How Denver Rescue Mission Attracts and Retains Recurring Donors

Mission

Changing lives in the name of Christ by meeting people at their physical and spiritual points of need with the goal of returning them to society as productive, self-sufficient citizens

Challenge

Better tracking of where donors come from and promoting recurring giving

Solution

Offer a monthly giving option on every donation page to further maximize conversion for recurring donors

“We’re setting up ads that track existing donors versus new donors and are targeting them differently. It’s simple to duplicate campaigns in Classy, making it easy to create pages that match each of those ads. We put different Classy source codes on donation pages to test the ads themselves so we can get greater insight into what our audience responds to.”

– Robert Bogan, Digital Marketing Manager

Recurring Donor Results:

3,286

active recurring donors

3.9 years

average duration of a monthly donor

$54.39

average recurring donation amount

A Robust Monthly Giving Strategy

For more than 130 years, Denver Rescue Mission has worked to serve the needs of people experiencing homelessness and addiction in Denver, Colorado. The nonprofit provides emergency services, rehabilitation, transitional programs, and community outreach in order to meet people experiencing homelessness at their unique points of need. Denver Rescue Mission’s online fundraising success is in part thanks to a robust monthly giving strategy that aims to meet donors where they are and provide easy, low-fee options for their recurring gifts.

Through improved donor-focused messaging and targeting, Denver Rescue Mission has been able to drive greater traffic to its website and raise more funds.

Challenging One-Time Donors to Become Recurring Donors

This year, Denver Rescue Mission challenged its donors with a “Double Your First Three Months of Giving” offer, thanks to a separate group of generous donors who provided the challenge funds, up to $36,000 total. In just one month, over $12,465 in new or upgraded monthly donations have come in from 125 donors, exceeding their goal by $465 and adding 81 new monthly sustainers.

The long-term value of those new recurring donors is more than $580,000.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr013TIOD4A/

Nurturing Relationships With Recurring Donors

Denver Rescue Mission’s Monthly Giving Community is called Pathways of Hope. The main goal is to make donors of all giving amounts feel connected to the mission and community, as well as to steward donors and show them how valued and appreciated they are.

To acquire new monthly donors, Denver Rescue Mission sends out emails like this year’s challenge series, a monthly newsletter, and direct mail campaigns. They also set up digital ads and dedicated Classy recurring giving pages, as well as offer the monthly giving option on every donation page to further maximize conversion for recurring donors.

Pathways of Hope members receive less frequent communication but with more targeted messaging, including a monthly e-newsletter that serves as a one-stop shop for all things Denver Rescue Mission. They also receive various stewardship and member-only volunteer opportunities throughout the year and are recognized for their giving anniversary, partnership, and continuous support.

Denver Rescue Mission email — Example of Pathways of Hope Member Email

When it comes to stewarding these donors, Denver Rescue Mission has a dedicated staff member who follows up with any donor questions, sends a monthly newsletter with the latest news and volunteer opportunities, and hosts volunteer nights once a month.

Keeping Each Touchpoint With Donors Intentional

Denver Rescue Mission continues to increase the effectiveness of its fundraising by tracking the different routes supporters take to land on a Classy campaign page. Using Classy’s built-in marketing source codes, Denver Rescue Mission can see if donors come from a specific email, blog, webpage header, or even their print newsletter, which also has its own unique URL for donations.

Looking ahead, the Denver Rescue Mission team will focus on retargeting potential donors, converting potential monthly donors through email segmentation, and nurturing its Pathways of Hope community members. This is all with the goal of building and deepening relationships with their supporters.