Campaign Donation Processing

A homeless shelter sends out two fundraising letters. Letter A says: "Your $100 donation provides emergency shelter and meals for someone experiencing homelessness. We serve over 500 people each month who desperately need a warm bed and hot food tonight. The crisis is growing. Please help…" Letter B says: "Your $100 donation helps people like James rebuild their lives. James used our job training program to earn his commercial driver’s license. Within 6 months, he went from sleeping in his car to driving for a local trucking company. Today, he has his own apartment and sends us a holiday card every year…" Which letter gave you more of a gut-level urge to give? Which letter do you think raised more money? If you said Letter B, you’re not alone. And you’d be right. But what’s most surprising is just how much more effective this shift in messaging was: 💰 3x more donors pulled out their wallets. 💰 The average gift jumped from $75 to $134. 💰 Total donations skyrocketed by 400% (!) This insight comes from groundbreaking research from Jonathan Hasford and his team, who call this the “autonomous aid effect.” They discovered that focusing on independence and long-term transformation—not just immediate needs—compels more people to give and give generously. Because when donors give, they want their money to create lasting change—not just put a band-aid on the problem. They’re moved by transformation, not just urgency. So, how can you apply this to your nonprofit’s messaging today? 🚫 Instead of: "Your donation feeds hungry families" ✅ Try: "Your donation helps families grow their own food through our community garden program." 🚫 Instead of: "Help us provide school supplies to children in need" ✅ Try: "Help students like Maria get the tools she needs to become the first in her family to graduate." 🚫 Instead of: "Support our job training program" ✅ Try: "Help determined people learn the skills they need to never need our help again." One homeless shelter in the study recreated their website, emails, and social media around this principle. Their donations have climbed year after year. Now, ask yourself: ❓ Does your website inspire donors to create lasting change—or just solve an immediate crisis? ❓Do your latest fundraising appeal emphasize immediate needs or independence? Crisis or transformation? Dependence or empowerment? This one messaging tweak can transform how donors see your organization—and how much they give. If you’re not 100% sure your messaging is doing this, it may be time to rethink it. P.S. If you want help revamping your messaging to inspire lasting change—and bigger donations—let’s talk. ___ 📌 This is the last of a series of 5 posts for nonprofits and nonprofit marketers about fundraising messaging hacks to kickoff the new year. Comment ME if you'd like me to send you the links to all five posts!

INCENTIVIZING CHARITABLE GIVING: WHAT WORKS? In this new article, Hannibal Thai & I summarize over 40 years of research on the use of incentives to promote charitable giving. We identify what works and which tactics fundraisers should avoid. For the fundraisers and nonprofit managers, the key takeaways are: * Giving can be incentivized by either material or social rewards, and by offers where the benefit accrues to either the donor themselves or some other. * Tax incentives typically encourage donations. * Matching offers – where donors' gifts are matched by additional support from a lead donor or grant – effectively lift donations. In general, larger matches work better than smaller matches, but the point of diminishing returns is somewhere between a 1:1 and 3:1 match. A 1:1 match is likely ideal for maximizing bang for buck. * Match offers are more effective than rebate offers (where the donor gets a portion of their donation back). * Gifts, whether unconditional premiums or conditional thank you gifts, are generally not effective and sometimes even backfire. In other words, offering such gifts does not generate higher rates of giving and sometimes even results in lower levels of giving. We do not recommend that fundraisers use gift incentives in fundraising appeals. * Social rewards – such as the effect of donation visibility, recognition for certain donation levels, and invitations to prestige events – are more motivating for men and people with a higher need for social approval. * Finally, I do not often recommend that busy fundraising professionals read my detailed research papers, but this one is probably worth your time (see link below). For the scholars, we generate a new conceptual model for thinking about incentives that classify them as material versus social in nature and self- versus other-benefiting. We also summarize the existing corpus to identify significant gaps and present a research agenda with four propositions that warrant further investigation. You can read the full article (it's free to access) online in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly: https://lnkd.in/gH2Z6Dw4

8 unique ideas to grow your monthly giving program 👇 Yesterday, I led a workshop with the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Atlanta (YNPN Atlanta), and there were SO many questions on this, so here's some ideas! **You don’t need a huge team to do this. You just need a plan, a little creativity, and consistency. 1. Pitch yourself on podcasts - Nonprofit shows. Local shows. Mission-aligned convos. Be a guest! Share real stories and plug your monthly giving program naturally. 2. Get your name in the press Local = feel-good stories. Trade = sector-specific gold. National = trend tie-ins. Pitch ‘em all. 3. Lean on your corporate partners - They're already on your team. Co-create something—like a lunch & learn, email campaign, or co-branded content for social. 4. Activate your board Use an upcoming board meeting to write LinkedIn posts together about why the program matters and their involvement, ask if they'd host a fundraising dinner at their house, etc. 5. Make your donors the stars Record short “Why I Give Monthly” videos and sprinkle them into emails, social, and landing pages. 6. Add a referral perk Give monthly, refer a friend, get a sticker, or exclusive update. Easy and heartfelt. 7. Make it the centerpiece of your next event Make sure your monthly giving program has it's moment! When you bring people together, it's the BEST way to encourage support and explain WHY recurring gifts matter so much. 8. Always give people a next step Read this article? Donate. You spoke somewhere? Ask them to join the list. Engagement should lead somewhere. Which one are you going to try first? :)

Two benchmark studies dropped this week. M+R Benchmarks: monthly giving is now 27% of online revenue for nonprofits. Virtuous Nonprofit Benchmarks: 21% of all revenue. The trend is real. It's accelerating. And yet the most common question I still get from nonprofit leaders is: How do we actually get donors to make the leap to becoming sustainers? Here's the truth: a recurring gift is a different kind of decision. It requires trust, clarity, and — often — a reason to commit right now. That's where incentives come in. Here are 8 that work: 1. Matches and Challenge Grants A match doesn't just increase the dollar value of a gift — it increases the perceived value of the decision to give. Urgency + impact = a powerful combination. 2. Multipliers A $10/month gift that enables $100 in supplies tells a compelling story. Donated goods, volunteer time, pro bono services — all can be factored in. 3. Bonus Materials Exclusive content (e-books, videos, behind-the-scenes access) offered as a thank-you for becoming a sustainer feels personal and immediately rewarding. 4. Premiums Front-end premiums spark reciprocity before a gift. Back-end premiums reward the decision to enroll. Either way, the key is authenticity — items that connect to your mission, not just merchandise. 5. Deadlines and Goals Deadlines answer "why now?" Goals answer "why me?" Together — we need 100 new monthly donors by May 15 — they tap into people's desire to be part of something on the verge of success. 6. Benefits Membership-style perks make being a sustainer feel like belonging to something. Discounts, early access, event invites — it's less about the perk and more about the relationship it signals. 7. Bounce Backs Send sustainers something they can personalize and return — a birthday card for a child they sponsor, a greeting for a beneficiary family. It's a small thing that deepens emotional investment significantly. 8. Sweepstakes, Raffles, and Games Less common, but can work — when done legally and with care. Use sparingly, always with legal review. The right incentive at the right moment can move someone from intention to action. Not every tool fits every organization. But understanding the full menu helps you choose what fits your brand, your cause, and your donors. I cover all eight of these in depth in Chapter 16 of The Rise of Sustainable Giving — link to the full article in the comments. 🌊

Nonprofits, if I had to launch a recurring-giver program from scratch today, here’s the real playbook: 1. Stop Calling Them “Monthly Donors.” Start Naming Them Impact Investors. Never open with: “Can you give $20 a month?” Instead say: “Join the Impact Investor Circle, your $20 unlocks 12 months of measurable change.” Give them equity-level status, not subscription vibes. 2. Build a Netflix-Style Enrollment Flow—Three Clicks, Tops. • Tiered entry: $10 “Starter,” $35 “Builder,” $75 “Catalyst.” • One-tap Apple/Google Pay: friction kills momentum. • 30-second “trailer” video auto-plays on checkout, framing their money as the season premiere of a bigger story. 3. Drop Monthly “Impact Episodes,” Not Newsletters. • 90-second vertical reels that answer one question: “What did my dollars actually do this month?” • End every episode with a teaser: “Next month, see how your gift powers our new AI literacy lab.” Binge-worthy storytelling → lower churn. 4. Engineer Surprise-and-Delight Loops. • Month 4: Auto-upgrade donors to “VIP Backstage Pass” for 30 days, exclusive Slack AMA with the CEO. • Month 7: Mail an AR-enabled postcard; scan it and watch a 3-D hologram of a beneficiary thank them by name. Unexpected joy > predictable receipts. 5. Activate Donor-to-Donor “Gift Codes.” Every recurring giver gets five shareable codes: • Friend redeems it, makes first monthly gift → both earn a limited-edition digital collectible (think NFT-lite). • Collectibles unlock discounts from your ethical-brand partners. Network effects without ad spend. 6. Predict & Prevent Churn With “Heartbeat” Nudges. • Run a simple AI model on payment failures + engagement gaps. • Trigger a human voicemail within 24 h: “Saw your card declined, want to keep changing lives? Here’s a one-click fix.” • Offer a pause, not a cancel: “Skip two months, stay in the circle.” Retention is cheaper than acquisition, act on the signals. In 2025, sustainable revenue isn’t a capital campaign. It’s a subscription to impact. You’re not collecting donations. You’re compounding social ROI. Act accordingly. With purpose and impact, Mario