The push for donor value creation

What if there was a way to increase your revenue without changing the size of your donor base? Growing the recurring revenue from a fixed set of donors can supercharge their donor lifetime value.

Aside from acquiring new donors and keeping existing ones around, getting existing donors to give more on a recurring basis is a great way to build long term value. What this means is that instead of the endless rat race of chasing after new donors, you can also grow your donations by nurturing and providing value to your already loyal donors.

How to get more donations without more donors

Expanding your monthly recurring revenue is a great way to push for donor value creation. Growing your donor base can be very difficult but, with the help of subscription philanthropy, MRR expansion allows you to increase your revenue without changing the size of your donor base.

How do we focus on MRR Expansion? Look to your database

MRR expansion occurs whenever donors increase their recurring donations. Back in the retention and churn article, we discussed transforming your donor base into a garden. You can think of MRR expansion as the fruit from tending to your garden. As you water the garden, it grows without adding any new plants.

This could mean asking your one-time donors to give $10-$20 monthly, running a Fight with Every Swipe or ChangeMaker campaign encouraging donors to donate their spare change when they make a purchase or implementing a SmartAsk form to do the work for you.

To calculate MRR expansion, you only need to track donors who increased their recurring donations.

Tracking MRR expansion over time gives you a sense of donor satisfaction, aka the value you're creating for donors to stay engaged with your organization. If donors are happy and excited, MRR expansion will be high. If not, MRR expansion will go down.

MRR expansion is an effective way to measure Subscription Philanthropy. MRR expansion shows increases in donor support, which reflects how successfully you are stewarding and updating donors. You can even use it to compare various giving campaigns.

As you add tools to your stewardship toolbox, MRR expansion should grow.

Using MRR expansion, alongside the other metrics we have given throughout this series, you can paint a very detailed picture of your donor relationships, a painting that unlocks the power of your organization by understanding donors and their preferences.

Get started with Subscription Philanthropy

Harness Giving lives and breathes the subscription economy to make the entire donation process easier for donors and nonprofits alike. Whether you are a major player in your local philanthropy scene or just starting out, we can help make your organization a recurring donation powerhouse.

Ready to launch your Subscription program? If yes, consider speaking with the Harness Giving team to see how we can help you get results.Speak to the Harness Team

‍