How to prepare monthly giving appeals for your donors?

When it comes to making the ask for monthly giving to your donors or prospective donors, the most important question becomes- ‘How to ask’ and not ‘what to ask’. How you put together a monthly giving appeal is the most important aspect of your recurring giving program. Making a compelling ask, reaching out to the ‘warm’ prospects or existing donors, and ease of giving- a sure shot recipe for fundraising success. Here are some tips for preparing monthly giving appeals for your donors:

• Understand your audience- If you have a donor data management system, this step can be easy for you. Categorize and segment your donors to understand their capacities, willingness, and propensity to give. Have a targeted and customized approach for your separate donor segments.
• Engage them to warm them up, emotionally engage them- Make sure you keep them engaged and aware about the mission, campaigns, immediate, short- and long-term goals. From here, you can pivot the conversation or communication to explain why regular giving matters and what impact their regular giving can make.
• Be very specific in the ask- Say exactly what is needed, why is it needed and what will happen if they give. Give them options with proposed impact- e.g. $10 will result in X, $20 will make Y possible, and so on.
• Make the donor the hero of the story– Make them feel special! They are the reason you exist and the cause/ mission and vision of the organization get ahead.
• Be transparent and accountable- Share financials, tell them how the money is being spent.