Planes, Pledges, and Persistence: How One Organization Built a Recurring Giving Program That Actually Lasts
What does it take to build a recurring giving program inside an organization with 80+ years of history, deep donor relationships, and a mission that literally flies people to the ends of the earth?
In this episode, Dave Raley sits down with Tracey Werre, Director of Growth & Digital Experiences at Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), for a candid, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to grow sustainable recurring revenue, not in a vacuum, but inside a complex, multi-model organization with a lot of heritage and a lot of heart.
Tracey brings over two decades of marketing expertise, a background that spans fashion to aviation (yes, really), and 16 years of deep nonprofit fundraising experience at MAF. She's built a recurring giving program called Flight Crew from the ground up, and she's not done yet. From a scrappy MVP launch in 2020 to a full-scale 5.0 revamp, Tracey shares the wins, the walls she hit, and the wisdom she's picked up along the way. If you've ever wondered what it looks like to actually commit to recurring giving — not just test it once and move on — this conversation is for you.
Key Topics They Cover:
Tracey's Unconventional Path into Nonprofit Fundraising
Tracey went from fashion and e-commerce to MAF after the dot-com bust, bringing her digital marketing chops into a sector that needed them. She sees a fascinating parallel between that early internet disruption and today's "subscription economy" moment and believes we're entering a new era of maturity in recurring giving.
MAF's Unique Funding Model and the Challenge of Building a General Fund
MAF is funded three ways: organizational revenue, career staff missionary support, and fees for service. For years, monthly giving was tied primarily to individual missionaries, not the general fund. As staff tenures shortened and retirement waves hit, Tracey and her colleague Mickey saw the writing on the wall: it was time to invest seriously in organizational recurring giving.
The Birth of Flight Crew: Human-Centered Design Meets Nonprofit Fundraising
Rather than guessing, MAF partnered with Alan Thornburg (now of Sublimity) to talk directly to donors and run concept tests. The name "Flight Crew" emerged because it put donors in the story. They're not passive supporters, they're part of the crew. Early feedback confirmed it: members said they felt like they had a "bird's eye view" of the mission, like a co-pilot on every flight.
The Evolution from Launch to 5.0 — What Changed and Why
Flight Crew launched in fall 2020 (COVID year, no less) with four times the expected signups. But growth eventually plateaued. Tracey shares candidly what prompted the 5.0 revamp — new human-centered design research, upgraded donation platform technology (hello, Fundraise Up), and a fresh storytelling angle tied to MAF's documentary Ends of the Earth. The payoff? A 20% jump in recurring donors since last fall.
What Reliable Recurring Revenue Actually Makes Possible
For MAF, this isn't just a fundraising metric. It's Ebola flights in the Congo. Emergency medevacs from conflict zones. Fuel price volatility. Having thousands of Flight Crew members means the work doesn't stop when the unexpected happens, and it frees leadership to think strategically rather than scramble for immediate cash.
Also in this episode, they talk about:
Technology as a Make-or-Break Factor — A multi-year Salesforce migration created real friction in Flight Crew's growth. Once MAF moved to Fundraise Up, recurring conversions jumped 20%. Technology can be your biggest barrier or your best ally, and this episode is a great case study in both.
The Major Donor–Sustainer Overlap — Some of MAF's highest-value donors give through Flight Crew at $10,000/month simply because that's how they prefer to give. A strong broad-based monthly program can quietly feed your major gift pipeline in ways you might not expect.
Simple Steps Any Organization Can Take Right Now — Remove friction from your donation form. Change the default to monthly. Send one email about why monthly giving matters. You don't need a full program to start. You just need to make it easy and ask.
What Generosity Does for the Donor — Tracey's closing thought is worth sitting with: generosity isn't just good for organizations, it's good for people. In a culture wrestling with mental health and disconnection, she sees recurring giving as genuinely transformative for the donor, not just the mission.
Looking Ahead: Events, Acquisition, and Going Beyond Digital — Flight Crew was built digital-first, but Tracey sees the next phase as taking the experience into live events — think Compassion's model of large-scale in-person donor acquisition. MAF is laser-focused on top-of-funnel growth and making the brand known beyond its niche aviation audience.
What's one thing your organization could do in the next 90 days to make it easier for donors to give monthly?
Key Resources:
Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) — Learn more about the organization and Flight Crew
Ends of the Earth Documentary — MAF's documentary film, now available to stream
The Rise of Sustainable Giving by Dave Raley — Dave's book, which features MAF's Flight Crew story
Sublimity (Alan Thornburg) — Human-centered design for nonprofits
Fundraise Up — The donation platform MAF switched to, with strong recurring-giving conversion tools
The Center for Sustainable Giving — Dave Raley's consulting firm; learn about the Recurring Giving Assessment & Roadmap
Special thanks to our team at Sustainable Giving: Tom, Kirsten, Victoria, and Abigail.