For nonprofit organizations to thrive, donations are everything. Donations fund a nonprofit’s operational expenses and directly impact the organization’s mission. The more donations a nonprofit can collect regularly, the more significant the organization’s impact can be. So, what’s the best approach when seeking donations? You might be surprised to learn that, although large donations are valuable, securing a frequent, steady stream of smaller donations as a reliable source of income is essential. If you’re seeking ways to increase the frequency of incoming donations for your nonprofit, you’ve come to the right place.
In this blog, you’ll learn more about technology’s impact on donations and walk away with our most important tip for using technology to increase the frequency of donations.
Technology Has Changed the Way Nonprofits Collect Donations
The old-school way of soliciting donations was very hands-on. It required spending hours calling businesses and individual donors or going door to door educating people and asking for donations. As you can imagine, that approach takes a lot of time, which usually requires more resources and increases costs.
Although this in-person approach still works today, modern fundraising has gone virtual. Whether attending a philanthropic event in person or via a livestream, most donors primarily donate online. Many organizations no longer leave envelopes on banquet tables or mail envelopes to people’s homes so they can mail back a donation. These days, thanks to technology, people can donate in just a few clicks or taps on a screen. The entire process is seamless and easy for both the donor and the organization. Nonprofits no longer need to count checks and cash now that the money comes in electronically. Collecting and managing donations online is efficient and reduces operating costs for nonprofit organizations.
Online giving has increased 43% since 2019, and 28% of online giving in 2021 took place on mobile devices. Connecting with your donors on their smartphones, which are always within reach, truly is the key to increasing donations. Technology has come a long way, and you can take advantage of it to maximize—not to mention, automate— your fundraising efforts.
How to Automate and Simplify the Donation Process
Ready for our biggest tip for increasing donations? It’s simple:
Give donors the option to make recurring donations.
That’s it.
New donors are great, but the new-donor retention is significantly lower than the retention rate for donors who make recurring donations. The typical retention rate for recurring monthly donations is over 80% after one year and 95% after five years.
If you’re not giving donors a way to make recurring donations, you’re missing out on about 57% of returning donors. Imagine the huge impact that growing a list of recurring donors month after month will have on your organization.
A recurring donation program makes it easy for donors to support your nonprofit weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. You’ll give them the flexibility to continue supporting your nonprofit, and they can adjust their recurring frequency anytime. When a donor commits to donating to your nonprofit regularly, setting up an automated recurring donation empowers them to make a difference toward a mission they care about, and they won’t have to remember to donate. Their recurring donation will happen automatically based to the preferences they selected when they set it up.
Monthly giving is the future of donating. According to Network for Good, 52% of millennials say they’re interested in monthly giving as a meaningful way to give back.
Making Recurring Donations Simple with Tatango
Tatango is a mission to simplify fundraising for you. So, of course, we have an even better version of this tip—integrate your phone number into your website. We offer our clients a simple line of code to do this in one step.
Then, when someone donates using the form on your website and enters their phone number on that form, their information automatically syncs with your SMS subscriber program. Syncing will help you keep your donor in the loop about future giving opportunities. Plus, you make it easy for them to not only donate, but also to sign up for the latest news about their favorite nonprofit, which will help them feel engaged and personally invested in your mission.
Tatango for Nonprofit Text Messaging
Now you know our top tip to increase donations and make things easy for donors. If you’re looking for more information or have questions, we’re here to help. Tatango has helped fundraising campaigns raise over $400 million in donations since our founding in 2007. We want to help your nonprofit raise donations to support your mission.
We have so many resources designed to make things easy and helpful for you. If you are looking for more fundraising tips, check out our Youtube channel for a complete playlist of videos on how to maximize donations with Tatango and text message marketing. And for even more tips, check out our text messaging marketing blog or schedule time to talk to one of our nonprofit text messaging experts.
