The Habit of Asking: Shifting to a Recurring-First Mindset

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 .

So we say we want more monthly donors , but are we actually asking like we mean it ?

I am very excited to share this previously recorded live session from the 2025 Monthly Giving Summit , where this was my keynote that I shared where we really get real and honest about what it looks like to stop treating recurring giving like a side hustle or a PS message and really start making it the main event , because sustainable revenue doesn't happen by accident

. It happens when we lead with intention

, we ask boldly and when we invite people into something bigger than a one-time gift . And why this is even more crucial to think about right now is because of the flux that we're seeing in financial stability in the sector , with funding , and so truly recurring giving is the most sustainable and predictable revenue stream .

So I hope this keynote discussion from the Monthly Giving Summit inspires some inspiration , some creativity , some ideas , and it's the perfect warm-up for what's coming next week , which is Monthly Giving Awareness Week . It is a full-on celebration of this movement we're building together , presented by Giving Tuesday RKD Group and myself , all for you .

So we are going to have three different pieces of content released every single day next week . If you head to monthlygivingweekcom , go ahead and add there's a little calendar . You can add the event to your calendar , so you have it on there for a week . Come back to the website every single day , new content will be dripped out and released for you .

And if you are curious about other sessions from the Monthly Giving Summit specifically , all of the sessions have been uploaded for free on YouTube . You can also go to monthlygivingsummitcom and there's an easy way to access the playlist of all of the sessions for this .

So if you are ready to grow your program , to get inspired and to really start making monthly giving a no-brainer , maybe this needs to be sent to leadership in your organization . Continue to listen to this episode .

If you want the slide visual version , you can head to YouTube where you can see the actual presentation that I gave , and we'll make sure to link to that in the show notes . And with that , let's go , and don't forget to head to monthlygivingweekcom to get all of the amazing resources for next week

during Monthly Giving Awareness Week . Each of us has a shared vision to create a sustainable , reliable revenue and uninterrupted impact for our causes , and today I want to challenge you with one simple but powerful question . Do you have the habit of asking for occurring gifts ? And that's what we're going to dive into during my morning keynote today .

Now , if you would have told me 14 years ago that I would have dedicated my career to helping nonprofits build thriving monthly giving programs , I wouldn't have believed you . Not because I didn't care I've always been really passionate about impact but because of the time , monthly giving was not even in my radar .

In 2011 , I started in the nonprofit world officially after graduating from college as the Director of Marketing and Development for a nonprofit and I was juggling all the things this might sound very familiar from events , social media , donor appeals , email campaigns . Does this sound familiar to anybody ?

We talked about fundraising all the time , but never monthly giving really as a strategy . It was always major gifts , it was annual appeals and our big gala , and so why does this matter to me ? There was something really big that happened . I watched a movie . I watched a movie called the Whistleblower . Has anybody seen this movie before ? Yeah , the Whistleblower .

It came out in 2010 , and it's a drama based on the true story of Kathleen Bukovac , a Nebraskan police officer who took a job as a UN peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and she uncovered a human trafficking ring , only to realize that actual members of the UN and private contractors were complicit in the cover-up .

And despite threats and corruption and obstruction , she risked everything to tell the truth and I honestly , I rented this from a red box and just I thought it was a government thriller movie and at the very end

it said the words based on a true story and everything . I was shocked . I wanted to do something . So the first thing I did was I went to Google and I searched online for anti-human trafficking organizations . There's over a thousand just in the US , just in the US alone . And so I , like , continued searching .

I was like how in the world was I going to pick one organization of these thousands to support or volunteer with ? Kelly ? I remember Redbox , yeah , to support and be with . Then I found Blythe Hill . She is the founder of Dressumber . She stood out because she stood out about what she was doing and she was vocal about it .

I found her TED Talk on YouTube and she was doing something so different . She created her . What I like to call moat In businesses we call it it's really common around a moat of what makes you different , what makes it so like untouchable that you're who somebody wants to work with or support .

And her story stood out in how Dressumber fundraised , using dresses and ties as a peer-to-peer campaign to raise awareness , was so unique , and so I always say I love Dressumber too . One of the top ways to stand out is to create your moat .

I've had the really fortunate opportunity this is a QR code to listen to episode 142 , where Dressember has actually been acquired by IJM , international Justice Mission , and it's a really interesting story about how she made the decision to do that as a founder and become part of this bigger coalition , which I thought was so powerful .

And so we want to make sure that we create our moats by telling our stories . Your personal , unique stories are so powerful , and this is my daughter , kennedy , and since , before she was born , the on the right is this past Valentine's Day , so just a couple weeks ago I was telling her stories .

We tell lots of stories in this house , lots of stories on repeat , and now more than ever , your personal stories matter to amplify the work that you're doing . And so , nearly five years ago , I joined Dress Embers , the collective , their monthly giving program , and I wanted to just like

I am one individual . But what does it mean to be a monthly donor of five organizations ? Like who is this person right ? So , dressumber , they use fashion I talked about the dresses and the ties to raise awareness and funds to combat human trafficking . The Hope Booth I am a member of the movement .

They refurbish old telephone booths and install them in public spaces to provide messages of hope and mental health resources . You will hear from a member of the hope booth in just a few minutes . Aclu defends and promotes civil liberties and constitutional rights , litigation , advocacy and community engagement . I'm a monthly donor of the ACLU .

I'm a monthly donor of Chamber of Mothers , advocates for policies and supports mothers , including paid family leave , affordable childcare and maternal health and , lastly , politicist providing funding to cover childcare costs so parents can participate in civic activities , ensuring families have a voice in democracy .

Now I give in support to all of these organizations because it's so aligned with my core identity and because I was asked . I was asked to join specifically as a monthly donor to these organizations .

Now , I don't mean that they literally called me and asked , but whether it was a social ad , whether it was the first thing I saw on their website , whether Gloria Aymana at the Hope Booth , it was a LinkedIn post talking about the movement , specifically , I was called in to ask .

So here's a question what if we collectively could unlock $9 billion $9 billion Giving ? Tuesday has been running an analysis on the opportunities in our sector and

, no surprise , recurring giving is at the top of the list , and so you are going to get a preview , a first look at some of the key numbers from that analysis . So right now , only 3% of all charitable donations are given on a recurring basis in the United States .

If we move that number from 3% to 5% together , we would unlock an additional $9 billion in annual funding for nonprofits . Now think about that . $9 billion , not just one time every single year . That's enough to fund programs , hire more staff , expand services and create more impact . But now , this shift doesn't happen on its own and by accident , right ?

It happens when we as leaders , start changing our own habits , not just the habits of our donors , but it starts with how we prioritize . Yeah , isn't that crazy . I just got chills , I know . When they first told me this , I was like can I please share that ? I know it hasn't been like publicly announced anywhere , but this group needs to hear it .

But , most importantly , how do we communicate and how do we ask ? So I want you to think for a second about your own life . How many of you have a Netflix subscription or Hulu or Disney or any entertainment platform ? Like ? I'm going to keep my hand raised . How about a gym membership ? I'm going to keep my hand raised . I go to Orange Theory .

I need a class . I need people to like , motivate me . How about a meal delivery service , hellofresh ? We are like constantly in waves of this because I am not a good cook and I need a box to help me prepare meals . But we love the ease , right ? We love the predictability , the convenience . And the donors , they're no different . They love the habit of giving .

They said it and they forget it until , of course , they're like I'm so into this mission . But here's the real question Do we as or is it still the little sidebar on the website , the PS message in your email appeal a backup plan ? Because , be honest , how many of us are prioritizing monthly giving the way we should ? Because this is the reality .

If we want donors to build the habit of giving in a recurring first manner , we need to build the habit of asking in a recurring first manner . So how does it typically get positioned ? Let's look at this example . There's just one example . How many donation pages look like this ? Right , a small monthly giving button right underneath a hidden checkbox

? And maybe this is not all of you , but maybe it's a few . And now ask yourself if a donor this is a real page I took from a real nonprofit If a donor landed on this page , what's the first thing they see ?

Are they being asked to join something powerful and ongoing about community , or are they being asked to give once , with a small secondary option to consider monthly giving ? When we treat recurring giving as an afterthought , donors will too . That's just the fact . So here's the stats again . We already know the potential .

If we , collectively , can increase recurring giving from 3% to 5% , that is an extra $9 billion for nonprofits annually . But how do we actually make that happen , right ? That's the question . It starts with flipping the script If we treat recurring gifts as the primary way to support your organization rather than the optional way . Here's the truth .

Monthly donors just don't stick around longer . They also give more over time . They feel more connected to your work . They are way more likely to increase their gifts . Give again , introduce you to networks I am hosting a fundraiser at my house volunteer and leave legacy gifts . If we commit to asking differently , we will not just increase our funding .

We will create a new culture of philanthropy , one where sustained giving is the norm , not the exception , just like we've been taught in culture with the subscription economy . So how do we move today from knowledge to action ? There are two commitments we need to make today . First , implementation starts now .

Over the next two days , you're going to hear the most amazing strategies and case studies and practical tactics , but we have to commit what we learned today , not later , not next year , but today . And second , we must do this together . The most successful monthly giving programs do not operate in silos . I love our Sustainer Slack group .

There's 150 orgs in there . They collaborate , they share , they lift each other up .

If we truly want to grow this 2% each other up , if we truly want to grow this 2% we have to do it together . We have to build a community of support . So this is my challenge Before we dive in today's session . This is my only challenge today . Please take a moment .

Think about your next fundraising campaign , your website right now , the next email you have prepared to send out , the next email you have prepared to send out , and what's one way that you can start asking in a recurring ? First way , and number two , there are over 1,100 of you now in here right now .

Who is one person you can connect with here today to collaborate on growing your program ? This summit is not just about ideas . It is about action and if we can take that step together and make recurring giving the main event , I mean , wow , think about what that can do .

Let's make today the moment we stop treating monthly giving as an afterthought , because when we do , we are not just fundraising , we are building the future of philanthropy together . 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 changemakers 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 .