Monthly donors are some of the most valuable supporters for nonprofits: They provide a reliable and steady source of income, often stay with an organization for multiple years, and have the potential to give bigger sums or even become legacy donors if treated well.

Plus, at a time when many nonprofits are seeing an ongoing drop in small-dollar supporters amid increasing economic uncertainty, monthly giving is a smart way to bolster your group’s ability to weather turbulent financial times.

“It typically is a really great way to keep people engaged who are at lower levels and people who might then increase and become bigger donors down the line,” says Zanne Garland, development director at Rainforest Action Network, an advocacy group focused on climate change and deforestation. Some of the organization’s sustainers already give a significant amount now, she adds, such as one whose monthly pledge is $1,000.

Monthly supporters make up more than 16 percent of Rainforest Action Network’s individual donors, and last year the group set a goal to bring that up to 20 percent within the next five years, in part because sustainers are easier to keep. The nonprofit’s retention rate for this group is nearly 74 percent, compared with about 45 percent overall, Garland says. “As you can imagine, people who kind of start a monthly gift and then just stay with you, it’s just a lot easier to retain that support.”

The Chronicle gathered tips from Garland and three other experts to help you start or strengthen a monthly giving program at your nonprofit and ensure it delivers. Here’s what they advise.

Set up the systems and processes you’ll need.

Before focusing on monthly gifts, make sure you have technology in place that can process recurring payments, says Rachael Wolber, senior vice president at M+R, a marketing and fundraising consultancy for nonprofits says — whether it’s the same platform you use for all gifts or a tool that’s integrated into your online donation form. All of the major tools for nonprofit giving should have those capabilities, she says.

You also need a donor database that lets you separate these supporters from other types of donors and a system for how you’ll manage their payments, says Alicia Meulensteen, director of nationwide membership at the American Civil Liberties Union . Some groups charge sustainers on the day of the month they first gave, while others process all monthly gifts on a certain date. Either approach works, Meulensteen says, but you need to figure out which makes the most sense for your nonprofit before these gifts start coming in.

Another early step to take is making a plan for how you’ll recapture donors whose automatic gifts end, Meulensteen adds. “Even despite best intentions, people have credit card information that lapses,” she explains. “So how are you going to go back and get them?”

Also consider whether you’ll accept checks, she suggests, and, if so, how you’ll remind donors about their pledges each month. If you can accept gifts through electronic funds transfers, it’s smart to encourage that form of giving, she says. “Those gifts tend to stick much better — people’s bank accounts just don’t change as often as their credit cards do.”

Find potential sustainers.

You could start by looking in your donor database, Meulensteen says. People who have given multiple gifts in a year might be your best prospects for monthly giving, so invite them to contribute that way. But don’t only focus on those you know, she says. While this method works, it’s often slower than bringing in new donors who sign up for monthly giving from the start, whether you get them through online outreach, canvassing, telemarketing, or a different acquisition channel. “Both are good — do both the things,” she says. “But just expect maybe a slightly slower rate of growth if you’re starting from an existing file.”

Maggie Petray, donor stewardship and recognition officer at the Food Bank of the Rockies, points out that your nonprofit might already have donors who give each month even if you don’t yet have a formal monthly giving program. Identify people in your database with this behavior, she suggests, then reach out to introduce yourself and acknowledge that they are sustainers. This was the first thing Petray focused on when she joined the food bank in 2021, and she found roughly 2,400 such donors, she says. “Some of these folks had been giving for multiple years and just no one had ever reached out to them. That was a big deal — they heard from someone from the organization for the first time.”

Among its efforts to expand monthly giving, Rainforest Action Network has been working to win back lapsed sustainers, Garland says, and has reactivated about 15 to 20 percent of them through monthly outreach. The group asks these former supporters why they left, she explains. “If they can’t afford it, we’re not going to push them to come back. But we like to know if it’s because they shifted funding priorities.”

They sometimes find that a donor didn’t stop giving; they made a larger gift but through a different vehicle, such as a donor-advised fund, instead of a monthly credit-card donation. That’s usually a good thing, Garland says, because it means they’ve evolved into a bigger donor.

Promote monthly giving.

“Put it everywhere,” Petray says. Highlight monthly giving to everyone in your orbit, from all the donors in your database — except those who are already sustainers — to your followers on social media.

Create ways for people to choose monthly giving organically, including adding that option to your online donation portal and to direct-mail appeals, while also seeking these supporters proactively, Wolber suggests. You could start by testing an appeal to existing donors who have made more than one gift in a year, she says. “They kind of already have that repeat-giving behavior, so [ask] them to set up an automatically repeating gift.”

Don’t alter your organization’s message for this group of donors or say monthly giving is the only way people can make an impact, Wolber says. Instead, offer it as another way to contribute to your mission.

But you will need to create a “value proposition” for why people should consider this form of giving, she says. That might mean talking about how ongoing support is both more valuable to the organization and easier for donors because they don’t have to remember to make their annual tax-deductible gift. You could also offer an incentive for new monthly donors, such as a matching gift.

Ensure a positive experience for donors.

It’s important to provide excellent “customer service” to monthly supporters, Wolber says, including making sure your online giving platform lets them easily cancel or change their gifts. You should also give these donors a simple way to reach you if they need to, such as an online contact form or a phone number.

Rainforest Action Network tries to make it easy for people to choose monthly giving by accepting many giving methods — including less common options like PayPal and Venmo — offering to cover credit-card processing fees for donors, and suggesting specific amounts such as $40 monthly gifts in honor of the group’s 40th year, Garland says. The buttons to select a one-time or monthly donation are at the top of the online giving form, she adds, so people can easily switch between the two options.

Stay in touch.

Think about what your content calendar — or “donor journey” — will look like for monthly supporters, Wolber says. You’ll want to keep them informed about your work through communications such as impact reports and quick text-message updates, and you should also offer ways to get involved beyond monthly giving, whether by signing a petition, attending an event, or volunteering.

Nonprofits with the best recurring giving programs are using donors’ monthly receipts to do more than simply confirm that their gifts were processed, Wolber says. They might also use that space to share a thank-you and give an update on what the gift helped accomplish. She works with some food banks that even include recipes.

While groups typically reduce the cadence of outreach to donors once they become sustainers, you shouldn’t entirely exclude them from other types of fundraising appeals, Wolber says. “These tend to be folks who are excited about the organization and loyal. If there is a reason to make an additional one-time gift or increase their monthly donation amount, [let] your group of monthly donors know that.” For example, some charities are including these supporters in solicitations that involve a special matching gift and seeing a strong response, Wolber says.

You should also include sustainers in general communications about your nonprofit’s results, Meulensteen suggests, such as a magazine or newsletter if you have one. This is a way to keep these donors up to date on the impact of giving without having to create an extra campaign or mailing specifically for that purpose.

Recognize donors’ identity as sustainers.

In trying to pull back on communications with monthly donors, some groups end up sharing less information with these loyal supporters than with other donors, Meulensteen says. “Don’t be afraid to continue to talk to them, but always acknowledge that they are monthly donors.”

This means personalizing communications when you can. Even if you need to make an urgent ask for a one-time gift, acknowledge first and foremost that they are monthly donors, she says. “They often really identify with the fact that they are supporting you monthly — they’ve made that commitment. So that identity is an important thing to put out there.”

Meulensteen knows of some groups that set aside a month each year to recognize their members or monthly donors. For example, they might send a postcard with a nice thank-you.

Don’t be afraid to ask for extra gifts.

Monthly donors want to give more, Petray says. If you’ve warmed them up by stewarding them well for a couple years, you should feel confident about asking this group for additional gifts when you need them. The Food Bank of the Rockies got more than $200,000 in extra donations last year from sustainers, Petra says. “Above their 12 gifts they’re already giving a year, they gave us more because we asked.”