There’s no denying the impact that a global pandemic has had on our society and economy. Many have lost employment, local businesses have had to adjust and seen decreases in profits for the year and churches have seen this as well with an average decrease in annual giving of around 10% in most cases.
Thankfully, online giving has increased in usage over the years and for most churches, has been a huge lifesaver to keep operations afloat. Still, people can easily forget to give to their churches when they’re not walking through the doors every day like they used to. Increasing giving is crucial at times like these, and one way to ignite consistent generosity is by promoting recurring gifts. All it takes is a one-time set up to schedule a recurring gift that’s automatically deducted from a credit card or bank account. People choose the amount and frequency of the gift, and can manage these from their giving account.
By signing up for recurring gifts, people will never miss a donation. Plus, recurring donors are 75% more likely to make additional one-time gifts during the year. If you’re ready to see the needle move in the right direction, here are 6 tips to ignite your recurring giving program.
1. Evaluate your platform’s recurring giving options
Before you start encouraging recurring gifts, evaluate your current recurring giving options. The set up process must be straightforward and simple. People won’t join if it’s too complicated or if they don’t know it’s there.
Clover Give makes it incredibly easy to see the recurring giving option when making a one-time donation, and to remind people that it’s there. Here’s what that looks like.
Whether giving online, in-app, or via text, you can enable a recurring gift option on your giving form. As people submit their one-time gift, they can check a box if recurring gifts are right for them.
You can also prompt givers to turn a one-time gift into a recurring gift after they’ve given. You configure how many times the person gives before seeing this option whether it’s each donation or after multiple gifts.
If you don’t currently have access to features like these, switch to Clover Give!
2. Share the exact steps to set up recurring gifts
Even with your recurring giving options front and center, share the steps to sign up. Include video tutorials and written instructions in your emails, on social media, and on your website. With Clover Give, it’s already a user-friendly experience to set up recurring gifts, but the additional information will help guide those that are still on the fence about joining.
3. Create recurring giving tiers
Committing to recurring gifts right now can be intimidating for some people because of job uncertainty and economic concerns. One way to make people comfortable about recurring gifts is to create tiers to help them get started. Make the first gift on the tier approachable like $5 once a month. The next tier could be $10 a month, and so on. Don’t forget to celebrate donors as they move up the tiers!
4. Highlight the impact of recurring gifts
While people may know what recurring giving is, and how to sign up for it, they may not understand how consistent gifts matter in the real world. Remember, people want to make an impact during moments when those in their community are suffering.
During the offering moment, share the stories of how the church has used recurring gifts to help during the pandemic. Also, share how you plan on using future recurring gifts to help get people back on their feet.
5. Remind people about recurring giving
Remind givers how to sign up for recurring gifts when sending thank you emails. Many in your congregation already give on a consistent basis, but they do miss gifts occasionally due to vacations, illness, family engagements, work, and natural disasters. Here are two email templates to help craft your message.
6. Continue to spread the word
Recurring giving isn’t a one-off campaign. It should be on the list of giving solutions you share routinely with your congregation. Whether people are attending a service, watching your live stream, or listening to the recording on a church app, continue to spread the word about recurring gifts and cultivate consistent generosity.
Check out Clover Give’s recurring giving features by taking them for a test drive!
