Recurring Donation Setup

If I'm in charge of digital revenue at a nonprofit, here's what I'm doing right now to prepare for year end. 👇 I'm auditing my donation funnel. 𝟏. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝⁣⁣⁣ ↳ These tools help you see what’s working, and what’s not. -Google Tag Manager (GTM) is installed on every page of your site -Meta Pixel (Facebook/Instagram) is firing for pageview, purchase, lead, parameters populated  -Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is setup properly -Google Ads conversion tag is active 𝟐. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝⁣ ⁣↳ You need to know when people give, and what led them there. -Donation form loads trigger tracking -Form starts are tracked -Completed donations are tracked as conversions 𝟑. 𝐄𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐑𝐌 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠⁣ ⁣⁣↳ Clean data *is* strategy. You want donors to feel seen and celebrated. -Donation form is passing gift and donor data into the CRM -CRM records correct campaign code and source -The right email autoresponder is triggered  -New donors are added to the right list or journey -New subscribers are added to the right list or journey -All contact information and organizational language is up to date -Daily/weekly reports for donor relations and gift officers are working 𝟒. 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐃𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫⁣ ⁣⁣⁣↳ Make a gift and go through the journey yourself -Is the page laid out in a single column format? -Is there a logical information hierarchy? (Headline, subheadline, body copy, call-to-action, donation form) -Does it pass the squint test: is the layout scannable?  -Is the donation page mobile friendly?  -Does the message match? Is it congruent with the ad, email, direct mail piece, etc. that brought me here? -Can I quickly understand the problem I’m being asked to solve, the solution, the outcome, the impact and the desired future state? -Are there no competing calls to action (ex. volunteer, give, sign a petition, etc.)  -Does it seem credible, including some form of testimonials, quotes, reviews, unique stats or data points, credibility seals 𝟓. 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣↳ This is one of the most revenue-critical tools in your tech stack. It should meet donor needs, not your internal needs. -Is the giving form integrated into your site or does it take you to a new page? -Do you choose the gift frequency before you choose the gift amount? -Is there a gift array? -Is the gift array personalized? -Are the gift array buttons mobile friendly? -Have the form fields been limited to only the essentials to make the transaction? -Are you able to donate without adding anything to a cart? -Are all donor login options removed? -Are you prompted to upgrade your one-time gift to a recurring donation? -Can you pay using Apple Pay or Google Pay? -Is there a bank payment option available? Continued in the video below 👇 ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

I’ve seen nonprofits lose months drowning in 12 different software tools… And I’ve seen others unlock game-changing donations + efficiency with just 3 right tools. The difference? Strategy. Here’s what’s working in 2025 for nonprofit tech stacks: 1) Consolidation over complication → Old way: Add every shiny new CRM, email, donation, volunteer platform. → New way: Streamline to essential, integrated tools only. Why? More tools = more chaos = less focus on your mission. 2) Mission-first integrations → Old way: Pick whatever’s cheapest or trendiest. → New way: Choose tech that frees up your time and fuels donor relationships. Why? If it doesn’t move your impact needle, it’s not worth it. 3) Nonprofit discounts are everywhere, if you know where to look → Old way: Pay retail prices for big-name software. → New way: Use curated nonprofit discounts to save $50K+ per year. Why? You should invest every extra dollar in programs, not overpriced tools. We spent hundreds of hours building a step-by-step resource to help you choose, set up, and actually use your tech stack the right way. So you can stop wasting time and start scaling smarter. And it’s 100% FREE: Just comment: TECH STACK You’ll find it in your inbox today. Question for you: Which tool is currently slowing you down the most? With purpose and impact, Mario

Welcome to the Future of Fundraising. I’ve talked extensively about the challenges fundraising organizations face not being able to personally engage with the majority of their donor base. One question my team and I still get asked regularly is “how is autonomous fundraising different from a segmented, multi-point marketing campaign?” Email and text marketing are essential fundraising tools that allow organizations to quickly share updates with supporters and promote time-sensitive events or campaigns. These campaigns do have their place, but they lack the ability to adapt to the individual preferences needed to meaningfully engage a donor. While segmentation and automation tools that personalize names or donation amounts exist, they do little to mask the fact that the communication is, in fact, a mass broadcast. In contrast, Autonomous Fundraising uses Virtual Engagement Officers (VEOs) to treat each donor communication as 1:1 and unique, the same way human relationship managers do. But unlike their human counterparts, VEOs are not challenged by scale because they tap into the power of Large Language Models (LLMs). LLMs are advanced AI systems that understand and produce messaging that feels natural and conversational, much like how we communicate with one another. They power the VEO’s ability to understand the context of past interactions, giving history, and more to generate personalized content based on that data and circumstances. Whether it’s a birthday message, stewardship note, or tailored ask, LLMs craft messages that resonate with the donor on a personal level. As a former major gift officer, I find what’s equally important about LLMs is that they "listen" and “remember” donor engagements over time. This creates a meaningful back-and-forth that builds stronger connections between donors and organizations. This extends all the way through to capabilities like multi-lingual communication, giving the VEO the ability to reach out and respond to donors in their preferred language, breaking down previous barriers to inclusion and participation. When we first introduced fully autonomous fundraising, we were told that the opt-out rate would be extremely high, somewhere between 5-10% because donors would not want to interact with AI. However, in practice, we’ve found the complete opposite. In marketing, direct mail has a 0.5-2% response rate, SMS has a 1.5% opt-out, and email .25%. In comparison, of the 17,000+ communications the VEO has sent, there is just a .12% opt out. The truth is, people don’t opt out of personal communications. We know 1:1 engagement is the best way to bring donors closer to the missions of our organizations. Increasing donor retention by even a few percentage points can have an exponential impact on the lifetime value of an organization’s donor base, which translates to long-term sustainability of an organization and its ability to fulfill its mission.

We don’t lose our closest friends by calling too often. We lose them by staying silent. Fundraising works the same way. Our study of 126,822 new donors wasn’t about how many times you should ask. It was about how quickly you should follow up. And the results were clear: - Donors reengaged within 30 days gave more and stayed longer - By day 32, response rates and ROI fell sharply - Average gift declined steadily the longer organizations waited That’s speed. And speed matters. But here’s where it connects to frequency: relationships—whether personal or with donors—are built on presence. Quick follow-up after the first gift sets the tone. Ongoing, meaningful communication sustains it. Donor fatigue isn’t what breaks relationships. Silence does. So thank quickly. Show impact. And don’t be afraid to stay in touch. Because every conversation, every update, every ask is another thread that strengthens the bond. #Fundraising #DonorEngagement #DonorRetention #NonprofitLeadership #CommunityBuilding

Small details surrounding your donation experience can have a huge impact on donor conversion. According to NPEngage, 50–70% of supporters abandon an online donation form when redirected to another website to donate. Meaning: If your visitors access your donation form on a URL different than your org's (such as your CRM's built-in donation page), then you might be losing almost 3 out of 4 would-be donors. Here's why: Unexpectedly changing to a new URL when navigating around a website feels confusing. It creates a break in the experience. Few expect to go to a new website when they click your "Donate Now" button. And it feels jarring. The issue is only compounded by the limited design options offered by most external donation forms. One minute, you're browsing around the familiar website of an org in which you're invested. But the next, you're on an off-brand lookalike version that doesn't instill the same level of trust. Throw asking for money into the mix, and it's easy to see why many potential supporters would decide to reconsider. Luckily, the solution is fairly simple: Always try to keep your donation form on your org's own website. Make sure you're using the same branding, design, and URL as other areas of your site. Many donation platforms have embeddable forms you can copy and paste directly into the appropriate areas as a quick fix. And with the form now directly on your org's site, you'll be well on your way to a stronger, more seamless, and trustworthy donation experience. #nonprofit #nonprofits #webdesign #branding #storytelling 👾

Hey #Fundraisers - As you're putting the final touches on your year-end giving campaigns I have two tips to help you optimize the donation experience and increase online donations this year. Tip 1: Remove at least one click from the process to get to your #givingform. Every time a page loads you lose traffic - as much as 90% or MORE - when you compound the effect of retaining that traffic during the season when your website is getting the most traffic, the value adds up quickly! Tip 2: Remove fields from your donation form. Fun fact, you only need 2 fields (Credit Card Number and Zip Code) to process a payment online. I'm not saying your donation form should be THAT light, but a donor shouldn't have to scroll to complete a donation form. Fewer fields = more gifts. You should target between 5-7 fields for an optimal form. Any additional information you're gathering beyond Name, Email, Address, and Credit Card info is necessary to the giving process and can be moved to a post-gift engagement (a follow-up survey, additional forms, etc.). Happy fundraising friends. This is going to be our best year yet!

What is the most commonly neglected fundraising strategy? I was recently asked to audit the websites of a dozen animal nonprofits to identify common fundraising gaps. Can you guess what the great majority had in common? They had no monthly giving program. Now, I don't mean to imply that there wasn't a monthly giving option. Sure, it was there, buried in a severely unoptimized donation page as a checkbox or drop-down menu. To get monthly donors, you need to invite them to the party. Let me tell you a quick story about one of my clients, Animals Need Me, a small Albanian animal shelter doing incredible things on a shoestring budget. All they needed to cover the basic costs for their shelter with 250+ animals was 8,000$ a month. That was it. So, they took a leap of faith and hired me, knowing something needed to change, they needed financial stability to have the impact they wanted to see for these animals. In only 6 months, we confirmed 1,520$ in monthly donations, having converted 7% of their email list to the program and covering nearly 20% of their monthly costs in recurring, stable funding. How? 1️⃣ Launched a monthly giving program with a name and a personality 2️⃣ Created a SEPARATE giving page with only a monthly ask using Donorbox 3️⃣ Segmented the donor database to identify the most loyal donors most likely to join 4️⃣ Communicated regularly with all donors about the value of our monthly giving program to the animals 5️⃣ Built up a stewardship plan to keep monthly donors engaged This didn't happen overnight; it required a strategy, some time to set up, and some patience. But now, the organization can count on a good base of donors to fund its immediate needs and is no longer scrambling every month to cover the bills. The work isn't over, but the path forward is much brighter now. Do you want to get more stable income every month? Comment MONTHLY or send me a DM, let's chat ;) #MonthlyGiving #Fundraising #AnimalWelfare

Over the last few months, I keep hearing the same thing from agency owners, “Our pipeline is full, but nothing is closing.” Revenue targets are slipping, and owners are worried about hitting their quarterly and annual goals. In the agency I ran, we had quarters where the pipeline looked incredible on paper but barely converted. We would celebrate the numbers in weekly meetings, but scramble at the end of the month when things didn't close. The problem was not leads. The problem was deal discipline. Here how agencies turn a busy pipeline into predictable revenue:  ➝ Create Deal Discipline: We stopped relying on hope and mapped every deal one by one: Is the budget approved? Is the decision maker engaged? Are we aligned on timing? This means doing sales properly! If any of these were missing, we flagged the deal and acted immediately. We broke each deal into clear milestones, assigned owners for each step, and reviewed them weekly. Risks were surfaced early and solved before they caused delays.  ➝ Activate Your Team: Sales stopped carrying the weight alone. Account managers, operations, and even leadership got involved early, commonly known as Inside Sales. Everyone knew which deals were priority, and everyone played a part in getting them across the line. This created accountability and made sure internal bottlenecks never cost us a signature.  ➝ Move Fast on Blockers: Time was our biggest deal killer. We started procurement and contract reviews weeks earlier. We clarified scope before final calls. We chased client approvals proactively instead of waiting for them to drive the process. That one change saved us multiple deals each quarter.  ➝ Focus on Real Progress: We stopped confusing activity with momentum. Updating CRM fields did not count as progress. Only next steps, commitments, and signed agreements did. Every client call ended with a clear action and a date. No more “let’s touch base sometime soon.”  ➝ Ask for the Close: If a deal was validated and timing was right, we asked directly for the decision. It was uncomfortable at first, but clients appreciated the clarity. More deals moved forward just because we stopped waiting for permission. Set specific decision deadlines with prospects.  ➝ Use Incentives with Intention: We stopped handing out discounts out of fear. Incentives became a strategic tool used only when they helped a client commit sooner. This protected our margins while still accelerating decisions. Inside the Ecommerce Agency Growth community, we have an abundance of sales resources that have been a lifeline for other agencies struggling with the same issue, helping to build predictability into their sales process. If your pipeline is full but revenue is not moving, this is your sign to tighten your process. What is the biggest thing holding up deals for you right now? #agencygrowth #ecommerceagency #sales

Numbers don't lie, but they can definitely confuse you. When Rebecca first called me, she was making $18,000 monthly but had no idea whether her business was actually profitable. Her financial tracking consisted of checking her bank balance and hoping for the best. Some months felt abundant, others felt terrifying, and she couldn't predict which was which. Here's exactly how we transformed her financial chaos into predictable profit: Week 1-2: We created clarity from confusion We tracked every dollar in and out for two weeks to establish baseline reality. Rebecca was spending 23% of revenue on tools and subscriptions she'd forgotten about or barely used. Week 3-4: We identified the profit patterns Her group coaching program generated 60% of her profit while consuming only 30% of her time. Her one-on-one consulting filled her calendar but delivered minimal margins. Week 5-8: We restructured around profitability Instead of trying to fix unprofitable services, we eliminated them entirely and focused her energy on what was already working well. Week 9-12: We implemented systems for sustainability We created simple tracking systems that took 15 minutes weekly but prevented the financial confusion that had stressed her for years. The results after 90 days: Rebecca's revenue decreased slightly to $16,500 monthly, but her profit margins increased from 22% to 47%, meaning she was taking home significantly more money. Her working hours dropped from 55 per week to 38 per week because she eliminated the time-intensive, low-margin work. Most importantly, she could predict her financial position weeks in advance instead of living in constant uncertainty about money. The transformation wasn't about working harder or finding more clients - it was about creating clarity and focusing on what actually generated profit. How much stress in your business comes from financial uncertainty rather than actual financial problems? Please get on my calendar if you'd like help creating predictable profit systems in your business. Link in comments. #strategy #business #creativity #innovation #richbutbrokenomorewithfran

Marketing agencies are in the revenue business. But it doesn’t matter what you offer. Whether you’re handling SEO, social media, or PPC ads, the real question clients are asking is: How will this drive revenue? ➝ Clients don’t care if you offer web design, content strategy, or influencer marketing if they don’t see a clear path to ROI. ➝ They want every service to impact the bottom line—not just look good on paper. ➝ When you start talking their language (revenue), loyalty follows. Here’s how to turn your services into revenue-driving engines: 1. Position every offering as a revenue solution. SEO: Don’t just talk about rankings. Frame SEO as a way to bring in high-converting traffic that turns into revenue. Share stats on how past clients saw revenue growth from organic leads. Social Media Management: Clients aren’t impressed with engagement metrics alone. Highlight social media’s role in lead generation or nurturing prospects through the sales funnel. Show the conversion path from follower to customer. Content Marketing: Go beyond clicks or reads. Tie every content piece back to lead capture, conversion rates, or customer lifetime value. Show clients how content creates demand that drives revenue. 2. Talk ROI, not just activity. PPC Campaigns: Instead of focusing on clicks, explain how each campaign targets high-intent users ready to buy. Report on the cost-per-acquisition and the revenue generated, so clients see how their investment brings in qualified leads. Email Marketing: Don’t just talk about open or click-through rates. Show the direct revenue from email campaigns, like abandoned cart recovery or product upsell rates. Branding & Design: Many clients see branding as “nice-to-have” until they understand how it drives customer loyalty and lifetime value. Share case studies that link branding to higher conversions and customer retention. 3. Forecast revenue impact in every pitch. If you’re offering web design, don’t just promise a sleek site. Demonstrate how a user-friendly, optimized site can increase conversion rates by X% and bring in $Y over time. For video production, show how video can drive engagement and lead to more conversions, or how it increases purchase intent. But it’s not enough to offer these services—you need to prove their value. When you can translate what you do into real financial impact, you shift from being just another agency to being a true growth partner. Clients won’t just renew; they’ll look to you as a critical part of their revenue strategy. Want to boost retention? Become the agency that drives revenue, no matter what you offer.