Top 7 Reasons to Invest in Monthly Giving Programs

Monthly giving programs are one of those things that sound simple but pack a serious strategic punch. They turn one-time supporters into reliable partners, creating steady revenue streams that let you actually plan for the future instead of constantly chasing the next big campaign.

Look, we get it. The nonprofit fundraising landscape feels tougher every year, and trying another “game-changing strategy” might sound exhausting. But here’s what we’ve found after working with hundreds of organizations: monthly giving isn’t just another tactic to add to your overwhelmed to-do list. It’s actually a way to get off the hamstring acquisition treadmill. In this post, we’ll walk through seven concrete reasons why monthly giving deserves your attention, backed by real numbers and practical steps you can take right now.

Common Challenges We See Daily

Before nonprofits come to us or rethink their monthly giving approach, we notice some pretty consistent patterns:

The Feast-or-Famine Trap: You run a brilliant year-end campaign, crush your goals, then suddenly it’s Q1 and you’re scrambling because those one-time donors have vanished. Budget planning becomes glorified guesswork, and you’re forced into painful decisions about which programs to cut.

The Retention Blind Spot: Leadership celebrates acquiring 1,000 new donors but somehow glosses over the fact that 800 won’t give again. It’s an acquisition treadmill that exhausts your team while revenue stays frustratingly flat.

The Manual Nightmare: Your staff wastes hours processing checks, sending payment reminders, and updating spreadsheets when they could be building actual relationships or, you know, advancing your mission.

The Engagement Gap: Donors give once, get a generic thank-you, then drift into communication limbo until your next appeal lands in their inbox. No wonder they forget why they cared in the first place.

Sound familiar? These aren’t hypothetical scenarios we’re making up. They’re daily realities we help organizations overcome.

Reason 1: Predictable Revenue Stream

Monthly giving creates steady cash flow, unlike those seasonal one-time gifts that turn budgeting into a guessing game. This reliability lets you plan programs confidently, allocate resources without constant fear of shortfalls, and respond quickly when opportunities arise.

Here’s something wild: converting just 10% of your sporadic donors to monthly giving can boost total revenue by 70% in five years (Virtuous). That’s not a typo.

Why does this matter so much for US nonprofit leaders right now? Well, donor retention hit just 45% overall in 2024, down 2.6% from previous benchmarks (NPTech for Good). Predictable revenue becomes your operational lifeline. You can actually commit to hiring that program coordinator or signing that lease knowing the money will show up next month. Revolutionary concept, right?

Reason 2: Superior Donor Retention

Recurring donors stick around way longer than one-timers. The numbers tell a pretty compelling story: retention rates climb as frequency increases. One-time donors? 18.6%. Two-time? 38.1%. Seven-plus? A whopping 84.3% year-to-date (Charity Engine).

Donor Type	Retention Rate (YTD)
One-time	18.6%
2-time	38.1%
3-6 time	61.2%
7+ time	84.3%

In our experience with Funraise clients, nonprofits on our platform grew recurring revenue by 52% year-over-year on average (Funraise Growth Statistics). Repeat givers build loyalty through habit and automation, which slashes churn dramatically.

Protip: Try segmenting emails to celebrate milestones like “Your 6-month impact: 12 meals provided!” It reinforces commitment and cuts cancellations. Personalized impact reporting transforms abstract giving into something tangible people can feel proud of.

Reason 3: Higher Lifetime Value

So here’s where the math gets really interesting. Monthly donors deliver exponentially more value: their average lifetime value hits $2,400 versus $70 for one-timers (DonorPerfect). An average monthly online gift of $52 totals $624 annually, nearly 5x a typical one-time $128 donation (DonorPerfect).

Funraise clients averaged $40 monthly gifts, which is double the 2020 industry benchmark of $21. One organization on our platform exploded their membership by 1000% (Funraise Growth Statistics). And this compounds over time as sustainers often upgrade their gifts or layer on one-time donations during special appeals.

Think about it this way: Would you rather acquire 34 one-time donors at $70 each or one monthly donor worth $2,400 in lifetime value? The acquisition costs alone make this decision pretty obvious.

Reason 4: Cost-Effective Fundraising

Acquiring monthly donors slashes long-term costs because retention soars and payment reminders become unnecessary. Programs like these yield 42% higher lifetime returns than one-time appeals and 440% over single gifts (Oklahoma Bar Foundation).

Automation handles the billing grunt work, freeing your staff for actual mission-driven activities. Monthly giving now accounts for 31% of online revenue, and that percentage keeps climbing (NPTech for Good).

Unconventional approach: Frame this inversely by calculating your “retention gap.” Subtract your current monthly donor percentage from industry highs (around 9% for mid-size organizations according to Bloomerang). Target that delta with pop-ups, which convert about 16% of one-timers (NPTech for Good).

“Monthly giving programs don’t just stabilize revenue, they fundamentally transform donor relationships from transactional to transformational.”

Funraise CEO Justin Wheeler

Protip: Audit your acquisition channels and prioritize low-cost social shares from existing sustainers. Your current monthly donors are honestly your best recruiters.

AI Prompt: Design Your Monthly Giving Program Strategy

Ready to build or optimize your monthly giving program? Copy and paste this prompt into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or whatever AI tool you prefer:

"I'm launching a monthly giving program for a nonprofit in the [SECTOR] sector with an annual budget of [BUDGET SIZE]. Our current donor base is [NUMBER] with [PERCENTAGE]% being one-time donors. We want to convert [TARGET PERCENTAGE]% to monthly giving within 12 months. Create a detailed 90-day implementation plan including: 1) Donor segmentation strategy, 2) Messaging framework for different donor tiers, 3) Communication cadence and touchpoints, 4) Technology requirements, and 5) Success metrics with benchmarks."

Variables to customize:

• [SECTOR]: e.g., animal welfare, education, health,
• [BUDGET SIZE]: e.g., $500K, $2M, $10M,
• [NUMBER]: your donor count,
• [TARGET PERCENTAGE]: realistic conversion goal.

Now, AI tools provide excellent strategic frameworks, that’s true. But daily fundraising work demands context-aware solutions. That’s where platforms like Funraise shine. Our AI components are built directly into your workflow, understanding your donor data, campaign history, and organizational context to deliver actionable insights exactly when you need them. No copying, pasting, or context-switching required.

Reason 5: Deeper Donor Engagement

Monthly givers feel more connected because they view themselves as partners, not check-writers. This leads to advocacy, upgrades, and way more involvement. They average 8+ years of support versus just 1.68 for non-recurring donors (Charity Engine).

And this engagement spills over in powerful ways. Sustainers often layer one-time gifts on top of their recurring commitments during Giving Tuesday or year-end campaigns. It’s like getting a bonus from your most reliable supporters.

Aggregate engagement strategies: Blend personalized impact reports (think “Your $20/month funded 3 vaccines this quarter”) with exclusive community perks like behind-the-scenes webinars, early program updates, or sustainer-only Q&A sessions with leadership. Layer in surprise-and-delight moments like handwritten notes at the six-month mark. These small touches build genuine connection.

Reason 6: Scalable Revenue Growth

Funraise users grew online revenue 3x faster than industry averages at 73% year-over-year, thanks largely to recurring surges (Funraise Growth Statistics). Benchmarks consistently show monthly gifts fueling overall online gains, with 28-31% of revenue coming from recurring programs (DonorPerfect, NPTech for Good).

Real-world case: One organization hit $5,000 monthly from just 70 sustainers in 1.5 years and they’re now targeting $10,000 (YouTube case study).

Average Monthly Gift by Sector:

Sector	Avg Monthly Gift
Education	$71.76
Health	$66.86
Human Services	$66.61
Arts/Culture	$44.68
Environment/Animals	$33.35

(Source: Bloomerang)

Notice how your sector benchmarks compare to your current averages? These numbers reveal upgrade opportunities you might be missing.

Protip: Launch with a “Sustainer Challenge” where you match the first 3 months for top referrers to spark viral growth. Gamification drives friendly competition while expanding your base organically.

Reason 7: Competitive Edge in Crowded Markets

With overall donor retention dipping to 45% in 2024, down 2.6% (NPTech for Good), monthly programs can double retention from 43% to 90% (Oklahoma Bar Foundation). That’s not just incremental improvement. That’s transformation.

Funraise’s edge includes 50% form conversion rates and tools like pop-ups that lift monthly uptake by 12.1% (Funraise Growth Statistics). US leaders adopting this approach now are outpacing their peers, especially as recurring giving rises while one-time giving trends stall.

Plus, this positions your organization as forward-thinking, which attracts younger donor preferences. Here’s a stat that should get your attention: 52% of Millennials favor monthly giving over one-time donations (Nonprofits Source). That makes this essential for long-term sustainability as demographics shift.

Organizations without robust monthly programs aren’t just leaving money on the table. They’re missing the entire shift in how modern donors want to engage. While your peers chase one-time gifts through increasingly expensive channels, you’re building a loyal base that compounds value year after year.

Your Next Move

Look, investing in monthly giving isn’t really optional anymore. It’s your nonprofit’s path to resilience and outsized impact in an increasingly uncertain fundraising landscape.

Start small if you need to, but start now. Whether you’re launching your first program or scaling an existing one, the infrastructure matters. Funraise offers both free and premium tiers, letting you test sophisticated recurring giving tools with zero commitment. Our platform delivers those industry-leading conversion rates and retention metrics because the technology actually supports what donors want: simple, meaningful ways to make ongoing impact.

Here’s the thing: the best monthly giving program is the one you launch this quarter, not the perfect one you’ll plan indefinitely. Your mission deserves the stability, your team deserves the efficiency, and your donors deserve the deeper connection that monthly giving provides.

Ready to join nonprofits growing recurring revenue 52% year-over-year? Start free at funraise.org and discover why monthly giving might be the single most strategic investment you make this year.