Guest post from Bloomerang

Some nonprofits that offer monthly giving programs take a “set it and forget it” mindset to monthly donor engagement. The idea is that monthly donors are already engaged in ongoing giving, so they may require less hands-on stewardship than donors who give with less regularity.

But imagine how much more connected donors will feel to your nonprofit when you foster a sense of community around your monthly giving program. Instead of just observing your nonprofit’s activities, donors will be actively engaged in your work and see up close how their monthly gifts make a difference in your mission.

With that in mind, let’s review five top tips for fostering community among monthly donors to improve your retention rate:

Brand your program
Create a monthly donor newsletter.
Offer exclusive opportunities to monthly donors
Ask for donors’ input
Create personal connections through your appreciation efforts

Throughout this post, we’ll pull tips and examples of successful programs from Bloomerang’s roundup of monthly giving best practices. Let’s start by reviewing top strategies for branding your monthly giving program to promote community.

1. Brand your program

Creating a brand for your nonprofit’s monthly giving program helps donors feel like members of an exclusive group. Take the following steps to develop a cohesive brand for supporters to rally around:

Name your program. Giving your program an easily recognizable name helps foster brand awareness. For example, charity: water is a nonprofit focused on improving access to clean water for communities in need. The organization’s monthly donation program is called The Spring. This name is related to the organization’s mission and is short and snappy enough to be easily remembered.
Name your monthly donor group. Instead of giving your monthly giving program a name, you can also name your monthly donors themselves. For example, Doctors Without Borders’ monthly donors are called Field Partners, while CARE refers to its recurring supporters as Partners for Change.
Brand the program uniformly. Your online donation page and monthly giving program marketing materials should incorporate uniform brand elements. NXUnite recommends creating a branding strategy guide with information about how to use your logo, color scheme, typography, and tagline to ensure cohesion

Brand consistency gives your monthly giving program greater legitimacy and authority. Donors will feel like members of a close-knit community united by a common cause.

2. Create a monthly donor newsletter

One of the most important aspects of building a strong monthly donor community is maintaining consistent communication. Most donors appreciate ongoing updates about your nonprofit’s progress and goals. A monthly email newsletter is an effective way to keep monthly donors in the loop.

To speed up the process of crafting your newsletter each month, you can create a newsletter template that includes spots for the following types of content:

Updates on what donors’ gifts have allowed your nonprofit to accomplish. Include progress photos or written updates on how you use recurring donations to grow your programs or advance your projects.
Donor spotlights. Highlight long-time or particularly engaged donors using thank-you messages or donor interviews.
Upcoming events. Include information about upcoming donor appreciation events, fundraising campaigns or volunteer opportunities.

Use your email marketing platform to track email metrics and determine which types of messages are most engaging for your audience. For example, you can track metrics such as your open rate and click-through rate. Taking a data-driven approach will allow you to tailor your outreach to meet donors’ needs, improving your engagement rates.

3. Offer exclusive opportunities to monthly donors

In addition to highlighting your nonprofit’s general activities using your monthly newsletter, you can also invite monthly donors to engage in exclusive opportunities designed just for them.

Use marketing platforms like email, text and social media to highlight opportunities like:

Exclusive events, such as networking opportunities or appreciation galas
Early access to registration for your organization’s major events, such as your annual music festival or charity run
Specialized volunteer opportunities where monthly donors can interact with one another and complete hands-on work to support your mission

Not only will donors feel special for getting invites to these exclusive opportunities, but they’ll also be able to meet and interact with their fellow monthly supporters. This can help foster camaraderie within your monthly giving program

4. Ask for donors’ input

Requesting feedback from donors is a central tenet of a powerful donor management strategy. Asking for donors’ input shows them that you consider them equal partners in working toward your nonprofit’s goals.

Monthly donors can be especially helpful when it comes to offering advice because they are typically among your most engaged and committed supporters. Send monthly donors occasional surveys that request feedback on things such as:

Suggestions to improve your upcoming fundraising drives and campaigns
Feedback about your communication frequency or the content of your email newsletters
Input about how you can improve your appreciation strategy

Follow up with donors after compiling all responses to thank them for their input and highlight your plans to implement their feedback.

5. Create personal connections through your appreciation efforts

Monthly donor appreciation should be an ongoing process rather than a one-time task. You can use your appreciation efforts to build personal relationships with donors that encourage them to continue giving for the long term.

Here are a few ideas to send more meaningful thank-you messages:

Personalize thank-you notes to each donor. Use the data stored in your donor management system to personalize thank-you messages with monthly donors’ names and giving amounts.
Send handwritten thank-you notes. Handwritten appreciation messages stand out and show donors you’ve taken the extra time to write something from the heart. Consider asking volunteers, board members or beneficiaries to write a few thank-you notes to make these messages even more meaningful.
Create appreciation videos. Ask a volunteer to film a quick thank-you video to send to monthly donors. Videos can be an impactful way to introduce donors to someone that they’ve supported through their gifts.
Offer gifts or prizes for long-time donors. Consider sending long-term monthly donors gifts like free merchandise or gift cards to local businesses or restaurants. Unexpected gifts can provide a special touch for donors who have been loyal to your organization for many months or years.

Use your donor database to note the types of appreciation messages each donor responds best to, whether a gift, handwritten note, video, or another type of communication. You can then continue thanking each donor using their preferred method, further building a positive connection.

These efforts will help make your monthly donors feel like true partners in your quest to achieve your organization’s mission. By building closer ties to your organization and their fellow supporters, monthly donors will be much more likely to stay involved in your program for the long haul.