Recurring Donations Can Inspire Legacy Gifts

Aug 7, 2025 | Notes From the Director

CFGV Blog

On repeat: How recurring donations can inspire legacy gifts

A small clover cookie cutter making a repeated pattern in cookie doughThese days, it seems as though there’s a subscription for anything you need. A recent study noted that the average consumer holds approximately 4.5 entertainment streaming subscriptions alone. With the world continuing its shift toward convenient subscription options, it makes sense that your donors are happily moving in this direction as well.

In 2023, a year when revenue from one-time online giving decreased by 5%, revenue generated from monthly giving increased by 6%. In a more recent study, revenue from monthly giving outpaced revenue from one-time giving by 10%. Monthly giving is continuing to trend as an attractive giving option for donors. Here’s why that’s good news for you:

Recurring givers are committed

If you start a subscription for a new product or service, it’s likely that you’re pretty committed, or at least believe in the product enough to subscribe for multiple months. Monthly givers are no different. A study tracking donor trends from 2018 – 2022 showed that nonprofits had better than average retention rates for recurring givers. Indeed, if a donor starts a recurring gift, there’s a pretty good chance they’re bought into your mission and will be around for the long haul.

Recurring givers make it easier to plan

With one-time donors, it’s hard to know how much they’ll give from one year to the next. Turbulent economic conditions, busy family lives, or flat out forgetting to give can always affect your bottom line giving totals. With recurring givers, you can often expect a similar amount month-to-month, helping you plan your short-term budgets and expected income. Indeed, 91% of recurring donors have their gifts set on “autopilot” by automatically charging their credit or debit cards.

Recurring givers often donate more than their regular gift

While recurring donors are already contributing a great deal to support your mission, 50% of recurring donors also make additional gifts throughout the year. Whether through regular communications, solicitations, or year-end gifts, recurring givers are excellent candidates for major gifts, endowment gifts, planned gifts, and legacy gifts.

Just because a donor has set giving on autopilot, though, it doesn’t mean the donor doesn’t need cultivation. It’s actually the opposite. How are you caring for your recurring givers and building a community of some of the most faithful, committed partners to your work? And how are you optimizing your communications and training your team to bring in new recurring givers that will be around for the long haul, especially to ultimately make major gifts and leave a gift to your organization in their estate plans?

The CFGV team is happy to help you explore ways to elevate your stewardship strategies to deepen relationships with recurring donors so that they become strong supporters for your endowment or legacy program. We look forward to a conversation!

Simplified Summary

Monthly giving is growing in popularity as more people embrace subscription-style support, similar to how they pay for streaming services. In 2023, while one-time online donations decreased, monthly giving increased and now brings in more revenue overall.

Donors who give monthly tend to be more committed and loyal to an organization’s mission. Their ongoing support also provides nonprofits with more predictable income, making it easier to plan budgets and programs. Most recurring gifts are automated, meaning donors give consistently without needing reminders.

Many monthly donors also make extra contributions during the year and are more likely to consider major, planned, or legacy gifts in the future. However, just because giving is automatic doesn’t mean stewardship should be. Nonprofits must continue to engage these donors, nurture relationships, and show appreciation to deepen their connection.

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