automatic monthly payments, and report positive feedback about the experience.
2 – Helps the Nonprofit’s Budget
Monthly giving provides nonprofits with consistent information for making annual budget projections, while at the same time increasing revenue and cash flow for them. Classy.org reports that due to the seasonal nature of giving, most nonprofits typically receive the bulk of their fundraising income during just a couple of months of the year. The OBF, for example, receives the largest amount of donations in the month of December. Monthly donations start calculating in January and give the nonprofit insight into yearly fundraising projections. This greatly helps budget preparation and fundraising projections, so the nonprofit can pivot strategy if needed earlier in the year.
3 – Stability for Day-to-Day Programming
A robust monthly giving program provides stability for a nonprofit and its grantees in times of uncertainty or emergency. The OBF’s major source of revenue, for example, Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA), fluctuates greatly due to changes banks make in interest rates they pay. Also, unexpected events like the 2008 recession, the Covid-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and cuts to state and federal funding make reliable sources of income even more important to meet unforeseen needs. A solid monthly giving program allows a nonprofit like the OBF to respond quickly and support its grantees during hard times.
4 – Increases Donor Retention
Studies have shown that monthly donors are much more likely to continue to give to a nonprofit than one-time donors. According to DonorPerfect, an online fundraising system, published by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, “Research shows that organizations who have monthly giving programs increase donor retention for those donors from 43 percent to 90 percent.” Other online fundraising systems report the same findings – monthly giving almost doubles donor retention rates.” This increases more sustainable funding year after year.
5 – Sustains Impact
Perhaps the most important reason to give monthly is sustainability of impact and helping more people. “Recurring donors have the highest lifetime financial return, 42% above fundraisers and 440% above one-time donors,” as reported in The State of Modern Philanthropy by classy.org. This makes a huge difference, especially when coupled with the fact that recurring giving programs are more cost-effective than fundraisers and acquiring one-time donors. Monthly donations not only keep overhead low, but they also make returns on investment high, allowing nonprofits to help more people in need.
As you can see, monthly donations are a proven method of giving to increase funding for critical life-saving programs. Lawyers can easily set up monthly giving with the Oklahoma Bar Foundation to provide legal services, education, and access to justice to all Oklahomans.
Sign up as an OBF Monthly Partner
Citations:
https://nonprofitssource.com/online-giving-statistics/online-fundraising/
https://www.classy.org/blog/recurring-donations-infographic/