6 Digital Strategies to Grow Your Nonprofit Sustainer Program
A strong sustainer program can help your nonprofit create the reliable stream of revenue you need for advancing your mission—but which techniques will actually help you develop the donor pool you need? We spoke with our friend Hannah Leigh-Brown, Associate Director of Client Services and Digital Marketing at Interactive Strategies, about methods your nonprofit can use to build a robust recurring donor program to fund your mission for the long run.
Q: What are some effective digital strategies for growing a sustainer program?
A: As a fundraiser, I always like to say, “don’t ask, don’t get.” So, our advice to all clients trying to build a sustainer program is to pepper that ask anywhere you can.
For example, on your website, make sure it’s available on your donation page, making it the default option whenever you can, using lightboxes to pop up on your website to ask people to become monthly donors. Really just remind them in any way you can that, hey, we have a monthly donor program, and we want you to be part of it.
Another thing you can do is set up automation for any one-time donors right after they make a gift to ask them to become a monthly donor. So that can be part of a welcome series where you welcome them to the organization and make them feel like part of the community, and then make a case for why they should become a monthly donor. You can do this by really by showing what your organization does and how their donation contributes to that.
Ultimately, if you can make your supporters feel like part of the community, and then ask them to become an even bigger part of that community by making a monthly donation, that’s what will lead you to successfully grow a strong sustainer program.
