Why Donors Leave (And How to Keep Them) · Class 6 of 7
Monthly giving
Learn how monthly donors behave, and find the people already giving almost every month who should be asked to set up a monthly gift.
Monthly donors stay longer than any other group. This class shows how long they stay, how much room small organizations have to grow monthly giving, and how to find the regular givers who already act like monthly donors.
Key takeaways
- Monthly donors stay, mostly. Of every 100 new monthly donors M+R tracked, 90 were still giving at two months, 81 at seven months and 71 after a year.
- Small organizations have room. In 2025, monthly gifts were 22% of online giving at organizations under $1M online, against 37% at the largest.
- Ask the people who already act like monthly donors, and guard the card. Your best prospects already give most months. Check for failed and expired cards every month.
Your homework
About 20 minutes.
- Write down how many monthly donors you have today.
- Find people who gave in six or more different months last year with no monthly gift set up.
- Write down their names and pick three to ask.
- Check for expired or failed cards in the past 90 days.
The free file check doesn't identify monthly or regular givers. This one is done in your donor system or a spreadsheet.
Get the Class 6 worksheet
A printable page with the steps, a table to fill in and a worked example. Tell us where to send it.
Sources
- M+R Benchmarks 2026