Regular Giving Best Practices: A Modern Guide to Sustainable Fundraising

Why Monthly Giving Deserves the Spotlight

Your guide to building sustainable, donor-centric fundraising programs with Raisely.

Regular giving isn’t new—but it’s never been more essential. And that message came through loud and clear during Monthly Giving Awareness Week (May 12–16). Predictable, long-term support isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s the key to sustainable, resilient fundraising.

One-off donations still matter, but recurring giving—also known as regular giving or monthly giving—is now the foundation of high-performing programs.

According to Raisely’s 2025 Fundraising Benchmarks Report:

📈 Over 70% of organisations are using fundraising appeals and regular giving 📊 75% of high-growth organisations rely on a combined strategy of appeals + regular giving

⚡ 52% are levelling up by adding Giving Days to create urgency and momentum

💥 Regular Giving prompts can double returns on appeal performance

The data from the latest Fundraising Effectiveness Project (Q4 2024) underscores the challenge:

• New donor acquisition fell 7% year-over-year, while new donor retention dropped to just 19.4%.
• 69% of donors gave only once, accounting for 75% of total donor decline.
• In contrast, donors who gave 7+ times/year retained at 86.8% and contributed to overall revenue growth.

Regular giving transforms this picture. It delivers sustained income, improves donor lifetime value, and builds stability during volatile times. And the most effective organisations are already integrating recurring giving as a core growth driver.

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🆕 Download our Regular Giving Checklist

Stay organised and build a sustainable recurring giving program with our Regular Giving Checklist—including clear steps for setting goals, engaging donors, and tracking progress, this checklist ensures your organisation creates reliable income streams that drive long-term impact. 👉 Download the checklist

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Build Regular Giving Into Your Acquisition Strategy

Most donor acquisition strategies focus on securing that first one-off donation—but with 69% of donors giving only once, and new donor retention at just 19.4%, that approach is unsustainable.

Recurring giving should be a core part of your acquisition strategy, not just a retention tactic.

Here’s how:

• Make monthly giving the default option on your donation forms.
• Use Raisely’s upsell feature to invite new one-time donors to become regular givers immediately after they donate.
• Create landing pages or appeals that centre the idea of “joining a community” or “funding long-term change”—language that resonates more with recurring support.

Then, identify existing supporters who are most likely to convert:

• Segment by frequency and recency of giving
• Target donors who gave 2–3 times in the past year
• Use email, SMS, or calls to share the value and impact of recurring giving

By positioning monthly giving as the starting point—not the end goal—you build a stronger donor pipeline from the outset.

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🎯 Raisely's 2025 Fundraising Benchmarks Report

Want to dig deeper into the nonprofit fundraising trends shaping P2P strategy right now? Explore the full 2025 Fundraising Benchmarks Report for more insights and strategies you can put into practice.

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Make Regular Giving the Default

Monthly giving should be more than an option—it should be your fundraising default.

"If you've noticed retention slipping and acquisition declining, then it's time to take action. What's the single most effective thing you can do to improve digital RG acquisition? Add an RG upgrade ask in your checkout (or just switch it on in Raisely!) and clearly articulate the additional impact of regular giving."

—Jack Biss, Call To Action Group (Raisely Partner Agency)

🔁 Try Raisely’s Regular Giving Upsell

This feature prompts one-time donors to convert to a recurring gift immediately after selecting a one-off amount.

• Raisely data shows it can double monthly donor signups and boost fundraising by at least 6.5%.
• With optimised UX and dynamic default amounts, it feels intuitive—not pushy.

👉 See how it works

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Offer Flexible Giving Options

Your donors aren’t one-size-fits-all—so your regular giving options shouldn’t be either:

• Weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly options
• Custom preset donation amounts
• Direct Debit support for donors in Australia and the UK

🎯 Raisely in Action: Easily configure donation frequency and values in your campaign settings.

👉 Explore Raisely’s recurring giving tools

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Design a Retention Experience That Works

Retention is the second-highest priority for nonprofits this year—and one of the most powerful predictors of fundraising growth.

Raisely makes it easy to design donor journeys that go beyond thank-you emails. With tools for automated welcome sequences, milestone recognition, and personalised updates, you can build stronger relationships without increasing workload.

The 2025 Fundraising Benchmarks show high-performing organisations prioritise retention and recurring giving more than others. Yet the typical global nonprofit retains just 57.2% of donors annually—with North America trailing at 46.6% —Dataro (Raisely Partner Agency).

To stand out, organisations must create fundraising experiences that feel personal, timely, and relevant. That means moving beyond surface-level engagement to intentional, responsive communication.

🔧 Pro tip: Raisely integrates with platforms like Keela, a nonprofit CRM that automates engagement, tracks giving history, and delivers AI-powered insights to improve retention.

Better donor experiences start here. And Raisely helps you deliver them at scale.

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Stack Regular Giving With Other Strategies

Recurring giving works best when integrated with complementary approaches:

• Matched Giving increases results by 3.7x
• Pair with Appeals to double your revenue
• Use Giving Days to create urgency, then invite donors to stay longer-term

These three elements—Appeals, Monthly Giving, and Giving Days—form what we call the Core Fundraising Stack.

The Core Fundraising Stack is used by over 75% of high-growth organisations, according to the 2025 Fundraising Benchmarks. It blends consistency, urgency, and relationship-building into a unified approach to fundraising.

Raisely empowers you to run all three with ease, offering integrated tools for:

• Custom appeal landing pages
• Recurring giving upsells and automated journeys
• Giving Day countdowns and real-time campaign thermometers

If you're not yet leveraging all three elements together, this is your opportunity to level up. The Core Fundraising Stack isn’t just a trend—it’s a proven framework for scalable success.

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Case Study: Forever Projects

Forever Projects supports families in Tanzania to break the cycle of poverty. Monthly giving is their foundation—and they frame it as a "subscription for good" that delivers long-term change.

"Recurring gifts let us plan for long-term solutions. They’re not just donations—they’re partnerships." —Forever Projects Team

What worked:

• Clear monthly tiers tied to tangible impact
• A story-driven landing page optimised for recurring support
• Strong donor retention through transparent communication and community-building

🧠 Lesson: Forever Projects doesn’t just collect recurring gifts—they inspire belief in the journey those gifts make possible.

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Why Raisely is the Platform of Choice for Regular Giving

The numbers don’t lie: donor acquisition is shrinking, one-time givers are disappearing, and retention is falling across the board.

Recurring giving is the answer:

• Predictable revenue
• Longer-lasting donor relationships
• Less pressure on one-off campaigns

With Raisely, you get everything you need to:

• Make recurring giving the default experience
• Nurture regular givers with automation and insight
• Empower donors to give on their terms

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👉 Take the next step:

Watch the 2025 Fundraising Benchmarks Webinar or activate Raisely’s Regular Giving features today

Whether you're launching your first regular giving campaign or scaling an established program, Raisely gives you the tools, insights, and support to grow.

Because sustainable growth isn’t just about raising more—it’s about raising smarter. And with Raisely, you can do both.