This month I have several unrelated tips for you. Each of them will help you enormously.

Want a simple yet powerful strategy to build your monthly giving program?

It begins with your thank you.

It’s something I learned from monthly giving expert Ronald Pruitt of 4aGoodCause.

It’s a tip for using email to get donors who already give to you to consider giving on a regular basis.

“Your best prospect for a monthly donation is a donor already giving to you. These best prospects often donate online, by credit card and in smaller amounts of less than $100.

Your nonprofit can work to convert these one-time donors into recurring donors through an automated, welcome email series. These emails, sent over a few weeks, serve to help one-time donors understand the impact they can make if they join your monthly giving program.

Email #1: A heartfelt thank for their one-time donation.

Email #2: An introduction to your work, the problem the donor is helping to solve.

Email #3: Stories of the impact the donor is making on that problem with their gift.

Email #4: An invitation to make a greater impact by joining your monthly giving program.”

Want a better strategy to engage Gen X?

Gen Xers are currently ages 44 – 59. These are prime giving years, as they’re established in their careers and interested in connecting to the broader community.  Per a recent report from Bloomerang and Qgiv, 56% of Gen Xers provide philanthropic gifts on a recurring or scheduled basis. Here are 4 tips to better engage this generational cohort:

  1. Recruit them to serve on a committee or board. They’re the most likely generation to do so, and come armed with a robust network.
  2. Ask them to respond to an urgent need. Gen X is the generation most likely to donate because a nonprofit communicated an urgent need. They were
    also the second most likely generation to donate in response to a disaster.
  3. Make donating by digital wallet easy. Gen X was the second most likely generation to donate through a digital wallet, trailing behind Gen Z.
    Fundraisers can include digital wallet options on all of their online donation forms to make the donation process
    as easy as possible for this group of supporters!
  4. Engage them in peer-to-peer fundraising.  62% say they are willing to do this, and they’re at a point in their careers and family life where they have plenty of connections.

Begin with the why.

Always.

If you don’t, you’re likely to work very hard and not achieve much of value.

Why?

Because you didn’t begin your endeavor by asking yourself:

“What’s the value in this work upon which I’m about to embark?”

“Why am I doing this?”

This may be the most powerful strategy in your entire toolbox.