What if your next monthly donor is already on your file, just waiting for you to actually ask?
This week on the Sustainable Giving Podcast, Dave Raley sits down with Victoria Mannoia, Associate Vice President of Client Strategy at BDI, to unpack BDI's new research on rescue mission sustainers. Instead of crunching numbers alone, Victoria's team sat down with real donors for in-depth interviews to hear, in their own words, why they give, why they stay, and what would move them to give monthly.
Spoiler: a lot of donors say they've never been asked. Victoria also shares her journey from marketing student to "banging down the door" of the agency world, why BDI went all in on sustainable giving (including earning its Sustainable Giving Certification), and her rallying cry for every nonprofit: having a program is not the same as HAVING a program.
Key Topics They Cover:
The Donor Pathway
BDI maps the donor journey from brand and awareness, through activation (volunteering or a first gift), to sustainer, mid-level, major, and legacy giving. Dave calls the first half "addition" and the back half "multiplication." Victoria calls it the "compounding value zone."
"Nobody Asked Me"
Many of the donors interviewed said they didn't feel they'd ever been asked to give monthly, and more than half of those said they'd consider it if asked. The fix? Ask personally, ask clearly, and ask with confidence (no more "P.S. you could also give monthly").
Faith as Identity
For many rescue mission sustainers, generosity is rooted in faith and family, often going back to childhood. A church's endorsement brings instant credibility, which makes church relations staff a hidden asset for sustainer growth.
Community and Belonging
Sustainers want to know they're part of something. That doesn't mean monthly webinars. Something as simple as one named person who "owns" your sustainer communications can create relationship at scale.
Having a Program vs. HAVING a Program
A name, a landing page, and a donation form aren't a program. What's the value to the donor? Why stay? How will you "earn that gift every month"?
Also in this episode, they talk about:
Why working on the nonprofit side first gave Victoria real empathy for her client partners
Moving donors from a single-gift mindset to an investment mindset
Where to start: pick realistic benefits, and make sure your monthly offer is different from (and bigger than) your acquisition offer
Why one appeal is just one at-bat: keep swinging
What excites Victoria about the future of fundraising
So, what would your sustainers say if we asked whether you've ever really invited them in?
Key Resources:
BDI's Rescue Mission Sustainer Research: https://bdiagency.com/rescue-mission-sustainers/
Connect with Victoria on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vamannoia/
Generosity from Generation to Generation (Dave's article): https://www.sustainablegiving.org/articles/generosity-from-generation-to-generation
Connect with Dave Raley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/draley/
The Rise of Sustainable Giving by Dave Raley: https://sustainablegiving.org/book
Special thanks to our team at Sustainable Giving: Tom, Kirsten, Victoria, and Abigail.