Migrating your recurring givers is an essential part of your long-term success using Virtuous Giving and Payments by Virtuous. Essentially, you will need to recapture your donors' bank/credit card information in Payments. The good news is: this gives you an opportunity to open a dialogue with these donors and reengage - who knows, perhaps you'll be able to foster support in an unexpected way!
So, let's break down this process:
Plan Your Launch and Communications
For your launch:
- Determine your timeline.
- Set your priorities - which groups of donors will go first?
- You may consider factors like gift size or level of support.
- If you haven't already, create an online giving form for your supporters to fill.
For your communications:
- Determine and target your messaging. You want to switch donors over to a new system, which requires some of their time, as well. Consider how you frame these conversations, make them feel valued, talk about the system change, and nudge them toward continued support.
- Here's a sample email template you could use:
Subject line: Some exciting news – ACTION REQUIRED!
Email copy:
{First Name},
We have some really exciting news to share with you!
{Your Organization Name} has launched a new online giving platform to give you more insights into how you’re making a difference {insert your org’s mission – eg: providing clean water and health care to children in Uganda}.
The new online giving platform will allow you to create a donor account to manage your contact information & preferences, review your recent giving, and manage your recurring gifts. You can create your online account now by going to {donor portal URL}.
These new features do require you to take a few quick, but important steps.
In order to continue {insert org’s mission – eg: providing clean water and healthcare to children in Uganda}, you need to re-establish your recurring gift as soon as possible. To make this as painless as possible, we created this easy to use donation page. Just go to {Insert Org URL with Virtuous Giving form}, fill out the form and make sure you select the “recurring” option. The entire process should only take about 2 minutes to complete.
Thank you so much for your continued support and partnership.
Your Super-Engaged Recurring Donors
You may consider reaching out to those with whom you have a strong relationship, or who have demonstrated a high level of engagement in some way (several Contact Notes, email clicks, etc.). They might have supported your organization for quite some time, so as always, thank them for their continued support!
You could frame this as a cool new program that they'll be the first ones to know about! Perhaps you offer some sort of incentive to encourage them to switch over and fill out a new form, like exclusive content, branded swag, etc. as a reminder that you greatly value them and all they've done to support you. (We think "recurring doughnuts for recurring donors" has a fun ring to it - but maybe that's a little too sweet for you.)
Your Mysterious Donors
Next, start reaching out to your donors you may not know as well.
You may take a similar approach: introduce them to your cool new program and acknowledge the impact of their support.
You could also frame this as an opportunity to get to know them more! Encourage them to fill out a new form and let them know how this new information is being used to better serve them as valuable members of your community.
Other Things to Know
While this process can take some time to do yourself, it is worth noting that token migration (when the original processor transfers tokens to the new processor) can take 60+ business days to do and may not have a 100% success rate.
As you navigate this process, keep in mind the benefits of:
- A new system with more capabilities
- Building new relationships (and rebuilding long relationships) with your supporters
Your exact messaging for this transition is up to you. It is still important to stay true to your brand and your method of making your supporters feel valued while also letting them know the importance of switching over and continuing their support for your mission.