The Thousand Solutions Blog

Set Up Recurring Donations for non-profit organizations: Three Easy Steps

Jun 21, 2024

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Small-scale nonprofits often assume that establishing recurring donation programs will only benefit well-known organizations with a large administrative budget.

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Unfortunately, this notion can cause so many non-profit organizations struggle to get beyond the limits of a particular level.

Making the donation process easier for donors can increase their trust in your business. The manual process of processing donations every month or every year does not provide the most pleasant experience.

If they only give one time, they will need be able to go back and manually repeat the payment process. In the end, you'll miss out on consistent support, limiting your organization's expansion and effectiveness. That's why setting up recurring contributions to your charity is a must.

In this post we'll talk about the advantages of recurring donations and how to set them up easily. Read on to discover how you can unlock your organization's potential to the maximum.

Recurring donations to non-profits for charities How do they work?

The recurring donation system is one that allows you to accept the donations of your donors on a regular basis without any hassle to them. The process begins when a donor goes to your site and select"recurring donations" on your website "recurring donation" option for their donation method.

Wondering how you would make this happen?

Well, that's where plugins can help. There are a variety of WordPress plugins that are available on the market that can handle the whole donation process and manage the donor database for you.

These plugins can handle tasks such as automatic billing, keeping donation information safe while also handling change requests or cancelations. This allows you to concentrate more on your main goals instead of worrying about obtaining funds.

What can recurring donations do to Non-Profit Organizations?

Recurring donations can help your organization in many ways other than making donation processes easier for the donors.

We'll look at a few more benefits of recurring donations that might make you regret not having them set up for your charity.

Stability in finances: Regular donations offer a predictable and steady income stream, allowing your nonprofit to plan and budget better. With the stability of the stream it allows you to concentrate on your work instead of stressing about how to raise funds.

Higher donor retention: Donors who are willing to give regularly are more likely to donate to your cause in the long run. A long-term commitment to your cause aids your non-profit in building the foundation of committed donors who are willing to contribute towards its mission.

Less administrative work The handling of individual contributions requires less time and effort as the process for donating is automated. This frees up you and your organization's people to work on activities that further the organization's goal rather than the tasks related to donations.

Improved cash flow Regular donations help ensure that the flow of cash is steady, which is important for funding projects as well as to cover the running expenses. The stability of the flow makes it simpler for your organization to control every dollar.

Improves connections with donorsRegular donors are adamant about your organization and cause. A stronger relationship can make donors happier, encourage them to give more and could increase their donations in the future.

More capabilities for doing betterWith the steady flow of revenue from regular donations that you organize and implement long-term projects with more trust. This helps in tracking and monitoring the results much easier. You can also show donors and stakeholders how well your organization's efforts are performing.

Establish recurring donation programs for non-profit organizations with 3 Steps to Set-up Recurring Donations for Nonprofits

It's an WordPress plugin that's specially designed to help manage large numbers of users and to collect money from them. It works with almost any payment method and offers much more to nonprofits that they will profit from.

But before we get deep into them, let's learn how the process to establish recurring donations for your nonprofit in 3 easy steps.

Step 1: Download and install

Once you purchase the perfect plan, log in to .com to download the zip file of your plugin. Next, follow these simple steps to set up and activate swiftly.

  • Login on the WordPress dashboard of your website.
  • Head to Plugins -> Add New -> Upload
  • Select the .zip file you downloaded earlier

Once installed, don't forget to turn on the plugin.

If you have successfully activated your WordPress, you'll see the menus displayed on the WordPress dashboard.

On the Settingsmenu In the Settingsmenu, you are able to configure the basic settings, such as currency, payment gateways and more.

Step 2: Setting Donation Levels

Like the title suggests, is primarily used to manage membership. By taking advantage of the membership feature that allows for the donation amount.

If you have five different donation amounts set on your website. The only thing you need to do is create five different memberships that recur for each amount to be charged at regular intervals.

Still confused?

We'll assume that this is your donation page.

That's what we did in the example.

Now, all you need to do is connect the memberships to the prices in a manner that is appropriate. It is possible to set an amount of money based on what your usual donations look like. Cater your donation levels depending on the typical budget of your donor and their expectations.

This will make it easier for them to determine the most suitable amount to fit their budget.

Step 3: Create Recurring Donation

From the dashboard, choose Memberships from the dashboard. Then, on the next screen, click on Add New.

On the Membership Setup page, provide a captivating title to the membership. On the left side of the bar, you'll find an possibility to choose the price as well as the type of billing the time period. Choose them to match your preferences.

If you scroll to the bottom to the bottom, you'll find an option to set up the option to have a thank-you note be displayed after a contribution is received.

When you've finished then click publish. Now, repeat the process to set up recurring memberships in all of the amount amounts you've listed on your donation page. After you've completed this process then go to the Membership page, and copy the URLs. Make sure to copy these URLs into the donation page in the correct manner.

Now, as soon as you click on the hyperlink, they'll be brought to the checkout page, where they can make the payment any way they like.

Now you are all set to receive recurring contributions from your supporters. But things will only start growing now. It will continue to help your nonprofit as it grows beyond soliciting contributions.

How can you help your Non-Profit Organization?

Once your nonprofit has regular donations in place and in operation, you need to look at the different areas to guarantee the correct development of your donor base. From managing your database of users to promoting your charity digitally to promoting everything with .

Easily Manage Donors

You can use a system to monitor a large number of users. You can organize your donors into groups according to how frequently they donate, how much they give, and other factors. This allows you to make personalized communication plans and increases the involvement of donors and retention rate.

Useful reports and analytics

In order to grow your non-profit, you need to know the donors you have and how they behave. The reports are detailed and include analytics that show patterns in the amount of donations received as well as membership renewals and your site's general financial health.

These tips can assist you in making smart decisions and improve the effectiveness of your fundraising efforts and demonstrate to donors that your efforts are making a an impact.

Many ways of paying

If customers aren't able discover the payment method they prefer, search for alternative options, and you lose a prospective client.

There are many payment gateways which permit donors to give using the method they prefer. This flexibility can lead to better customer satisfaction and greater retention.

Power of Automated Emails

Utilize automated emails to communicate with your donors. You can send their confirmations, thank-you messages, and membership renewals. These personal touches could help to strengthen relationships with donors and ensure they keep coming back.

Affirmed and Reputable by Thousands of Customers

All information about payments and donors is kept secure by . This shows your donors that you trust them, and also gives them peace of mind that their personal and financial information is safe.

Simple to incorporate other helpful Tools

Ensure Better Funding for Your Non-Profit Today!

We hope that this article has helped you to understand the importance of recurring donations are to ensure your charity's continued development and its impact. With the help of recurring donations, you will be able to simplify the process of donation as well as manage donor relationships in a more efficient manner as well as ensure stability in your financials.

We recommend that you take the required steps for setting up recurring donations for your organization. It will allow you to free up time to be more focused on the real-life impact.

Be sure to let us know in case there's a problem or you'd like to know more about . If you've found this post helpful, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn!

S Showrabh       From writing poetry and short stories, to composing technical things about WordPress and running a membership site, plenty of things have changed since Showrabh. What did not change is his passion to write and spending time. He is a fan of football, music as well as cricket. He can be found looking at the celling or put on his headphone and write for long periods of time. While he is not doing any of the above frequently, he's able to explain why someone could love cricket and football equally at the same time.