Turn First-Time Givers Into Lifelong Givers
With summer over and the Holiday season ahead, your church will be seeing new faces and faces you haven’t seen in a while. How can you motivate them to give and then give continually? This post shares the importance of a plan of action and ideas on how to implement a plan of action.
How do you turn first-time givers into lifelong givers? As we begin end-of-year plans, one key focus is starting people on the path of biblical stewardship. Americans have historically shown great generosity at the end of the year. With Christmas being one of the two most attended services, next to Easter, it stands to reason you will have many first-time donors. Wise churches think of how they can motivate this segment to move toward a lifelong practice of generosity.
90 days. This is the critical window. Studies have shown that if you don’t get another gift from a first-time donor after ninety days, it is unlikely that they will ever give again. Most churches don’t have a follow-up plan for first-time givers. What would a plan look like? I want to share some basic elements of a plan in this post. I will show you how, with OnlineGiving.org’s platform and tools, we can help you execute your plan successfully.
First, let me state what your motivation should be, the donor. I get criticized a lot for focusing on giving. I write to church leaders, not the laity, so my advice is practical inside the engine room strategy. My passion is to help people see the blessings of a life of generosity built upon biblical stewardship. I firmly believe that God blesses those who give generously. My appeals focus on the gift’s impact in an attempt to gain the first gift. After the first gift, my goal is to move that donor further down the path of discipleship to live out God’s call of being good stewards. In doing that, I ensure the financial security of both the members and the church.
Next, without a plan, you are planning to fail. Most churches don’t have a first-time giver plan, and this is a critical gap that needs to be addressed. It should start with getting the first gift. But to gain the first gift, I advise my clients to focus on the why of the “ask.” Don’t just ask people to give. Give them a compelling reason to give. This Christmas season, your members will hear from non-profit organizations claiming the importance of giving to their cause. You must have your cause be heard above the roar of all the requests coming your members’ and attendees’ way. OnlineGiving.org’s platform and tools are perfect for this.
See the following post for more: https://www.onlinegiving.org/support/we-are-more-than-just
The first part of any plan must be to track first-time donors. You can’t reach out to your first-time donors if you don’t track that metric. Our Dashboard gives our partners the ability to track each first-time gift weekly. You can even see when they gave, how they gave, and what fund they gave to. This information can help you craft follow-up appeals and information within the ninety-day window. Here is a post explaining our Dashboard’s benefits: https://www.onlinegiving.org/support/not-your-fathers-dashboard
We see an 80% open rate on the automated receipts sent out immediately after someone gives online through our system. This is your first line of strategy to move donors to being long-time donors. We show our partners how to use this email to communicate compelling messages that generate additional gifts. By telling your story of how generosity improves lives, donors become more motivated to give.
Recent studies have shown the importance of staying engaged with donors. Once again, OG has you covered with the industry’s best engagement platform. Using our platform and systems allows you to keep all donors engaged in the impact of their generosity. Through regular targeted messaging, you can craft compelling appeals that will help motivate not only first-time donors to give again but your entire congregation will be motivated. We help our partners make this process seamless and easy. Does your provider do that for you?
Here is another recent post about the importance and power of engagement: https://www.onlinegiving.org/support/engagement-solutions-drive-generosity
Finally, focusing on setting up recurring giving is the best way to move donors to consistency. Recurring giving is a benefit for both your donors and your church. Donors no longer need to worry about carrying cash or a checkbook to church. This consistency, multiplied many times across your donor base, will make a huge difference in your church’s ability to do the missions and ministry you feel led to do. That is a driving reason to gain new, consistent donors who are fully engaged with your mission and generously giving to support that work.
For more on the value of recurring giving, read this post: https://www.onlinegiving.org/support/the-value-of-recurring-giving
These simple but practical steps will help you turn your first-time givers into lifelong givers. Are you turning first-time donors into consistent donors? We would love to give you a personal tour of our platform and show you how our tools can better help you engage all members, especially first-time donors. Contact us today at (615) 206-4000 or support@onlinegiving.org.
The previous post can be found at: https://www.onlinegiving.org/blog