Gift For You: My 4-Part Monthly Giving Email Welcome Series Using Flodesk (Done For You!)

However , many times , we miss a really crucial opportunity by not having a thoughtful welcome process in place

for these really valuable supporters in building this relationship . I'm Dana Snyder , your host of the Missions to Movements podcast , and my path to philanthropy has been anything but traditional .

This show is your weekly mastermind , designed to give you the ideas , insights and support you need to push the boundaries of what's been done before in nonprofit marketing and fundraising . Whether you're looking to build a magnetic monthly giving program , elevate your personal brand or create partnerships that amplify your impact , this space is for you .

I'll bring you solo episodes and conversations with industry leaders offering actionable strategies and fresh perspectives that will move you and your mission forward . Let's turn your mission into a movement . Hey there , welcome back to Missions to Movements . Today , we are focusing on something I am truly passionate about .

I give you one guess Transforming your one-time donors into committed monthly supporters who become the backbone of your organization's mission and I recently celebrated my birthday on St Patrick's Day , and it got me thinking about giving rather than receiving . And so with St Patrick's Day and it got me thinking about giving rather than receiving .

And so with St Patrick's Day just past us traditionally a time associated with good fortune I wanted to share something hopefully valuable with you . I have developed over time a complete , ready to implement four-part email welcome series designed specifically for your monthly donors .

I typically share this in my monthly giving mastermind group , but the best part about today is it's entirely free for you to use and adapt for your organization . And so first I want to talk about why this matters . I'm going to talk about the logic behind the four-part email series . I'm going to talk about the platform .

I'm literally sharing the workflow with you in an email platform to use

and download . It's all ready to go . You just have to customize it . If you want to skip ahead and you're just eager to look at it , you can click the link in the show notes , or it is going to be accessible on my website , positiveecclesiacom , right at the top during this celebratory period . So let's discuss first of all why this matters .

When someone commits , they say yes to being a monthly donor , they've made a significant decision right , like they're essentially saying I believe in your mission enough to support it consistently , month after month after month , and this is a pivotal moment in your donor relationship .

However , many times we miss a really crucial opportunity by not having a thoughtful welcome process in place for these really valuable supporters in building this relationship , and a lot of times it's just because we already have so much going on .

We're trying to do it manually , and if we don't have this proper acknowledgement and engagement in the very beginning , we're risking that amazing beautiful high retention rate that we want . And this group usually is your most reliable supporter base , and so I understand the challenges of doing this .

Like creating an effective email sequence , takes time that you simply don't have in your already packed schedules . So this is why , precisely , I've created this resource for you . The workflow the four-part email series is completely built for you in Flowdesk . I love , love , love this email platform . If you receive any of my emails , that's what I use .

The implementation is super straightforward and it's strategically designed to establish trust with your new monthly donors from day one , to demonstrate the tangible impact of their ongoing support and to really foster engagement that extends beyond that initial transaction of the donation . What makes these emails particularly effective is their simplicity .

They're text-based , they're authentic communication . This really feels personal rather than promotional , even though they're coming from your email platform . The look and the feel and the format to them and how I have them designed specifically is that it should feel like it's coming from a person .

There's one email where there's an option to include a brief video , which even adds more of a human touch to your outreach . So these messages are all crafted to feel like they're coming from a real person who genuinely values the donor's commitment on the other end .

So let me walk you through the sequence that I have developed , the logic behind the four-part email welcome series . So email number one is the welcome and thank you email . It is sent 10 minutes after the gift . Now this is delivered shortly after their initial donation , with an intentional 10-minute delay . So the timing is deliberate .

Their payment receipt will have already arrived and this buffer , basically , is preventing an overwhelm of their inbox Because if you think about it normally , you would want it to be sent immediately . Then there's an email receipt .

There might be something else and already they're bombarded and they're just gonna be like , okay , they're all the same thing and not look at the importance of those separate welcome email . So the content and the timing

is straightforward , but it's meaningful , it's a sincere thank you , it's a warm welcome . There's no asks , just genuine appreciation . Then email number two is a founder ED message . This is going out one day later . So with it arriving one day later , it allows the donors like fully processing their commitment .

This is a personal message from your executive director or a founder , really connecting the donor's support directly to your organization's mission and vision . This is the ideal place for a brief video . It does not need professional production value . I actually think it's better if it doesn't have it .

It's just really authentic communication that's helping donors connect with your leadership . Email number three is the impact story email . This is coming two weeks after their initial commitment , so you're demonstrating exactly how monthly support translates into real impact .

This could be a compelling beneficiary story , a meaningful statistic , a testimonial that really illustrates the tangible difference that their support is making . So this email again , we're sending it technically 13 days after day one and this is reinforcing that decision to commit monthly by showing their support in action when it matters most .

Then email number four , probably my favorite , is the one-month anniversary email . This marks their first full month as a monthly donor milestone Definitely worth acknowledging . It's coming at day 30 . So this is going to be like 16 days after the last email .

It's celebrating their commitment Again , it reinforces the significance of their support and it also provides an opportunity to deeper their engagement . So this is sharing like what's going to happen . Next .

You're going to receive exclusive updates , maybe an invitation to a donor community , and then I also I think this might be an email three , where it's asking for a reply about like why did you decide to give ? What really inspired you about our mission ? You can either do this in email three or email four , where you're asking for a response .

So that's the setup of the four part emails . Now the beautiful part of it is that the real value in this welcome series is in automation , ensuring that every new monthly donor receives this thoughtful onboarding without requiring any manual intervention each time .

The only thing I want to put an asterisk on is if you want to create your email around the impact , where you're updating it on maybe a quarterly basis so that stays fresh , you can go in and just update that part . I have included in this download comprehensive instructions on how connecting your donation platform works to Flowdesk using

Zapier . Zapier is an integration tool that allows two different systems or more to communicate seamlessly , and so this automation works with virtually any donation platform that integrates with Zapier .

In my document , I've provided specific setup guides for several popular platforms GiveButter , fundraiseup , classy and iDonate but again , the process is adaptable to the most modern donation systems with Zapier . So if I did not list them , you can still look up how to do this Once you have it configured . So again , I'm sending you a link .

When you click on it , it is completely built out with the timing , email subject lines . You just have to edit them in Flowdesk . It's ready to go . You just need to make sure that you create your segments and connect it to your donation platform .

So once this is configured , this automation ensures that every new monthly donor automatically receives your welcome sequence no manual data entry , no exports , no imports , nothing , nothing else . Once you set it up , once it continues working in the background while you get to do everything else .

So if your organization or you is listening to this and saying , okay , I definitely want to do this , but I would like some personalized implementation support . I do offer VIP intensive sessions where we can develop and deploy this whole system together . We will craft the email messaging , we will set up the automation .

We will ensure that everything messaging , we will set up the automation . We will ensure that everything is functioning optimally for your specific needs . If you are interested in that , you can schedule a session going to positiveequationcom backslash monthly-giving . You can click the link in the show notes or just shoot me a message on LinkedIn . It totally works .

Just go to Dana Snyder . And a little bit of icing

on the cake here is if you really want to optimize this donor communication strategy , you could consider complementing these emails with SMS messaging , really creating a comprehensive , multi-channel approach .

Because , don't we know it , our phones are almost always within reach and text messages are nearly impossible to overlook , and they have incredible open rates , around like 99% . So it's just super effective . If you're interested in incorporating text messaging into your donor engagement strategy , you can join me and the team at Tatango .

We have a webinar coming up on March 26th at 1.30 pm Eastern Time . It's a free webinar SMS 101 , four essential messages to engage donors and boost giving . We're going to go through it all . How do you acquire phone numbers ? What are the rules , logistics you need to have , what type of messages work , when to send them , all those things .

So really really practical guidance , open Q&A , how to increase engagement , but obviously without overwhelming supporters . And so if you're interested in that , you can register through the link in the show notes to secure your spot . And , last but certainly not least , the most important thing is your next step . So how do you get this free welcome series ?

You can visit the link in the show notes to download your free four-part email welcome series and implement it in Flowdesk quickly , and I am so confident that this one resource will make a significant difference .

And I want to share a little bit also about Flowdesk and why I use this platform , and if you are using something else like a MailChimp , a Constant Contact Flowdesk , and why I use this platform . And if you are using something else like a MailChimp , a Constant Contact Flowdesk empowers you to grow .

They do not charge any different rates dependent upon the size of your subscriber base .

So no matter if you have one email subscriber or 100,000 email subscribers , you pay the same flat rate and you get all of the features , all of the forms , all of the beautiful emails , all of the Instagram link and bios , all the amazing audience metrics and analytics that you get , the segmenting it's amazing .

And if you sign up , I think it's normally $410 annually . I have a special discount link or code where you get 50% off your first year , so it's $210 flat . I mean , it's no brainer , or I think . If you pay by month , it's $35 a month . You can look into the pricing .

But when you click to download the four-part email welcome series workflow template it's not just the emails , it's welcome series workflow template . It's not just the emails , it's the whole workflow template Then it's going to ask you to create an account . It will be a free account so you can test it all out , see how it looks If you like it .

If you want to test it , you can even start by just like uploading a CSV file and let it run . I promise you're going to love it . I've been using it for years . If you have any questions , please let me know .

Again , you can reach out to me on Instagram , reach out to me on LinkedIn , but when you implement the series , I'd love to hear about it or tag me on social media , whatever works . And happy St Patrick's Day , and I hope this gift brings lasting value and good luck to your organization .

Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode of Missions to Movements . If you enjoyed our conversation and found it helpful , I would love for you to take a moment to leave a review . Wherever you're listening , your feedback helps us reach more change makers like you and continue bringing impactful stories and strategies to the show .

Don't forget to hit that subscribe button , too , so you'll never miss an episode . And until next time , keep turning your mission into a movement .