Online Monthly Giving — A Review of Nonprofit Programs

Nonprofit research organization GuideStar surveyed nearly 70 organizations and analyzed the online donor data of eight large nonprofits to learn how online monthly giving programs are working.  The report addresses acquisition, retention, and value. 

Some key findings:

• Some organizations send their first solicitation within eight weeks of a new registration. Others focus their timing on the date of a donor's first gift, and others run annual or quarterly recruitment campaigns.
• With an average monthly growth rate of 11 percent, the monthly donor programs grew by 132 percent each year.
• The groups surveyed retained 70 percent of their online monthly donors in their first year, but retention rate dropped to 52 percent the second year.
• On average, 12 percent of online monthly donors missed at least one monthly payment in two years.
• The average online monthly gift (for all groups except international aid organizations) was $16. The average monthly gift for international aid organizations was significantly higher at $28.
• On average, 42 percent of online monthly donors had given a one-time online gift before becoming monthly donors. Almost 20 percent gave a one-time online gift within a year after they signed up.

Read the full report.

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