Why Should Nonprofits Focus on Recurring Giving?

Recurring giving is a powerful way that nonprofits can build their community of generosity.  Recurring donors are exemplary in highlighting what people can accomplish when they are deeply committed to a cause. Today Eric is featured as a guest on the Generosity Experience Live! with Tim Sarrantonio and Abby Jarvis from Neon One for a lively discussion about why nonprofits should focus on building a recurring giving program. Together they examine ways that technology can better connect profiteers with their community of generosity and share insights into nonprofit giving and recurring donor motivation. Eric underscores the importance of designing a brand that effectively stands out in the attention economy and highlights the four pillars of leveraging branding in authentic and actionable ways. 

“Whether you’re doing a recurring giving program or not, authentic relationships and community should be your goal as a social impact organization.”  [32:13] 

Episode Highlights:

• An introduction to the Generosity Experience Live! podcast and this month’s guests. [2:22] 
• 78% percent of donors in the nonprofit sector are recurring donors. What does that mean for nonprofits? [6:46] 
• Insights into recurring giving timelines and the motivation behind recurring giving. [10:08] 
• Abby Jarvis highlights findings of The Recurring Giving Report. [15:02] 
• Actionable findings and insights from recurring gift givers. [19:08]
• The value of understandable, accessible, and actionable research. [22:03]
• Eric highlights the focus at Cosmic and the Designing Tomorrow podcast. [25:35] 
• Defining a brand in the social impact sector and how it can be leveraged to your advantage. [27:40] 
• The intersection of the attention economy, your brand, and an authentic community. [29:45] 
• Applying the four pillars of leveraging branding to your advantage in the attention economy. [31:40] 
• Eric’s actionable advice for authentically standing out in the attention economy. [37:05] 

Quotes:

“You stand for something and you make a promise, and your brand is essentially that promise and whether your real world actions either align with that promise or don’t align with that promise.” [29:05]

“You don’t get to choose whether you are a brand or not.  You are and you need to figure out how to leverage your brand to your advantage.” [29:28] 

“How can you break through and create enough signal for your organization that you can actually get traction and meet the people you need to meet to build an authentic community?” [31:18] 

“You have to find a way to be authentically different.  There’s so many different ways that could show up – how can you be remarkable and unexpected in a way that’s authentic to you?” [38:00] 

Resources:

Generosity Live Experience!

Neon One