Recurring donors are the backbone of sustainable nonprofit revenue. These donors demonstrate remarkable and steadfast passion for your cause, and giving statistics show they often give more over time than one-time donors.

But just because a donor is making recurring gifts now doesn’t mean you should take them for granted. To ensure those contributions keep coming, nonprofits must prioritize relationship-building through consistent and meaningful communication. Let’s discuss six best practices to help you engage recurring donors and retain their support.

1. Understand Why Donors Lapse

Many nonprofits don’t understand why their recurring donors stop giving, and therefore miss the chance to fix it. Donors might stop giving for reasons as simple as an expired credit card, or there could be deeper issues at play. You won’t know their reasons until you ask.

Monitor your churn trends regularly by tracking cancelled donations or payment failures, and ask lapsed donors for feedback on why they stopped giving. A simple text message response or quick survey answer can help you identify common reasons for donor lapse, and from there, your organization can create proactive strategies for preventing future losses.

2. Segment and Personalize Your Outreach

Recurring donors are invested partners in your mission. Show them that you see and value their unique commitment by personalizing your communications.

Mogli suggests segmenting your donors to tailor your messages more effectively and drive engagement. By dividing your donors into groups using your CRM or donor database, you can send recurring donors special messages that recognize their ongoing support and provide consistent updates on your mission’s impact that build on previous communications.

Tailor your individual messages by referring to donors by name and acknowledging their unique history with your organization. A recurring donor who has been with your organization for five years should receive a different message than the donor who only recently committed to a monthly gift, and both of these should be different from a donor making a one-time contribution. It’s a small gesture, but it’s the simple things that show donors you care. 

3. Automate Consistent Touchpoints via SMS and Email

Reaching out to recurring donors consistently keeps your relationship alive. With so many communication channels at your fingertips, there are more possibilities for outreach than ever before. Choose the right format for every message to optimize donors’ experience and keep them engaged in the long term. We recommend:

  • Email for longer messages, like sharing stories and impact reports. 
  • SMS or MMS for short, timely messages, like reminders, quick thank-yous, photo updates, or links to a recent success story. 

You can automate both types of messages to go out to supporters at ideal times to boost engagement.

It’s important to strike a balance in your communication frequency with recurring donors. You want to keep them in the loop on your organization’s progress, but be wary of overwhelming them with messages that push them to withdraw from their involvement. 

For example, you might start with a welcome message immediately after signup, then follow up with monthly or quarterly impact updates to show how their gifts are making a difference. Don’t forget milestone recognition, like a one-year anniversary or hitting a donation goal—these moments create emotional resonance that keeps donors engaged.

4. Make Giving a Valuable Experience

Reward recurring donors for their commitment to your cause and treat them to special experiences to make your relationship with them mutually beneficial.

Providing incentives for recurring donors can strengthen your relationship and renew their enthusiasm for your organization. Try offering exclusive or early access to content and events, like webinars, workshops, or tours of your facility. 

Branding the recurring donor experience is a great way to make giving even more valuable. The Adventure Project, for example, calls its recurring donor program “The Collective.” It has a special page on its website that advertises The Collective’s impact, shares stories from Collective members, and boasts that its program has over 400 members. These gestures make the recurring giving experience desirable and exclusive, inspiring your donors to remain involved.

5. Practice Stewardship

Properly acknowledging the generosity of all donors is vital to keeping them engaged. The etiquette for recurring donors is slightly different from typical stewardship practices, but still vital. For instance, you may usually send a prompt donation receipt along with an immediate thank you, but for recurring donors, you don’t need to acknowledge every single gift. 

Not sending a thank-you letter every month might seem unnatural or ungrateful, but it’s actually a thoughtful way to minimize redundancy. Instead, you can send thank yous at particularly significant times, like: 

  • End-of-year reports
  • Quarterly updates
  • Anniversaries of donors’ first involvement with your organization
  • Campaign update or conclusion emails
  • New additions to your donor wall 

No matter when you send thank-you messages, QGiv suggests personalizing thank-you messages, sharing the specific impact of the gift, and highlighting other, non-financial ways for donors to get involved. 

Remember to show recurring donors the value of their investment through consistent and specific impact reports. For example, if you’re an organization promoting literacy, share how many books you’ve been able to purchase or how many tutoring sessions you’ve financed through a specific donor’s generosity over the past year. This reinforces recurring donors’ confidence in their decision to support your organization.

6. Offer Flexible Giving Options and Support

Sometimes, donors lapse not because they want to, but because of a change in their financial circumstances. Supporting donor needs can prevent cancellations and even strengthen their commitment over time.

To make donating a smoother process, make yourself available to answer donors’ questions in real time using SMS for nonprofits. You should also accept a wide variety of payment options and provide occasional reminders for recurring donors to update their payment methods to avoid unintentional lapses.

When donors lapse, don’t write them off as lost causes. Keep up your communication and offer information on workplace giving or matching gifts so supporters can make the same impact with less personal investment. 

Engaging your recurring donors takes intentional, consistent action to ensure they feel seen, appreciated, and empowered. These efforts are well worth it for the powerful funding that recurring donations provide and the unique enthusiasm that these donors contribute to your cause.

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