Monthly Giving Framework Step 3: Call In The Believers

Hey there , you're listening to the Missions to Movements podcast and I'm your host . Dana Snyder , digital strategist for nonprofits and founder and CEO of Positive Equation . This show highlights the digital strategies of organizations making a positive impact in the world .

Ready to learn the latest trends , actionable tips and the real stories from behind the feed , let's transform your mission into a movement . How do you magnetically attract your monthly donors ? In this episode , I am diving into step three of my monthly giving framework .

If you missed steps one and two , go back and listen to last week's episode , and that is number 130 . So at this point , you have the purpose and structure behind your monthly giving program , aka your product . It is established and you have a beautifully formatted website and donation process . But how do you call in the believers ?

How do we magnetically attract them in ? We all have different passions , interests , life experiences and traumas that guide our charitable giving . So your monthly giving program generates this sense of belonging , identity , community connection .

Cindy Otteson , the co-founder and chief development officer of Mary's List , understood that having a monthly giving program in place was setting up Mary's List to cultivate the people who are passionate about what they do . She said people want to help . We are just the vessel . Yes , we're a nonprofit .

We're just a conduit to match people to the right people and the right causes and the right things , because time , money and energy it's all so that we can be in alignment of our values . So the first part of calling in your believers is giving them the space to be creative in how they want to support you .

When I first started my company in 2017 , one of my very first clients was Movember and I helped run their campaign , their North America social media and digital marketing efforts from 2017 to 2019 .

And if you aren't familiar with them , movember is the leading global charity changing the face of men's health , focused on mental health , suicide prevention , prostate cancer and testicular cancer . If you happen to notice a surge of mustaches every November , you can thank Movember .

They created different ways that their Mo Bros and Mo Sisters could get involved through Grow a Mo Move for Mental Health , host a Mo-ment and Mo your Own Way moment and mow your own way , but the specifics ? They left that up to their super fans .

So on their website it literally says mow your own way is a hall pass to embrace the weird , wild and unexpected . So go all out and remember , donations favor the brave . So they are giving this like autonomy to people to go out and be their unique selves in raising money for the organization .

It's not these like you must do , a , b , c , d , like E , right , no ? So yeah , an example of this is Anton Taylor's Epic Adventure . He is a South African Mobro that embarked on a month-long adventure across South Africa , documenting his whole journey while raising funds for Movember .

He combined physical challenges he hiked and kayaked along with storytelling and sharing his experiences and the importance of men's health in his life . And sharing his experiences and the importance of men's health in his life .

This engaging approach that he put together not only raised substantial funds , but it also inspired so many people to watch and join in in the cause and really take proactive steps themselves towards their own health . So I love this idea .

I know it's given up a little bit of control , but they , as a brand , movember leans into and celebrates the true creativity of their supporters , which has now built a following that is very dedicated , year after year after year , and this starts with the clever copy on their website .

So I would say , kind of step one of calling the believers is giving up a lot of this freedom , understanding who are your super fans and letting them have the space to be unique and take the cause into their own world and space so it makes it meaningful for them . Two is copywriting .

So the first thing that's important to say is that your copy should feel accessible . When I studied I got my degree from UCF , go Knights and advertising and public relations we were told that when writing marketing copy it should be around the sixth I mean I would say to eighth grade , but that's even high , probably like sixth grade reading level .

And so double check I think I've talked about this before , but the Hemingway app is amazing for you to put in copy from your website and it will give you that grade score . So accessible is really important . Two , does it make sense ? There is some complicated copy and mission statements on websites out there . Do a little self audit . Is it easy to understand ?

And the question I always ask and I posted about this recently on LinkedIn is , when you read it . Think to yourself what does this mean , like , is it easy to get across ? Okay , so . Is it accessible ? Does it make sense ? Clear to understand ? And then we want to call people in Our copy should use language that includes the reader , our donor , in the mission .

We are a group of people . Our priorities together we give you . Is your page a conversation with the supporter , where they're nodding their head along the way , feeling a part of it , or are you just talking at them ? Or is it just about you ? Okay , so this is really important .

I am not I don't think an outstanding writer , although I'm writing a book , but when it comes out , you'll see , it's like totally my voice . I have a copywriter that I have hired for my mastermind program , so I am not doing that because I don't think it's my skill set .

If you don't think it's your skill set either , if it's not your jam and you're struggling with it , please hire someone like take that off your plate because it is so important . Copy makes a big difference . How do you magnetically attract your monthly donors ? By creating a monthly giving program designed to call in your believers .

It is that time again , applications are open for round five of my monthly giving mastermind that will start in July . We have launched 15 programs from all over the country . Are you next ? Head to positiveequationcom backslash mastermind or click the link in the show notes to apply .

If this is something that has been constantly knocked down your to-do list due to bandwidth or resources , let us build it for you . The monthly giving mastermind is a four month hybrid program . We are able to hear ideas and share strategies alongside other nonprofits while our team fully builds out your recurring donor program .

Head to positive equationcom backslash mastermind or click the link in the show notes to apply . The next step of calling your believers is finding really great partners . So these can be partners that are other nonprofits .

They could be corporate brands , and finding these values aligned partners can really help get your word out around other people that otherwise may never hear about it . So what companies are you already in partnership with ? Who sponsors events that you have and who's just on your wishlist that you'd love to partner with ?

That could really amplify the awareness of what you do , and maybe you've never even talked to them about your monthly giving program . And this can just start with a few easy asks Can you facilitate a lunch and learn for their employees . And then you're going to end with a call to action to give to your monthly giving program .

Ask them if they have a corporate matching opportunity for the monthly gifts . That's always exciting . You can even talk about that during the Lunch and Learn For internal or external comms . Will they share a blurb about your mission in your program , in their newsletters or on their social media ?

Right Like these are just a few like easy asks to get the ball rolling , but I always recommend have a phone conversation and just ask them and tell them about your program , get them inspired and excited to partner with you and then brainstorm ways together , learn about what they're working on , to continue that conversation and partnership .

And then the last aspect to calling in the believers is lead generation , and I truly believe in lead generation . It's so powerful In the moments where you're not asking . We should be consistently intentionally building our following and our email lists , especially to have this first party .

Data more than ever is very important and this is why I host my grow your list ads challenges every year two times a year list ads challenges every year , two times a year . It's important to have new people to invite in , so running a Facebook and Instagram ad campaign . This is what I launch in .

The challenge is one way to keep building your email list based on providing a free lead magnet in exchange . Now

you can also run donation ads directly to your program , but in this case of calling your believers , I think it's strong to have a lead generation strategy that's kind of this always on and that's more focused in growing your email list and cultivating that relationship over time . It will likely take time for these people to convert , but that's okay .

If you're a basketball fan , go with me here . Calling in the believers is like your layup to the , but that's okay . If you're a basketball fan , go with me here . Calling in the believers is like your layup to the slam dunk of the ask Okay .

So what we're thinking about here is , let's like , build a bunch of people who are interested in what we do , who believe in what we do , and then we're going to ask them over a period of time to join this program .

So what I would invite you to do is schedule time on your calendar to go through your website , copy your email , copy social media , copy and ask yourself A what does this mean ? And B is this written as if you are talking to one person and really honing in in your shared beliefs .

So in the next episode I'm going to wrap up the framework with what I know you are super excited to hear about , and those are steps four and five , which are make the ask and constant joy and gratitude how do we grow and sustain our recurring supporters ?

Now there are only a couple of weeks left before the next round of my summer monthly giving mastermind to apply . It starts in July , so if you want a recurring giving program up and running by the end of August that's when the site will be live you can head to positive equationcom backslash mastermind to apply .

I hope you have a great rest of your day and I'll see you next week . Can you tell I love talking all things digital to make this show better ? I'd be so grateful for your feedback . Leave a review , take a screenshot of this episode , share it on Instagram stories and tag positive equation with one E so I can reshare and connect with you .