May 14, 2025 • 35 mins
Monthly Giving Week is here! So how do you grow a recurring donor program from a trickle to over 5,200 committed supporters?
In this powerful episode, Ashlyn Jones, the force behind Houston Food Bank’s “Faithful Friends” program, shares how the organization invested in a full-time sustainer role.
AND, why having someone solely focused on nurturing monthly givers has been a game changer for retention and revenue.
Ashlyn walks us through how emergencies, storytelling, and strategic touchpoints helped build long-term donor loyalty. She dives into the campaigns and platforms they’ve used, including paid social ads, telefunding, and stewardship emails - and how simple things like phone calls and handwritten notes have moved the needle on retention.
One of the most inspiring takeaways? Ashlyn’s approach to storytelling and writing in a way that donors feel their impact immediately, leading to an increase in their monthly gifts. This episode is jam-packed with actionable advice for nonprofits ready to build a loyal base of recurring donors.
Resources & Links
Connect with Ashlyn on LinkedIn and learn more about the Houston Food Bank on their website.
This show is brought to you by iDonate. Your donation page is leaking donors, and iDonate's new pop-up donation form is here to fix that. See it in action. Launch the interactive demo here and experience how a well-timed form captures donors in the moment they care most.
Let's Connect!
- Send a DM on Instagram or LinkedIn and let us know what you think of the show!
- My book, The Monthly Giving Mastermind, is here! Grab a copy here and learn my framework to build, grow, and sustain subscriptions for good.
- Want to book Dana as a speaker for your event? Click here!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We are right in the middle of Monthly Giving
Awareness Week.
I hope you are enjoying all ofthe resources at
monthlygivingweekcom.
If you have not yet visited thewebsite, please go check it out
Every day.
This week, in partnership withGiving Tuesday and RKD Group, we
are releasing three pieces ofcompletely free content template
(00:21):
webinars, podcast episodes foryou to be able to create the
discussion around monthly givingat your organization, to grow
your sustainer program, to focuson retention, whatever you need
this week to be Head tomonthlygivingweekcom and every
single day, we have threeresources that you can utilize.
And we have something new.
(00:41):
It's our version of the webbiesif you've heard of that called
the monthlies.
We want to highlight andcelebrate three incredible
monthly giving programs,campaigns that you've ran.
So submit yourself for an entryand we have some really fun
prizes at the end of the week tocelebrate and honor the three
people that we select.
We have a fun group of judges.
So please submit your monthlygiving campaign, your program,
(01:04):
to the monthlies and we cannotwait to look at all of your
entries.
And today I couldn't think of abetter guest to bring on than an
incredible nonprofitprofessional, ashlyn Jones.
She is the leader behindHouston Food Bank's recurring
donor program, faithful Friends,which is now over 5,200 members
(01:24):
strong.
Yep Say that in another way5,200 monthly donors, which is
incredible.
And so in part of this specialseries with Giving Tuesday and
RKD Group today with Ashton, wereally get into what it takes to
grow and sustain a communitylike that from the very
beginning.
Also, what it takes to investin a full-time role just for
(01:47):
sustainers and why that is soimportant for them and the
success they've seen sincemaking that investment.
What it's like working withacquisition Spoiler.
We talk about paid social ads.
We talk about telefunding, howstorytelling and what stories
have really moved the needle andmade a difference.
Literally, having people replyto her emails asking to upgrade
(02:09):
their gifts that's the power ofthese stories, like how she's
getting them, how she's craftingthem.
This conversation is packedwith so many real, tangible
insights.
And did I mention shehomeschools four kids, so we
also talk about boundaries, howshe finds rhythms at work.
So no matter whether you arejust starting out with monthly
(02:30):
giving or looking to take yourprogram to the next level, I
promise you this episode hassome gems of inspiration.
So let's go ahead, dive rightin and meet Ashlyn.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
I came back and I wrote her story in a way that
would not only show faithfulfriends their impact but also
honor her and her family.
I just put a lot of thoughtinto it and then, once we sent
it out, there was faithfulfriends writing back saying, hey
, can you upgrade my monthlygift amount?
And you know, and just thankyou so much for sharing this
story.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Okay, ashlyn, I have to start this with my very first
big question, which is alsocongratulations.
Over 5,200 recurring donors isincredible.
The monthly giving program iscalled Faithful Friends.
Take us through the build ofthat community.
Was recurring monthly givingalways something that was part
(03:26):
of the strategic plan of theorganization?
Was there a moment where it waslike, okay, we're doing
something and it's working?
I think for so many listenerswho are either just getting
started or maybe have a couplehundred and are really looking
to scale and grow, can you walkus through, like what did it
take to really build thatamazing community that you have?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, so I would say that it started more than a
decade ago.
So the amazing fundraisers thathave come before me had the
foresight to include monthlygiving as an option on all of
our donation forms, and theymade sure that we had the
technology set up to be able tosupport monthly giving.
So over the years we've hadseveral emergencies, like
(04:10):
Hurricane, harvey and, of course, covid, as we all know, and
during those times we saw thatthe donors who wanted to come
make an impact, they wanted tomake a long-term impact, so it
wasn't just like I want to giveto you one time.
They had the desire to reallysupport our organization for a
long time.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Was that because you in the emails and in the
communication you led with thatask?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
We didn't lead with that ask, actually, it was just
always as an option.
So, do you want to give onetime or do you want to give
monthly?
And what we saw is that, duringemergencies, people or do you
want to give monthly?
And what we saw is that duringemergencies, people so many
poured in and they said I wantto give to you long-term.
And we have tons of those,whether from Hurricane Harvey or
(04:56):
COVID, that are still with ustoday.
Yeah, so we had fundraisers whowere in my role, who are no
longer here, but they hadmonthly giving us an option.
And then they started tosegment these donors so that we
could start treating themdifferently, have communication
set up for them that weretailored to them.
As monthly donors, we havemessaging that just highlights
their impact, and so, yeah,Amazing.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
So 10 years ago and I know there's fundraisers before
this when it was first gettingstarted, the tech was there.
There was messaging around it.
I know right now there's also aseparate page for the monthly
giving program.
Was it a slow trickle?
Was there large chunks ofgrowth?
How did you, over time, acquirethe amazing skill and community
(05:44):
that you have today?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Back in 2012,.
That's whenever we firststarted really forming the group
, and it was a slow trickle Upuntil 2017, we had Hurricane
Harvey and then there was thishuge influx of donors, and so
that continued.
In 2018, we had another smallemergency local to the food bank
, where a lot of our product wasdestroyed, and so we had a lot
(06:07):
of news coverage and even moredonors started coming in monthly
donors and then in 2020, itjust, I mean, it was crazy.
So I think we went from maybe1,500 donors to about 5,000 or
right at 5,000.
So it was this huge growth andthen over the last several years
(06:28):
, we've just been sustainingthose donors, so we haven't had
another huge emergency.
So what we've just been doingis really focusing on retention
and recapture and just yeah, sowe've stayed at that amount
around right around 5,000, forthe last four plus years.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Amazing.
Okay, we just had a coupleepisodes ago Listeners, if you
haven't listened Gloria came onto talk about the power of PR
and how to get yourself in thenews, and so that kind of goes
to show like what you weretalking about.
If you can just raise theprofile of the organization and
the work that you're doing, itdoes actually move the needle
quite literally in your case.
I love the fact that you'retalking about the thank you part
(07:08):
, the retention part.
I also know when you've workedwith RKD Group, you've worked on
some advertising.
Can you talk about just likethe constant drumbeat of using
what kind of ads that you guysrun?
What's led to like thecontinued trickle of growth?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yeah, so over the last fiscal year we've really
been focusing on paid mediaefforts, and so that came from
Charity Water.
I sat in a webinar of theirswhere they were sharing that
they really focus on paid mediaand that's how they acquire a
lot of their sustainers.
And so for the last fiscal yearwe've really just had an
evergreen sustainer ad runningand that has helped us in months
(07:47):
where we don't have a hugematch campaign.
That's just helped usconstantly acquire, I would say,
maybe 10 to 15 sustainers everymonth.
It's just another avenue toacquire and I think it expands
our reach beyond the people thatare on our email list and mail
list and things like that.
So we have seen success withthat.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Definitely.
Do you know if those are videoads, if they're like graphic or
it's a bunch of different typesof content?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
We're just running like a graphic ad, but we are
hoping in the next fiscal yearto start using some video ads.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Awesome and I think, what's amazing about ads.
So I've recently been runningads to grow sustainer groups too
, with some of my mastermindclients and VIP intensives.
And it's been amazing becausewhen you think about we've been
spending less than $300 for anad campaign and if you even get
a couple of recurring donorsfrom that, at the beginning you
(08:43):
might think, oh, it's expensive.
My cost per acquisition was $40.
I'm going to make that up.
Let's say it's $40.
But that person's giving $45 or$25 a month and if you know
that your average retention rateis a year or three years or
five years, that's actually anextremely low cost per
acquisition.
Do you know in your ads, likethose 10 to 15 usually per month
(09:06):
do you know how much it'scosting you to acquire them?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I don't, but RKD would I mean?
I know they know, so I need tofind out.
But I think we have.
We have like goals for our CPAand we always are great Like we
beat the goals and stay underthe amount.
So we're doing pretty well.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeah, and that's going to be different for any
organization, like everyone'sgoing to know.
Like this is our averagelifetime value of a donor.
This is the average cost peracquisition.
This is like what is a greatacquisition cost for us.
So, listener, I would say, justlike, think about what that
looks like for you based uponthe longevity that you know you
get with your sustainer donorbase.
(09:42):
Amazing, talk about also, likeOutside of it, it's on the
donation form which I think iscrucial from the get-go.
Do you have specific momentsduring the year or at events
where you specifically talkabout Faithful Friends?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Yes, we, back in August of the last fiscal year
or current fiscal year that'sabout to end we have a sustainer
month where we just focused onacquiring sustainers, and so I
went out and gathered storiesfrom current faithful friends as
well as just differentcommunity members, so that we
could have different signers.
(10:16):
And then we developed someemails and mailings just to
highlight the program and, likeI said, current faithful friends
, so that donors could see justthe impact that this group makes
.
And so, yeah, we have differenttimes of the year where we'll
highlight the program and wealso have partnership with
Gateway Communications, which isour tele-fundraising company
(10:39):
that we work with, and we have atime of the year it actually
just wrapped up where we havejust dedicated sustainer phone
campaign where we call and askour donors to become faithful
friends.
That's one of our mostsuccessful channels.
And so we acquire, yeah, a tonof sustainers from that effort.
So we look forward to thatcampaign every year, but
(11:00):
otherwise it's just like anatural growth because of the
fact that we do have it on allof our donation forms.
So we acquire year round, butwe have those dedicated
campaigns in August and thenagain in around February of each
year.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Okay, love that.
So like some tentpole momentsand then just like the evergreen
with the ads and communication.
Okay, I love that you talked alittle bit just about
storytelling and I want to likelean into that because I'm
curious from like the phone callconversations, the sustainer
Month that you have and maybeeven in the ads, is there a
story that you've seen thatreally moves people?
(11:35):
Like you mentioned CharityWater and their.
The core thing that they havealways talked about is the story
of the spring and really, likeScott Harrison's founder story
is what really worked.
Have you seen certain storiesreally make an impact when it
comes to the growth of theprogram?
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yes, honestly, I think every time we're very
intentional about telling astory, it really resonates with
our donors, because that's whythey give every month.
They give so that they can knowthat they're making an impact
and that they're really helpingour community members.
And so there was one time inparticular this is whenever I
first started going out on myown and gathering stories where
(12:17):
I went out to a mobiledistribution and there was a mom
there who was shopping with herkids.
I asked her if she would bewilling to share her story and
she said yes, and so I got totalk to her for a little bit and
she was sharing how her son hadjust been diagnosed with autism
and he was struggling in school.
She had talked with the schoolcounselors and tried to see if
(12:39):
she could get him some extrasupport, and they helped her as
much as they could, but she justfelt like she needed to do more
, and so her and her husband hadtalked and decided to.
She decided that they would godown to one income and so she
left her job and she pulled outthe rest of her kids from school
and she decided she wouldhomeschool full time, and so by
(13:01):
doing that, of course, sheobviously now needed a little
bit more support, since theywere on one income.
But they did sell their home andthey did a lot to make sure
that her son was supported, andso she never thought that she
would need the food bankservices.
But now she found herselfturning to us for help, and so
she was just sharing how muchthe food that she received at
(13:22):
the mobile distribution made animpact that, you know.
It helped her and her familystretch their budgets further,
and so whenever I got back to mydesk that day, I thought about
how can I share this story withfaithful friends that they see,
just like what they're makingpossible for people you know,
like?
I think there's this idea thatthe people that come to the food
(13:43):
bank are.
You know, they don't work, ormaybe they're dealing with
homelessness and that's reallyall that they're dealing.
You know, that's it.
Those are the two kind ofpeople.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
That's the stereotype .
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah yeah, I like the stereotype.
But whenever I'm able to sharewith faithful friends, just like
the different kinds of storiesthat they're touching all
throughout our community, I findthat that really makes a
difference.
So I came back and I wrote herstory in a way that would not
only show faithful friends theirimpact but also honor her and
(14:13):
her family.
I just put a lot of thoughtinto it and then, once we sent
it out, there was faithfulfriends writing back saying, hey
, can you upgrade my monthlygift amount?
And just thank you so much forsharing this story, and so
that's how I knew oh, thisreally does make a difference,
like when you really take thetime to really write a story in
(14:33):
a meaningful way, it reallymakes an impact.
And so ever since then, I makesure that when I go out and
gather different stories, thatI'm highlighting the neighbor in
a way that honors them, so thatthat resonates with our donors.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Incredible.
Are you primarily sharing thestories via email?
Are they on blogs, or do youguys do text messaging?
Speaker 2 (14:55):
We mostly do email updates.
We just started incorporatingtext messaging into our strategy
, but right now we're reallyonly using it during match
campaigns, and so it's justhighlighting hey, we have a
match and there's an opportunityto give.
But during this next fiscalyear we're definitely going to
start incorporating textmessaging more.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah, I was like, oh my gosh, you should totally do
that, because I don't know whatemail open rates are, but I
would definitely considertesting it also with just
sending the stewardshipretention type of text messages
too.
That's amazing.
How did you think aboutcrafting and I think we talk
about storytelling a lot in thesector how did you I'm trying to
(15:37):
think of the right way to likeword this, translate it or draft
it in a way that was, yes,absolutely honoring the mom and
her family, but also making itin a meaningful way where it
felt like person to person, likeyou're sharing, like a true
human story?
I think sometimes we can justlike glaze over things.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Was there anything different that you did in
crafting that?
Speaker 2 (15:58):
as an example, I was trying to share it in a way
where, you know, we're all notwe're all moms, but there's so
many donors who give, who aremothers, fathers, and they have
children, and so they understanda parent's love, you know, and
the links that they would go toto help make sure that their
child was supported.
(16:21):
So I tried to show them how thismom was in this situation where
she just was putting her sonfirst, doing whatever she could
to make sure that her son hadwhat he needed.
I kind of tried to share, likenow she's in this predicament
where she does need our services.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
That's so powerful in itself is like giving context,
yeah, and speaking to likesomething that would be relative
to the person on the receivingside of the email, which I think
is huge, do you so?
Obviously, if a majority of thegrowth happened during these
difficult times, covid being oneof them, that's five years ago
at this point when it firststarted, right, so that's an
(16:53):
incredible retention.
How often are you communicatingspecifically with the Faithful
Friends group in telling thesestories?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
We send an update to them every single month, twice a
month.
We have an autoresponder everymonth where it just says thank
you for your gift.
But what we do is we go inthere and we update that content
every single month so that, inaddition to their receipt, they
also get an impactful update.
And then we work with RKD tocreate their monthly update.
So they get two.
(17:23):
And so we try to communicatewith faithful friends often so
that they can continue toremember hey, I'm making an
impact.
And I think that's been verysuccessful because, like I said,
in 2017, when we had anemergency, that's when we
started to receive a lot of newmonthly donors, and a lot of
them are still with us like 80,90 gifts since then and they've
(17:51):
continued to give.
It's so impactful.
So we try to make sure thatthey remember, hey, I'm making a
difference, so that they don'tdecide that, oh, I don't need to
give anymore.
I've already helped.
They see that there's still aneed and they're still making an
impact in our community.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, that's eight years later.
Yeah, it's pretty incredible.
I think that's what I've heardfrom reports about it being the
average, so you're about tosurpass that, which is really
exciting.
Do you do anything for thosethat have been with you for a
long time like that?
Is there any snail mail orspecial virtual things or event
invites?
(18:22):
Is there any fun extra benefitsthat you provide to that group?
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, we do a year-end event.
It's actually in partnershipwith our major gift officers.
I work with them and we put onthis event during the holiday
season it's just called Notes ofGiving and so we'll have our
local symphony come out alongwith our CEO and it's just a
time of celebration andbreakfast and networking and
(18:47):
it's a really fun event and weactually get a lot of donors
that come out.
So it's really nice and justgetting to see them face to face
.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
And get them together .
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They all.
They love the event.
I have some this is going to beour third year doing it and
some faithful friends arealready asking me about it, like
, hey, are you going to have theevent this year?
So it's nice have the eventthis year.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
So it's nice.
That's amazing.
I think it's so powerful when,I mean, you say a number like
5,200 and it can seem kind oflike grandiose.
What does that look like inperspective?
And then, when you can actuallyget people in a room together
that have, like this, values,aligned identity, call to
support a mission, that's likeso powerful, because sometimes
(19:30):
you don't get to see the othercommunity members that you're a
part of, you just know you're apart of this thing that you talk
about in emails, but then tophysically, like face-to-face,
be together.
There's something reallypowerful and meaningful about
that too.
Okay, I really want to talkabout you for a second, because
it takes a team to do all thework that you're talking about.
(19:51):
And so, if the Recurrent GivingProgram started in 2012, you
also I want people to know youare also homeschooling four kids
.
Is that right?
Yeah, okay, that's amazing.
You're a super mom and you'rerunning this powerhouse
recurring giving program.
I mean, the real question islike, how do you do it?
(20:18):
Is the recurring giving programlike your sole focus at the
organization?
And, if so, still, how do youdo it?
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, I'm very fortunate to work for an
organization where theyprioritize monthly giving and so
and they've been doing that,like I said, since 2017, there's
been someone who just overseesthis program and so, yes, that's
my sole role here.
And so it makes it really greatto just be able to only focus
on this so that I can like pourall that I have into it.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
And.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
I think that's why we have been able to retain so
many of our monthly donors.
And then to your question abouthow I homeschool and do the
monthly giving.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Yeah, like your time.
I'm sure so many people arejust like wait what is it Like?
Wait what?
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah, yeah, I've been homeschooling now for two years
, and so the first year when Iwas making, I was praying a lot
and saying how can I do this,you know?
And I reached out to my managerat the time and I just told her
what, you know, what I wasplanning on doing, and she was
so supportive and so my husbandand I we have different work
schedules and so he's able tohelp a lot, and I think that's
(21:23):
very important to have thatsupport at home.
But there's also nights andweekends where we're doing like
science together, differentthings that they don't do on
their own time because they eachhave just like I clock in and I
get to work, they have theirown cubbies and they go to their
desk and they get to work, andit's just so.
It's so fun but so cute and,yes, but there are certain
(21:44):
subjects where they need extrahelp with, and so we take that
time as a family on the weekendsand evenings to do those things
together.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
That's amazing.
Yeah, I think we're living inthat.
You just figure it out likewhat works for you, what works
for your family, yeah, and Ilove that.
Congratulations on like settingthose boundaries, making that
work.
I'm sure that's really fun andto see them thrive doing that.
If somebody is thinking abouthiring somebody for a sustainer
(22:11):
role, what would be yourrecommendations in how that
person schedules out their time?
And even if maybe they'restarting, they're thinking about
a part-time person, where wouldyou recommend that person?
If they have a set amount ofhours, how would they structure
their week, their days?
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Yeah, I would say, first welcoming the new monthly
donor.
So taking the time to callanyone who has a good phone
number on file and really justget on the phone and call those
donors and let them know hey, Isaw your monthly gift come in
and I think that makes such animpact because there's so many
organizations that just likethey don't have someone
dedicated to that program and sothey don't have the time to
(22:50):
make the phone calls themajority.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
I think yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah.
And so whenever I do get on thephone with people, they are
honestly so amazed they're like,oh my gosh, I can't believe you
saw my gift come through, andit just means a lot.
And so I would say, definitely,taking the time to call the new
monthly donors, send themhandwritten notes, just make
them feel, feel, seen.
I think that's so important.
And then another portion oftheir time I think should be to
(23:16):
go out into the community andtalk to the neighbors and gather
the stories that you want to goback and share to the monthly
donors.
Because it's one thing to get astory and then try to you know
from someone else that has wentout and gathered it and then try
to send it out to your members,but when you're the person that
is out in the community andyou're able to talk to the
(23:36):
neighbors that these monthlydonors are helping to support, I
think it just gives you adifferent respect for this story
and you really know how toshare that back to your monthly
supporters.
And so I think that's huge justbeing able to really see the
impact that's happening in thecommunity and then being able to
go back and communicate that toyour donors, and then another
(23:59):
huge, huge portion.
I would recommend to anyonewho's overseeing monthly giving
is to really focus on retentionand reducing involuntary churn,
because so many monthly donorsdon't even you know.
We all have busy lives andwe're all doing so much, and so
so many monthly donors havefallen off of our file, not even
(24:20):
knowing and not even realizingthat their gift has stopped.
And so when you have thosepeople who want to make a
difference but they justaccidentally fell off to have
someone dedicated to runningreports and seeing who canceled
due to a card issue, and theycan just call and say, hey, I
saw your gift canceled, and thenI'll tell you just from my
(24:42):
experience how grateful donorsare that you take the time to
call them.
They're like, oh my gosh, thankyou so much.
I didn't even realize.
I'll just say that I wouldreally, really recommend that
you have someone that can makethose calls or send those emails
out, because you're going tosee instant ROI.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Yeah, I love you saying that, because I think
there's a lot of fear aroundphone calls and.
I think there's a lot of feararound even making that ask or
fear of letting somebody knowthat they had a gift and the
gratitude is what you're hearing, and I think that's amazing.
I think we make up sometimes inour like the person had already
(25:20):
said yes, it was already a gifthappening, and psychologically
we think, oh, I don't know if Iwant to remind them that they
were giving.
Are they going to be mad orthink that I'm annoying?
Speaker 2 (25:37):
for calling.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yeah, and I think that's made up, or maybe they
don't answer right and you leavea voicemail.
I'm sure that happens a lot,where you're just leaving
voicemails and giving them thenext steps of what you can do.
But I love that and I willspeak from experience where I've
received.
I couldn't answer the phone,but I saw the voicemail from an
(26:01):
organization I give monthly toand I was so pleasantly
surprised and I was like, oh,that's lovely, and there was no
action to call them back.
But it was just like, hey, we'slovely, and there was no action
to call them back, but it wasjust like, hey, we just wanted
to reach out and let you knowthat we saw your gift come
through.
We're super grateful, and itjust keeps them top of mind and
just gives me that extra littlejolt of oh, I'm doing something
(26:23):
good yeah.
So, love that you do that.
Was there something that youhad to personally get over when
doing phone calls, or somethingthat you had to personally get
over when doing phone calls?
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Or were you just like , okay, how did you work through
that?
Yeah, I think just forcingmyself.
I will say that this is myfirst fundraising role, and so a
lot of the things that I doit's because I hear experts like
you or Dave or Erica say, hey,this works.
And so I'm like, okay, well,I'm going to try it.
If they say it works, let's doit.
It's just, I think, me knowingthat this could benefit the
(26:55):
program, I just had to get overthe things that are in my head.
I'm like, oh, I can't make thisphone call, but I think,
reminding myself, hey, if I makethis phone call and I recapture
this donor, then that justpushes my mission a little bit
further.
And so just getting out of theway and remembering that you're
working for an organizationthat's doing incredibly
important work, and every phonecall you make is, you know it's,
(27:18):
it's just making so much of animpact.
And then, with experience, likeyou said, me calling and hearing
I've never heard anyone say whydid you call me?
You know, so I've never andI've been doing this for a year
and a half now, where I've beenmaking these phone calls, and
they're always so grateful thatI took the time and that I see
them as a monthly donor.
(27:38):
And not only do I see them, butI see, hey, their gift stopped
and it wasn't intentional, andso I'm reaching out to remind
them.
And so, yeah, it's just, Ithink, doing it so much.
Now I'm more comfortable withit, but at first it was hard, I
was not comfortable making thecalls at all.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Yeah, it just takes practice, like anything else,
I'm guessing.
Yeah, but that's amazing A yearand a half in positive
reinforcement, re encouragement.
So I hope, listener, that thiscan resonate with you and maybe
have you take that first stepinto doing some phone calls.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
And I will say, with the outreach, just within the
first year we've reducedinvoluntary return by over 50%.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yeah, and that's just with me, just one person making
phone calls, sending emails,and I also do text messages from
my own.
I have a line that theorganization has for me, and so
I try every avenue I can.
But that's been very successful, so I'll say it's worth the
effort 1,000%.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
I mean, look what's really interesting is so
literally today I got a textmessage from my dentist office
that I haven't scheduled myappointment and sure enough, I
have forgotten a bazillion times.
Their text message reminded me.
I called them and I booked mydentist appointment because they
texted me.
Like phone call, probably wouldhave like thought it was a spam
number gone to voicemail, takenlonger.
(28:55):
They had a link in the textmessage.
It's like easy peasy.
It's just how we communicate,so that is so, so smart.
Thank you so much, Ashlyn, foreverything that you're doing,
for sharing your story with us.
I always like to ask thisquestion to organizations
joining the show Is thereanything that you would like to
ask for help or support on?
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Yeah, I would just like to ask how to convince not
just leadership but just anyonewho's kind of like on the fence
about how to promote monthlygiving, kind of first I would
say like sustainer first mindset, like what your thoughts are on
that, because I've had a fewinstances where we've had some
campaigns and we haven't had amonthly giving box on the forum
(29:36):
and I've asked about it.
The thought behind it is that,oh well, these are major donors
and so we don't want todowngrade them and so.
But what are your thoughts onthat?
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Oh, wow.
So I think you should alwayspresent the option, and I think
there's one thing that we knowand you probably see this it'd
be really interesting to look atyour recurring donor base is
that recurring donors usuallyoften make additional gifts
throughout the year, throughoutthe years when they are asked,
and a monthly donor base.
(30:07):
This is also something that Ithink, if you have some data to
showcase, that's helpful.
If there's been recurringsupporters that have increased
their gift, or they started as arecurring and then they've
become a major donor, that'salways interesting.
Or, especially with the climatethat we're in right now, it
could be that if a major donoris not going to give a big gift
(30:28):
right now because they'refeeling a little bit like I'm
going to keep this closer to thechest with funds right now,
However, I would give maybe thatlarger gift if it's broken down
into 12 installments.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Because that feels more doable on the wallet right
now.
So I think that's the storythat if you're seeing like a
downward trend in major giftswhere it's like, hey, instead of
giving that one lump sum, wouldyou consider breaking that up
and joining Faithful Friends asa recurring supporter?
I think it's always the option.
(31:00):
I think when people want to begenerous, they're going to be
generous.
When they feel compelled togive, they're going to give.
I think sometimes it's we justhave to be top of mind to give
them that opportunity.
But when somebody is feelingcalled and passionate about a
cause, like they're going tomake it happen.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah, point blank.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Yeah, thank you so much for being here.
Thank you so much for all youdo and for listening to the show
.
It's always fun when I have alistener.
Come on and be a guest.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Yeah, thank you so much for just I mean I, when I
think about the work that yousupport by you know, just
encouraging people in roles likemine.
You're touching every singlemission all over, so I just
can't thank you enough.
I owe so much of the thingsthat I've tried and have had
success with to you, so thankyou for what you do every day,
dana.
It really makes such an impactI love that, thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
That's the whole goal .
I love that, and actually whenI get to speak with somebody
that's implementing the thingsand hear the stories back, that
fuels me and gives me so muchjoy.
So, thank you, that was verysweet.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of
Missions to Movements.
If you enjoyed our conversationand found it helpful, I would
love for you to take a moment toleave a review.
Wherever you're listening, yourfeedback helps us reach more
change makers like you andcontinue bringing impactful
stories and strategies to theshow.
(32:24):
Don't forget to hit thatsubscribe button, too, so you'll
never miss an episode.
And until next time, keepturning your mission into a
movement.
We are right in the middle of Monthly Giving
Awareness Week.
I hope you are enjoying all ofthe resources at
monthlygivingweekcom.
If you have not yet visited thewebsite, please go check it out
Every day.
This week, in partnership withGiving Tuesday and RKD Group, we
are releasing three pieces ofcompletely free content template
(00:21):
webinars, podcast episodes foryou to be able to create the
discussion around monthly givingat your organization, to grow
your sustainer program, to focuson retention, whatever you need
this week to be Head tomonthlygivingweekcom and every
single day, we have threeresources that you can utilize.
And we have something new.
(00:41):
It's our version of the webbiesif you've heard of that called
the monthlies.
We want to highlight andcelebrate three incredible
monthly giving programs,campaigns that you've ran.
So submit yourself for an entryand we have some really fun
prizes at the end of the week tocelebrate and honor the three
people that we select.
We have a fun group of judges.
So please submit your monthlygiving campaign, your program,
(01:04):
to the monthlies and we cannotwait to look at all of your
entries.
And today I couldn't think of abetter guest to bring on than an
incredible nonprofitprofessional, ashlyn Jones.
She is the leader behindHouston Food Bank's recurring
donor program, faithful Friends,which is now over 5,200 members
(01:24):
strong.
Yep Say that in another way5,200 monthly donors, which is
incredible.
And so in part of this specialseries with Giving Tuesday and
RKD Group today with Ashton, wereally get into what it takes to
grow and sustain a communitylike that from the very
beginning.
Also, what it takes to investin a full-time role just for
(01:47):
sustainers and why that is soimportant for them and the
success they've seen sincemaking that investment.
What it's like working withacquisition Spoiler.
We talk about paid social ads.
We talk about telefunding, howstorytelling and what stories
have really moved the needle andmade a difference.
Literally, having people replyto her emails asking to upgrade
(02:09):
their gifts that's the power ofthese stories, like how she's
getting them, how she's craftingthem.
This conversation is packedwith so many real, tangible
insights.
And did I mention shehomeschools four kids, so we
also talk about boundaries, howshe finds rhythms at work.
So no matter whether you arejust starting out with monthly
(02:30):
giving or looking to take yourprogram to the next level, I
promise you this episode hassome gems of inspiration.
So let's go ahead, dive rightin and meet Ashlyn.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
I came back and I wrote her story in a way that
would not only show faithfulfriends their impact but also
honor her and her family.
I just put a lot of thoughtinto it and then, once we sent
it out, there was faithfulfriends writing back saying, hey
, can you upgrade my monthlygift amount?
And you know, and just thankyou so much for sharing this
story.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Okay, ashlyn, I have to start this with my very first
big question, which is alsocongratulations.
Over 5,200 recurring donors isincredible.
The monthly giving program iscalled Faithful Friends.
Take us through the build ofthat community.
Was recurring monthly givingalways something that was part
(03:26):
of the strategic plan of theorganization?
Was there a moment where it waslike, okay, we're doing
something and it's working?
I think for so many listenerswho are either just getting
started or maybe have a couplehundred and are really looking
to scale and grow, can you walkus through, like what did it
take to really build thatamazing community that you have?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, so I would say that it started more than a
decade ago.
So the amazing fundraisers thathave come before me had the
foresight to include monthlygiving as an option on all of
our donation forms, and theymade sure that we had the
technology set up to be able tosupport monthly giving.
So over the years we've hadseveral emergencies, like
(04:10):
Hurricane, harvey and, of course, covid, as we all know, and
during those times we saw thatthe donors who wanted to come
make an impact, they wanted tomake a long-term impact, so it
wasn't just like I want to giveto you one time.
They had the desire to reallysupport our organization for a
long time.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Was that because you in the emails and in the
communication you led with thatask?
Speaker 2 (04:34):
We didn't lead with that ask, actually, it was just
always as an option.
So, do you want to give onetime or do you want to give
monthly?
And what we saw is that, duringemergencies, people or do you
want to give monthly?
And what we saw is that duringemergencies, people so many
poured in and they said I wantto give to you long-term.
And we have tons of those,whether from Hurricane Harvey or
(04:56):
COVID, that are still with ustoday.
Yeah, so we had fundraisers whowere in my role, who are no
longer here, but they hadmonthly giving us an option.
And then they started tosegment these donors so that we
could start treating themdifferently, have communication
set up for them that weretailored to them.
As monthly donors, we havemessaging that just highlights
their impact, and so, yeah,Amazing.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
So 10 years ago and I know there's fundraisers before
this when it was first gettingstarted, the tech was there.
There was messaging around it.
I know right now there's also aseparate page for the monthly
giving program.
Was it a slow trickle?
Was there large chunks ofgrowth?
How did you, over time, acquirethe amazing skill and community
(05:44):
that you have today?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Back in 2012,.
That's whenever we firststarted really forming the group
, and it was a slow trickle Upuntil 2017, we had Hurricane
Harvey and then there was thishuge influx of donors, and so
that continued.
In 2018, we had another smallemergency local to the food bank
, where a lot of our product wasdestroyed, and so we had a lot
(06:07):
of news coverage and even moredonors started coming in monthly
donors and then in 2020, itjust, I mean, it was crazy.
So I think we went from maybe1,500 donors to about 5,000 or
right at 5,000.
So it was this huge growth andthen over the last several years
(06:28):
, we've just been sustainingthose donors, so we haven't had
another huge emergency.
So what we've just been doingis really focusing on retention
and recapture and just yeah, sowe've stayed at that amount
around right around 5,000, forthe last four plus years.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Amazing.
Okay, we just had a coupleepisodes ago Listeners, if you
haven't listened Gloria came onto talk about the power of PR
and how to get yourself in thenews, and so that kind of goes
to show like what you weretalking about.
If you can just raise theprofile of the organization and
the work that you're doing, itdoes actually move the needle
quite literally in your case.
I love the fact that you'retalking about the thank you part
(07:08):
, the retention part.
I also know when you've workedwith RKD Group, you've worked on
some advertising.
Can you talk about just likethe constant drumbeat of using
what kind of ads that you guysrun?
What's led to like thecontinued trickle of growth?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yeah, so over the last fiscal year we've really
been focusing on paid mediaefforts, and so that came from
Charity Water.
I sat in a webinar of theirswhere they were sharing that
they really focus on paid mediaand that's how they acquire a
lot of their sustainers.
And so for the last fiscal yearwe've really just had an
evergreen sustainer ad runningand that has helped us in months
(07:47):
where we don't have a hugematch campaign.
That's just helped usconstantly acquire, I would say,
maybe 10 to 15 sustainers everymonth.
It's just another avenue toacquire and I think it expands
our reach beyond the people thatare on our email list and mail
list and things like that.
So we have seen success withthat.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Definitely.
Do you know if those are videoads, if they're like graphic or
it's a bunch of different typesof content?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
We're just running like a graphic ad, but we are
hoping in the next fiscal yearto start using some video ads.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Awesome and I think, what's amazing about ads.
So I've recently been runningads to grow sustainer groups too
, with some of my mastermindclients and VIP intensives.
And it's been amazing becausewhen you think about we've been
spending less than $300 for anad campaign and if you even get
a couple of recurring donorsfrom that, at the beginning you
(08:43):
might think, oh, it's expensive.
My cost per acquisition was $40.
I'm going to make that up.
Let's say it's $40.
But that person's giving $45 or$25 a month and if you know
that your average retention rateis a year or three years or
five years, that's actually anextremely low cost per
acquisition.
Do you know in your ads, likethose 10 to 15 usually per month
(09:06):
do you know how much it'scosting you to acquire them?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I don't, but RKD would I mean?
I know they know, so I need tofind out.
But I think we have.
We have like goals for our CPAand we always are great Like we
beat the goals and stay underthe amount.
So we're doing pretty well.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Yeah, and that's going to be different for any
organization, like everyone'sgoing to know.
Like this is our averagelifetime value of a donor.
This is the average cost peracquisition.
This is like what is a greatacquisition cost for us.
So, listener, I would say, justlike, think about what that
looks like for you based uponthe longevity that you know you
get with your sustainer donorbase.
(09:42):
Amazing, talk about also, likeOutside of it, it's on the
donation form which I think iscrucial from the get-go.
Do you have specific momentsduring the year or at events
where you specifically talkabout Faithful Friends?
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Yes, we, back in August of the last fiscal year
or current fiscal year that'sabout to end we have a sustainer
month where we just focused onacquiring sustainers, and so I
went out and gathered storiesfrom current faithful friends as
well as just differentcommunity members, so that we
could have different signers.
(10:16):
And then we developed someemails and mailings just to
highlight the program and, likeI said, current faithful friends
, so that donors could see justthe impact that this group makes
.
And so, yeah, we have differenttimes of the year where we'll
highlight the program and wealso have partnership with
Gateway Communications, which isour tele-fundraising company
(10:39):
that we work with, and we have atime of the year it actually
just wrapped up where we havejust dedicated sustainer phone
campaign where we call and askour donors to become faithful
friends.
That's one of our mostsuccessful channels.
And so we acquire, yeah, a tonof sustainers from that effort.
So we look forward to thatcampaign every year, but
(11:00):
otherwise it's just like anatural growth because of the
fact that we do have it on allof our donation forms.
So we acquire year round, butwe have those dedicated
campaigns in August and thenagain in around February of each
year.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Okay, love that.
So like some tentpole momentsand then just like the evergreen
with the ads and communication.
Okay, I love that you talked alittle bit just about
storytelling and I want to likelean into that because I'm
curious from like the phone callconversations, the sustainer
Month that you have and maybeeven in the ads, is there a
story that you've seen thatreally moves people?
(11:35):
Like you mentioned CharityWater and their.
The core thing that they havealways talked about is the story
of the spring and really, likeScott Harrison's founder story
is what really worked.
Have you seen certain storiesreally make an impact when it
comes to the growth of theprogram?
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yes, honestly, I think every time we're very
intentional about telling astory, it really resonates with
our donors, because that's whythey give every month.
They give so that they can knowthat they're making an impact
and that they're really helpingour community members.
And so there was one time inparticular this is whenever I
first started going out on myown and gathering stories where
(12:17):
I went out to a mobiledistribution and there was a mom
there who was shopping with herkids.
I asked her if she would bewilling to share her story and
she said yes, and so I got totalk to her for a little bit and
she was sharing how her son hadjust been diagnosed with autism
and he was struggling in school.
She had talked with the schoolcounselors and tried to see if
(12:39):
she could get him some extrasupport, and they helped her as
much as they could, but she justfelt like she needed to do more
, and so her and her husband hadtalked and decided to.
She decided that they would godown to one income and so she
left her job and she pulled outthe rest of her kids from school
and she decided she wouldhomeschool full time, and so by
(13:01):
doing that, of course, sheobviously now needed a little
bit more support, since theywere on one income.
But they did sell their home andthey did a lot to make sure
that her son was supported, andso she never thought that she
would need the food bankservices.
But now she found herselfturning to us for help, and so
she was just sharing how muchthe food that she received at
(13:22):
the mobile distribution made animpact that, you know.
It helped her and her familystretch their budgets further,
and so whenever I got back to mydesk that day, I thought about
how can I share this story withfaithful friends that they see,
just like what they're makingpossible for people you know,
like?
I think there's this idea thatthe people that come to the food
(13:43):
bank are.
You know, they don't work, ormaybe they're dealing with
homelessness and that's reallyall that they're dealing.
You know, that's it.
Those are the two kind ofpeople.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
That's the stereotype .
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Yeah yeah, I like the stereotype.
But whenever I'm able to sharewith faithful friends, just like
the different kinds of storiesthat they're touching all
throughout our community, I findthat that really makes a
difference.
So I came back and I wrote herstory in a way that would not
only show faithful friends theirimpact but also honor her and
(14:13):
her family.
I just put a lot of thoughtinto it and then, once we sent
it out, there was faithfulfriends writing back saying, hey
, can you upgrade my monthlygift amount?
And just thank you so much forsharing this story, and so
that's how I knew oh, thisreally does make a difference,
like when you really take thetime to really write a story in
(14:33):
a meaningful way, it reallymakes an impact.
And so ever since then, I makesure that when I go out and
gather different stories, thatI'm highlighting the neighbor in
a way that honors them, so thatthat resonates with our donors.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Incredible.
Are you primarily sharing thestories via email?
Are they on blogs, or do youguys do text messaging?
Speaker 2 (14:55):
We mostly do email updates.
We just started incorporatingtext messaging into our strategy
, but right now we're reallyonly using it during match
campaigns, and so it's justhighlighting hey, we have a
match and there's an opportunityto give.
But during this next fiscalyear we're definitely going to
start incorporating textmessaging more.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah, I was like, oh my gosh, you should totally do
that, because I don't know whatemail open rates are, but I
would definitely considertesting it also with just
sending the stewardshipretention type of text messages
too.
That's amazing.
How did you think aboutcrafting and I think we talk
about storytelling a lot in thesector how did you I'm trying to
(15:37):
think of the right way to likeword this, translate it or draft
it in a way that was, yes,absolutely honoring the mom and
her family, but also making itin a meaningful way where it
felt like person to person, likeyou're sharing, like a true
human story?
I think sometimes we can justlike glaze over things.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Was there anything different that you did in
crafting that?
Speaker 2 (15:58):
as an example, I was trying to share it in a way
where, you know, we're all notwe're all moms, but there's so
many donors who give, who aremothers, fathers, and they have
children, and so they understanda parent's love, you know, and
the links that they would go toto help make sure that their
child was supported.
(16:21):
So I tried to show them how thismom was in this situation where
she just was putting her sonfirst, doing whatever she could
to make sure that her son hadwhat he needed.
I kind of tried to share, likenow she's in this predicament
where she does need our services.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
That's so powerful in itself is like giving context,
yeah, and speaking to likesomething that would be relative
to the person on the receivingside of the email, which I think
is huge, do you so?
Obviously, if a majority of thegrowth happened during these
difficult times, covid being oneof them, that's five years ago
at this point when it firststarted, right, so that's an
(16:53):
incredible retention.
How often are you communicatingspecifically with the Faithful
Friends group in telling thesestories?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
We send an update to them every single month, twice a
month.
We have an autoresponder everymonth where it just says thank
you for your gift.
But what we do is we go inthere and we update that content
every single month so that, inaddition to their receipt, they
also get an impactful update.
And then we work with RKD tocreate their monthly update.
So they get two.
(17:23):
And so we try to communicatewith faithful friends often so
that they can continue toremember hey, I'm making an
impact.
And I think that's been verysuccessful because, like I said,
in 2017, when we had anemergency, that's when we
started to receive a lot of newmonthly donors, and a lot of
them are still with us like 80,90 gifts since then and they've
(17:51):
continued to give.
It's so impactful.
So we try to make sure thatthey remember, hey, I'm making a
difference, so that they don'tdecide that, oh, I don't need to
give anymore.
I've already helped.
They see that there's still aneed and they're still making an
impact in our community.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, that's eight years later.
Yeah, it's pretty incredible.
I think that's what I've heardfrom reports about it being the
average, so you're about tosurpass that, which is really
exciting.
Do you do anything for thosethat have been with you for a
long time like that?
Is there any snail mail orspecial virtual things or event
invites?
(18:22):
Is there any fun extra benefitsthat you provide to that group?
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Yeah, we do a year-end event.
It's actually in partnershipwith our major gift officers.
I work with them and we put onthis event during the holiday
season it's just called Notes ofGiving and so we'll have our
local symphony come out alongwith our CEO and it's just a
time of celebration andbreakfast and networking and
(18:47):
it's a really fun event and weactually get a lot of donors
that come out.
So it's really nice and justgetting to see them face to face
.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
And get them together .
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They all.
They love the event.
I have some this is going to beour third year doing it and
some faithful friends arealready asking me about it, like
, hey, are you going to have theevent this year?
So it's nice have the eventthis year.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
So it's nice.
That's amazing.
I think it's so powerful when,I mean, you say a number like
5,200 and it can seem kind oflike grandiose.
What does that look like inperspective?
And then, when you can actuallyget people in a room together
that have, like this, values,aligned identity, call to
support a mission, that's likeso powerful, because sometimes
(19:30):
you don't get to see the othercommunity members that you're a
part of, you just know you're apart of this thing that you talk
about in emails, but then tophysically, like face-to-face,
be together.
There's something reallypowerful and meaningful about
that too.
Okay, I really want to talkabout you for a second, because
it takes a team to do all thework that you're talking about.
(19:51):
And so, if the Recurrent GivingProgram started in 2012, you
also I want people to know youare also homeschooling four kids
.
Is that right?
Yeah, okay, that's amazing.
You're a super mom and you'rerunning this powerhouse
recurring giving program.
I mean, the real question islike, how do you do it?
(20:18):
Is the recurring giving programlike your sole focus at the
organization?
And, if so, still, how do youdo it?
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah, I'm very fortunate to work for an
organization where theyprioritize monthly giving and so
and they've been doing that,like I said, since 2017, there's
been someone who just overseesthis program and so, yes, that's
my sole role here.
And so it makes it really greatto just be able to only focus
on this so that I can like pourall that I have into it.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
And.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
I think that's why we have been able to retain so
many of our monthly donors.
And then to your question abouthow I homeschool and do the
monthly giving.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Yeah, like your time.
I'm sure so many people arejust like wait what is it Like?
Wait what?
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah, yeah, I've been homeschooling now for two years
, and so the first year when Iwas making, I was praying a lot
and saying how can I do this,you know?
And I reached out to my managerat the time and I just told her
what, you know, what I wasplanning on doing, and she was
so supportive and so my husbandand I we have different work
schedules and so he's able tohelp a lot, and I think that's
(21:23):
very important to have thatsupport at home.
But there's also nights andweekends where we're doing like
science together, differentthings that they don't do on
their own time because they eachhave just like I clock in and I
get to work, they have theirown cubbies and they go to their
desk and they get to work, andit's just so.
It's so fun but so cute and,yes, but there are certain
(21:44):
subjects where they need extrahelp with, and so we take that
time as a family on the weekendsand evenings to do those things
together.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
That's amazing.
Yeah, I think we're living inthat.
You just figure it out likewhat works for you, what works
for your family, yeah, and Ilove that.
Congratulations on like settingthose boundaries, making that
work.
I'm sure that's really fun andto see them thrive doing that.
If somebody is thinking abouthiring somebody for a sustainer
(22:11):
role, what would be yourrecommendations in how that
person schedules out their time?
And even if maybe they'restarting, they're thinking about
a part-time person, where wouldyou recommend that person?
If they have a set amount ofhours, how would they structure
their week, their days?
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Yeah, I would say, first welcoming the new monthly
donor.
So taking the time to callanyone who has a good phone
number on file and really justget on the phone and call those
donors and let them know hey, Isaw your monthly gift come in
and I think that makes such animpact because there's so many
organizations that just likethey don't have someone
dedicated to that program and sothey don't have the time to
(22:50):
make the phone calls themajority.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
I think yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah.
And so whenever I do get on thephone with people, they are
honestly so amazed they're like,oh my gosh, I can't believe you
saw my gift come through, andit just means a lot.
And so I would say, definitely,taking the time to call the new
monthly donors, send themhandwritten notes, just make
them feel, feel, seen.
I think that's so important.
And then another portion oftheir time I think should be to
(23:16):
go out into the community andtalk to the neighbors and gather
the stories that you want to goback and share to the monthly
donors.
Because it's one thing to get astory and then try to you know
from someone else that has wentout and gathered it and then try
to send it out to your members,but when you're the person that
is out in the community andyou're able to talk to the
(23:36):
neighbors that these monthlydonors are helping to support, I
think it just gives you adifferent respect for this story
and you really know how toshare that back to your monthly
supporters.
And so I think that's huge justbeing able to really see the
impact that's happening in thecommunity and then being able to
go back and communicate that toyour donors, and then another
(23:59):
huge, huge portion.
I would recommend to anyonewho's overseeing monthly giving
is to really focus on retentionand reducing involuntary churn,
because so many monthly donorsdon't even you know.
We all have busy lives andwe're all doing so much, and so
so many monthly donors havefallen off of our file, not even
(24:20):
knowing and not even realizingthat their gift has stopped.
And so when you have thosepeople who want to make a
difference but they justaccidentally fell off to have
someone dedicated to runningreports and seeing who canceled
due to a card issue, and theycan just call and say, hey, I
saw your gift canceled, and thenI'll tell you just from my
(24:42):
experience how grateful donorsare that you take the time to
call them.
They're like, oh my gosh, thankyou so much.
I didn't even realize.
I'll just say that I wouldreally, really recommend that
you have someone that can makethose calls or send those emails
out, because you're going tosee instant ROI.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
Yeah, I love you saying that, because I think
there's a lot of fear aroundphone calls and.
I think there's a lot of feararound even making that ask or
fear of letting somebody knowthat they had a gift and the
gratitude is what you're hearing, and I think that's amazing.
I think we make up sometimes inour like the person had already
(25:20):
said yes, it was already a gifthappening, and psychologically
we think, oh, I don't know if Iwant to remind them that they
were giving.
Are they going to be mad orthink that I'm annoying?
Speaker 2 (25:37):
for calling.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Yeah, and I think that's made up, or maybe they
don't answer right and you leavea voicemail.
I'm sure that happens a lot,where you're just leaving
voicemails and giving them thenext steps of what you can do.
But I love that and I willspeak from experience where I've
received.
I couldn't answer the phone,but I saw the voicemail from an
(26:01):
organization I give monthly toand I was so pleasantly
surprised and I was like, oh,that's lovely, and there was no
action to call them back.
But it was just like, hey, we'slovely, and there was no action
to call them back, but it wasjust like, hey, we just wanted
to reach out and let you knowthat we saw your gift come
through.
We're super grateful, and itjust keeps them top of mind and
just gives me that extra littlejolt of oh, I'm doing something
(26:23):
good yeah.
So, love that you do that.
Was there something that youhad to personally get over when
doing phone calls, or somethingthat you had to personally get
over when doing phone calls?
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Or were you just like , okay, how did you work through
that?
Yeah, I think just forcingmyself.
I will say that this is myfirst fundraising role, and so a
lot of the things that I doit's because I hear experts like
you or Dave or Erica say, hey,this works.
And so I'm like, okay, well,I'm going to try it.
If they say it works, let's doit.
It's just, I think, me knowingthat this could benefit the
(26:55):
program, I just had to get overthe things that are in my head.
I'm like, oh, I can't make thisphone call, but I think,
reminding myself, hey, if I makethis phone call and I recapture
this donor, then that justpushes my mission a little bit
further.
And so just getting out of theway and remembering that you're
working for an organizationthat's doing incredibly
important work, and every phonecall you make is, you know it's,
(27:18):
it's just making so much of animpact.
And then, with experience, likeyou said, me calling and hearing
I've never heard anyone say whydid you call me?
You know, so I've never andI've been doing this for a year
and a half now, where I've beenmaking these phone calls, and
they're always so grateful thatI took the time and that I see
them as a monthly donor.
(27:38):
And not only do I see them, butI see, hey, their gift stopped
and it wasn't intentional, andso I'm reaching out to remind
them.
And so, yeah, it's just, Ithink, doing it so much.
Now I'm more comfortable withit, but at first it was hard, I
was not comfortable making thecalls at all.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Yeah, it just takes practice, like anything else,
I'm guessing.
Yeah, but that's amazing A yearand a half in positive
reinforcement, re encouragement.
So I hope, listener, that thiscan resonate with you and maybe
have you take that first stepinto doing some phone calls.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
And I will say, with the outreach, just within the
first year we've reducedinvoluntary return by over 50%.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
Yeah, and that's just with me, just one person making
phone calls, sending emails,and I also do text messages from
my own.
I have a line that theorganization has for me, and so
I try every avenue I can.
But that's been very successful, so I'll say it's worth the
effort 1,000%.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
I mean, look what's really interesting is so
literally today I got a textmessage from my dentist office
that I haven't scheduled myappointment and sure enough, I
have forgotten a bazillion times.
Their text message reminded me.
I called them and I booked mydentist appointment because they
texted me.
Like phone call, probably wouldhave like thought it was a spam
number gone to voicemail, takenlonger.
(28:55):
They had a link in the textmessage.
It's like easy peasy.
It's just how we communicate,so that is so, so smart.
Thank you so much, Ashlyn, foreverything that you're doing,
for sharing your story with us.
I always like to ask thisquestion to organizations
joining the show Is thereanything that you would like to
ask for help or support on?
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Yeah, I would just like to ask how to convince not
just leadership but just anyonewho's kind of like on the fence
about how to promote monthlygiving, kind of first I would
say like sustainer first mindset, like what your thoughts are on
that, because I've had a fewinstances where we've had some
campaigns and we haven't had amonthly giving box on the forum
(29:36):
and I've asked about it.
The thought behind it is that,oh well, these are major donors
and so we don't want todowngrade them and so.
But what are your thoughts onthat?
Speaker 1 (29:46):
Oh, wow.
So I think you should alwayspresent the option, and I think
there's one thing that we knowand you probably see this it'd
be really interesting to look atyour recurring donor base is
that recurring donors usuallyoften make additional gifts
throughout the year, throughoutthe years when they are asked,
and a monthly donor base.
(30:07):
This is also something that Ithink, if you have some data to
showcase, that's helpful.
If there's been recurringsupporters that have increased
their gift, or they started as arecurring and then they've
become a major donor, that'salways interesting.
Or, especially with the climatethat we're in right now, it
could be that if a major donoris not going to give a big gift
(30:28):
right now because they'refeeling a little bit like I'm
going to keep this closer to thechest with funds right now,
However, I would give maybe thatlarger gift if it's broken down
into 12 installments.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
Because that feels more doable on the wallet right
now.
So I think that's the storythat if you're seeing like a
downward trend in major giftswhere it's like, hey, instead of
giving that one lump sum, wouldyou consider breaking that up
and joining Faithful Friends asa recurring supporter?
I think it's always the option.
(31:00):
I think when people want to begenerous, they're going to be
generous.
When they feel compelled togive, they're going to give.
I think sometimes it's we justhave to be top of mind to give
them that opportunity.
But when somebody is feelingcalled and passionate about a
cause, like they're going tomake it happen.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Yeah, point blank.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Yeah, thank you so much for being here.
Thank you so much for all youdo and for listening to the show
.
It's always fun when I have alistener.
Come on and be a guest.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Yeah, thank you so much for just I mean I, when I
think about the work that yousupport by you know, just
encouraging people in roles likemine.
You're touching every singlemission all over, so I just
can't thank you enough.
I owe so much of the thingsthat I've tried and have had
success with to you, so thankyou for what you do every day,
dana.
It really makes such an impactI love that, thank you.
Speaker 1 (31:53):
That's the whole goal .
I love that, and actually whenI get to speak with somebody
that's implementing the thingsand hear the stories back, that
fuels me and gives me so muchjoy.
So, thank you, that was verysweet.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of
Missions to Movements.
If you enjoyed our conversationand found it helpful, I would
love for you to take a moment toleave a review.
Wherever you're listening, yourfeedback helps us reach more
change makers like you andcontinue bringing impactful
stories and strategies to theshow.
(32:24):
Don't forget to hit thatsubscribe button, too, so you'll
never miss an episode.
And until next time, keepturning your mission into a
movement.
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