Meet Dave Raley 👋 He is the founder and CEO of the Center for Sustainable Giving, author of The Rise of Sustainable Giving, and one of the most trusted voices in the recurring giving space. He has worked with thousands of nonprofit leaders to grow their monthly giving programs. In this Working Session, he is tackling two of the most overlooked opportunities in monthly giving: reducing churn and upgrading the donors you already have.

In this Working Session, you'll hear:

Why churn is a more powerful metric than retention, and why the reframe from "I retained 42% of my donors" to "I lost 58% of my donors" changes everything
The two types of churn and how to fix them: involuntary (credit card failure) and voluntary (donor chooses to leave), plus the systems to address both
How to keep monthly donors engaged using three words: affirm, engage, and appeal, and why your recurring donors are actually your best additional gift prospects
How to upgrade your existing monthly donors with a timely, specific ask, and why most organizations are leaving this on the table entirely

Episode Highlights:

Meet Dave Raley (0:43)
Churn vs. retention: the reframe that changes everything (2:17)
58% of donors don't give again: making it real (4:17)
Monthly donor churn vs. single gift churn (4:32)
Involuntary churn: credit card failure and what to do (6:40)
Two solutions: automate and outreach (7:55)
Voluntary churn: acknowledge, affirm, and save the gift (9:16)
Three words for monthly donor retention: affirm, engage, appeal (13:15)
Recurring donors give 25% more annually on average (16:21)
How to upgrade your monthly donors (19:19)
Dave's one good thing + free resource (26:54)

Welcome back to Working Sessions: hands-on, clarity-filled conversations designed to help you move real work forward inside your organization.

Let's get to work.

Episode Show Notes: https://www.weareforgood.com/episode/705

📅 Don't Miss These Free Upcoming Events! 👇

APRIL 29: Working Session Live: Forecast Your Monthly Giving Growth in 2026 with Dana Snyder (and the pathways to get you there!)

MAY 14: ImpactUp: Story This quarter, we're going deep on your most powerful (and underused) tool - Story. Local meetups happening worldwide. Find one near you.

//

Join the We Are For Good Community—completely free.
Join fellow changemakers, share takeaways from this working session, and keep collaborating in a space built for connection, inspiration, and real impact: www.weareforgoodcommunity.com

Say hi 👋
LinkedIn / Instagram / Facebook / YouTube / Twitter

705. Working Session: How to Keep More Monthly Donors + Increase Generosity - Dave Raley

We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits