How has recurring giving grown and changed? When are people most likely to make a monthly gift? How long do recurring donors tend to stay engaged with their favorite nonprofits?
Read on to find out!
These findings come from The Recurring Giving Report: Data-Backed Insights for Sustainable Generosity, Neon One’s newest research report based on recurring gifts made by more than 100,000 donors to over 2,000 nonprofits between 2018 and 2022.
1. More People Are Becoming Recurring Donors
From 2018 to 2022, the average nonprofit grew its recurring donor base by 127%. That’s impressive! This statistic is a great indicator that donors are ready and willing to support their favorite causes and organizations by setting up monthly gifts.
If you don’t have a large recurring donor base, that percentage might seem a little intimidating. Here’s some important context: In 2018, the average nonprofit had 11 recurring donors. By 2022, that number had grown to 25. Much less intimidating, right?
That 127% growth is important, and it’s exciting! But that growth isn’t happening only at well-established organizations with tons of donors. It’s happening at organizations of all sizes, and it means that there’s a ton of room for everyone to grow.
Cool—Now What?
Now’s a great time to start actively building your recurring donor base. People are proving they’re willing to support their favorite organizations this way! If you haven’t planned an appeal for recurring gifts or launched an official recurring donor program, there’s no time like the present to get started.
2. Recurring Donors Are Generous
How valuable are recurring donors? So valuable that it’s hard to put just a single number on it. They support their favorite causes in a ton of ways—more on that in a minute—that go well beyond their regularly scheduled gifts.
But if you put everything else aside and simply focused on how much these donors give each year, we’d still find that those contributions were really significant!
During the five-year period covered by the study, the average recurring donor gave about $949.19 annually.
The average monthly gift for this type of donor was $79.10. That includes some fairly substantial gifts, so the median gift is also helpful to keep in mind when you’re planning a recurring gift appeal—that amount was around $35.
Cool—Now What?
Let’s address the elephant in the room: People who make large gifts often get the lion’s share of our attention. And, let’s be clear, that is very understandable and often very necessary. But, while recurring donors may not give nearly $1,000 all in one transaction, their smaller contributions add up quickly.
Get some processes in place that celebrate your recurring donors’ generosity and set the stage for future interactions. Try building a welcome email series, sending great thank-you notes, and maybe even calling new recurring donors just to say “thanks.”
You’ve probably heard that recurring donors are easier to retain than people who make one-off donations. This study confirms that!
The average retention rate for recurring donors during this period was 78%. Compare that to the 38% retention rate for non-recurring donors—this is a loyal group of supporters!
Cool—Now What?
Yes, recurring donors are easier to retain than people who don’t make recurring gifts. But don’t take their loyalty for granted! As you work on growing your monthly giving program, make sure you have a retention strategy in place. You’ll want to intentionally focus on keeping them up to date on how their support is making a difference.
4. … And They Stay Engaged a Long Time
Recurring donors aren’t just easier to retain than non-recurring donors. They also stay engaged for much (much!) longer periods of time.
Across nonprofits of all sizes, the average donor lifetime for recurring supporters was just over eight years (8.08 years, to be exact). The average lifetime for non-recurring donors was 1.73 years.
A little math, just for fun—if the average recurring donor gave $949.19 every year for 8.08 years, that’s a total of $7,669.46. Even if you look at the mean donation amount, which is about $35 a month, that adds up to $3,393.60 over the course of a lifetime. Not bad!
Cool—Now What?
We said it a minute ago, and we’ll say it again: Having a retention strategy in place for your recurring donors is an important part of building a strong recurring program. These are some of your most engaged and invested supporters. Take the time to build relationships with them.
5. May’s a Great Month for Recurring Donors
Here’s a fun one. When we looked at all recurring donations initiated during this five-year period, May was the most popular month to set up that kind of gift. December came in second with November in a close third place. February was the least-common month for this type of gift.
Cool—Now What?
Are you thinking about sending your first appeal for recurring gifts? Try sending it in May. Do you regularly run a spring fundraising campaign that could include recurring gifts? May’s a great month to do it!
To be honest, we’re still scratching our heads about why this is such a strong month for recurring fundraising. The numbers don’t lie, but they also don’t tell us much about what prompts these particular gifts.
We’ve asked hundreds of fundraisers what they think, and their answers range from “Maybe people are launching spring appeals” to the idea that people are more positive and optimistic in the spring.
What do you think?
6. Recurring Donors Love GivingTuesday
Every year, GivingTuesday takes place on the Tuesday immediately following (American) Thanksgiving. Based on how early Thanksgiving falls in the month, GivingTuesday occurs either in late November or early December.
Regardless of the date, it’s a popular day to make recurring donations. New gifts initiated on GivingTuesday made up around 12% of gifts initiated in the month in which it falls—no matter if it falls in November or December.
Cool—Now What?
This year, try asking for recurring gifts on GivingTuesday. If you decide not to ask specifically for that type of gift, make sure the option is at least included on your donation page.
7. Most Recurring Gifts Are Made With Cards
If you’re thinking to yourself, “Wow, no kidding. Credit or debit cards are the primary payment methods for ALL online transactions,” we hear you.
This is significant, yes—hopefully it encourages you to make sure your payment processor is set up to accept the most popular cards—but what’s also significant is to understand how the other 9% of recurring donors make their gifts.
8.24% of them are made with ACH (that stands for “automated clearing house”) or eCheck. The remaining ~0.73% of transactions are made with alternative payment methods like PayPal.
Cool—Now What?
Take a look at your payment processor and make sure you’re able to accept recurring gifts made with credit or debit cards. And, if you can (and if your donors have a history of using them), consider adding the option to make that kind of gift via ACH/eCheck.
8. Recurring Donors Give Other Ways, Too
Nearly half of all recurring donors—49.81%, if you want to be very specific—gave at least one additional gift to the nonprofit they supported. They’re also very likely to purchase memberships, attend events, volunteer, or serve as board members.
They probably support your work in ways that don’t translate neatly into a data point in a CRM, too. Recurring donors can be some of your most valuable ambassadors, advocates, and resources for feedback and ideas.
Cool—Now What?
If you’ve ever been worried about asking recurring donors to support your cause in other ways, this should be exciting to you. You can ask them to make additional gifts, invite them to attend events, and look for other ways to get them involved.
Just make sure you recognize their ongoing commitment, thank them for their generosity, and tailor your appeal to their status as sustaining donors.
Get More Recurring Giving Statistics and Insights
This is just a small sample of the statistics and insights included in The Recurring Giving Report: Data-Backed Strategies for Sustainable Generosity. If you want to learn more—including deep insights for the overall industry; special analyses for small, midsize, and large nonprofits; and more information about how, when, and why people make recurring gifts, grab your copy of the report!
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