Recurring Donations for Nonprofit Fundraising

Recurring donations are gifts made on a regular basis rather than as a one-time donor. Depending on the donor's preference and the organization's options, these donations can be set up to occur daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or on an annual basis. Monthly donor programs offer incentives for donors to sign up as monthly givers.

For example, a donor might choose to give a $50 donation amount every month instead of a one-time gift. Monthly gifts help organizations by providing a steady, predictable stream of funds, which can be crucial for budgeting and planning.

Monthly donor programs, often referred to as recurring donations, offer benefits for donors and organizations. Some of the key advantages to a subscription gift program are convenience to your monthly donor base, a reliable revenue stream, greater engagement in donor-charity relationships, increased donor retention rates, and open communication between an organization and monthly program participants.

The best payment method for any donation is your donor's preferred method! Offering more payment methods increases donation conversion rates by ensuring a donor’s preferred donation option is available. ACH recurring donations (or bank account donations) don't have an expiration date like credit cards, which means ACH monthly gifts are less likely to churn.

Yes, nonprofits can collect monthly donations with PayPal, but using a Funraise donation form with PayPal provides a custom donation experience. With Funraise and PayPal, you can offer monthly options for recurring donations. Funraise allows you to collect more recurring donation details by asking custom questions or enabling monthly donors to select a donation allocation.

Yes, nonprofits can collect recurring donations with Squarespace. Squarespace's recurring donations are limited compared Funraise’s donation form. With Funraise and Squarespace, you’ll be able to control the donation experience and manage your monthly donors in Funraise’s robust donor management platform, which is important to build and maintain a monthly donation program.

The best frequency for recurring donations depends on the gift donor. Monthly donations balance regularity with manageability, providing nonprofits with a steady income. Annual donations are ideal to make impact with a larger payment, usually aligning with tax planning or significant financial events. Weekly donations often come in the form of tithes for religious organizations.

When naming your monthly gift program, it’s best to come up with a name that reflects your mission, inspires a sense of community, and emphasizes the impact of regular support. Here are a few examples of monthly giving program names: Legacy Leaders, Friends Forever Fund, or Sustainers Society.

An example of a monthly giving program is charity: water’s program, The Spring, which allows potential donors to contribute to clean water projects globally and provides updates. Similarly, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital’s “Partners in Hope” initiative relies on monthly donations to fund research and treatment for children with cancer.

Two more examples are the World Wildlife Fund’s Wildlife Adoptions, which allows gift donors to support endangered species through monthly contributions, and Doctors Without Borders’ monthly giving program, Field Partners, which supports emergency medical care in crisis areas and offers gift donors field reports and updates on missions.