Monthly Giving Around the World
Posted on Tue, Aug 24, 2010
By Pete Carter, Senior Vice President
Monthly giving across the pond represents a significant portion of overall charitable contributions. In fact, several charities in the United Kingdom (Oxfam, for example) have several hundred thousand monthly givers. How do they do it? Is it even possible to replicate these results in the United States?
First, it’s important to understand that these monthly givers are not contributing via check. Paper checks are so last century. In Europe, and particularly the UK, monthly givers generally sign up via what they call “direct debit,” or what we call electronic funds transfer (EFT). So when conducting a monthly giving (or sustainer) recruitment campaign, don’t even think about accepting monthly mailed checks.
It is true that unlike in the United States, in Europe, it’s extremely common for consumers to use direct debit or “easy pay” for their personal bills. So if you think EFT will be too hard to sell to your donors, then a credit card option will work pretty well, too. However, it’s important to be aware that a sustainer file built on credit card giving will suffer from greater attrition than one based primarily on EFT.
These are the 5 most common techniques used around the world for recruiting monthly givers:
1. Face-to-face: Street canvass and door-to-door campaigns are very common in Europe. Some groups rely exclusively on this technique for recruiting new monthly givers. Face-to-face campaigns are gaining popularity in the United States. I was recently visited at home by a representative for the ACLU. I let him conduct his initial ask; after which I told him I was only going to make a one-time gift, which he seemed happy enough to take. This technique is expensive, which is why relatively few groups make use of it in the US. But if your organization is well-known, and if you target with careful accuracy, you might be able to build on this technique’s track record of success.
2. Telemarketing: Telemarketing is the bread-and-butter of most American monthly giving programs. Targeting those who just joined with a combo “thank-you” and “here’s another opportunity to help” telemarketing message has proven enormously successful for many organizations.
3. Television: Remember that Sarah McLachlan infomercial you’ve seen with sad puppies and kittens late at night? That’s the ASPCA using direct response television to recruit monthly givers. Television spots come in two varieties: long-form (usually 30 minutes or longer) or short-form (commercial sized, perhaps 30 or 60 seconds). Depending on length and placement, these spots can be very expensive, but we wouldn’t continue to see them if they weren’t working.
4. Direct Mail: Mail is less expensive than the first three options, but generally has a lower positive response. The good news: these monthly givers tend to be the most committed.
5. Online: The least expensive option, and one that allows for the greatest flexibility. Think of the price point options you can test, or the premium offers, or messaging points! If you don’t have initial success engaging donors with an online recruitment campaign, try it again with a different spin.
Are there any techniques that we’ve left out? And which have been the most successful for you?
