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  • 1.  Options for small recurring gifts?

    Posted 08-10-2023 10:51 AM

    Hi everyone,


    We are looking into options for donors to make a small recurring gift ($3-$5). However, our systems (Blackbaud Online Express and GiveCampus) do not allow a recurring gift amount under $10. This is a challenge as we are looking to do a recurring gift campaign to our younger alumni and feel the smaller amounts would be desirable.

    Do any of you have the option for small recurring gifts? What tools are you using to accomplish this? 

    Thanks so much,

    Kelly



    ------------------------------
    Kelly Galanis
    Advancement Services Manager
    Holyoke Community College
    kgalanis@hcc.edu
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: Options for small recurring gifts?

    Posted 08-10-2023 03:45 PM
    While I am not a fan of small-dollar donations (lots of work for your staff with high overhead), no law requires recurring gifts to be set up monthly. Why not set your small-dollar donors up for quarterly donations, bypassing the minimums established by your vendors? You could still "advertise" $5/month but let donors know that will be charged quarterly.

    But I'd first approach these donors asking for $10/month. Have you had much pushback at that level? It's barely two Venti Skinny Vanilla Latte's a month! 

    John

    John H. Taylor
    Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier St.
    Durham, NC   27705
    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987




    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Options for small recurring gifts?

    Posted 08-11-2023 08:46 AM

    Hi Kelly...

    I believe the minimum transaction option could be controlled by your credit card processor.  I know I have worked to adjust this with Elevon/Cybersource in the past.  The reason for the threshold is to prevent a large number of small transactions (typically $1) from being flooded on the server in order to test stolen credit card numbers.  I've seen several thousand of these come through at a time and it is quite expensive.  I would check with your Treasury department if there is a way to lower this to $5.   

    Terry Callaghan 

    Zuri Group

    Proud aasp Executive Board member



    ------------------------------
    Terry Callaghan
    Zuri Group
    terry@zurigroup.com
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Options for small recurring gifts?

    Posted 08-11-2023 10:19 AM
    You can get recurring donation functionality from other fundraising platforms:

    https://www.givelively.org/ - totally free aside from standard cc processing fees, but you must use Stripe
    https://givebutter.com/donation-forms - totally free (except cc fees) if you let them ask for tips from your donors, or 1% if you don't. 3% if you want to set up a donation page, rather than just embed their form on our page

    You can also do this directly through Stripe -- they now offer their own front-end forms. Here's instructions for setting up a recurring donation page: https://support.stripe.com/questions/how-to-accept-donations-through-stripe and here's the link to their general payment link page: https://stripe.com/payments/payment-links 

    Another option is to use Patreon, which might make sense if you're looking to build a relationship with these donors in a unique channel, but is otherwise pricey (8% platform fee). 

    Finally, you can use form providers like JotForm or GravityForm, but I don't think they offer as good a UI and payflow experience unless you put some work into designing them. The templates they offer are very 2004. 

    I largely agree that if your goal is acquisition, engagement, and relationship-building with a younger audience, it is helpful to be able to ask for less than $10/month. That said, make sure to plan out the data flow back to your CRM and the related gift entry process.


    Thank you,
    Isaac Shalev
    Data Strategy Expert
    Sage70, Inc.
    (917) 859-0151
    isaac@sage70.com

    Schedule a 30-minute consultation now:




    Original Message


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