Recurring donations are the most sustainable source of income for most nonprofit organizations. In fact, monthly donors donate 440% more to charity over their lifetime than one-time donors. However, without the right tools, many nonprofits will struggle to upgrade their one-time online donors into recurring donors. Some of the examples and strategies below are ideas for recurring giving campaigns:

SET RECURRING DONORS AS THE DEFAULT TYPE ON ALL DONATION FORMS.
The easiest way to encourage more recurring giving from online donations is to set your online donation forms’ default donation type to recurring. Doing so will make donors aware that they can support your organization weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.
When making recurring donations the default donation type, lower the suggested donation amounts. New donors need to develop a deeper connection with your organization before donating larger amounts

CREATE A RECURRING GIVING POP-UP
Create a smart pop-up that targets one-time donors with a request to update to recurring giving. Within the pop-up explain the benefit of the recurring donation, such as how many meals, shoes, books, etc. it will purchase for your beneficiaries each month.

CREATE A MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM.
Memberships are an easy way to incentivize giving and involvement with your nonprofit organization. Monthly or annual membership programs encourage recurring giving by offering exclusive status, promotional swag, insights, or other incentives. You can encourage higher recurring giving amounts by establishing levels to the membership program with different perks to each level.

SEGMENT YOUR RECURRING DONORS
Be sure to recognize and celebrate your recurring donors in all communications. Create a segment of your recurring givers so you can send them specific and unique communications, appreciations, and updates. Doing so will prevent cancellations and encourage referrals from donors’ friends and family.
Also, regularly thank and update your recurring donors on what their donations have enabled your organization to achieve.

AUTOMATE CREDIT CARD EXPIRATION REMINDERS
Experts estimate that two-thirds of recurring donations are canceled automatically (not manually) or when a credit card is canceled or expires.