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Welcome to the Click & Pledge Fundraising Command Center Podcast!
Welcome to the Click & Pledge Fundraising Command Center Podcast – your mission control for mastering modern philanthropy. Every month, we equip you with the insights, tools, and strategies you need to elevate your impact. We believe in understanding the why, mastering the what, and showcasing the how of successful fundraising. Tune in every Monday for a new perspective:
The Why
Start your month with the big picture. "The Why" is our thought-leadership series that dives into the deep, foundational concepts behind our work. Every first Monday, we explore the science, philosophy, and psychology of fundraising, technology, and giving. This show isn't just about what you do; it's about providing a framework for why you do it. Join us as we connect big ideas from neuroscience, behavioral economics, and cognitive science to the future of philanthropy.
The What
Get to know your toolkit. "The What" is our product-focused series where we go "under the hood" of the Click & Pledge platform. Every second Monday, we deconstruct our features, reveal the "story behind the product," and explain what our technology is designed to do. If you want to understand the architecture, the design, and the specific problems our tools solve, this is your guide to the blueprint.
The How
Learn from the leaders. "The How" is our community showcase, where we pass the microphone to the experts: your peers. Every third Monday, we invite nonprofit leaders, fundraisers, and innovators to share how they are using our platform to run successful campaigns, engage donors, and grow their impact. These are their stories, their strategies, and your real-world templates for success.
Welcome to this edition of the Click and Pledge's fundraising command center podcast, where we talk the why, the what, and the how in the Click and Pledge's ecosystem. Today, we're doing a deep dive into something that I think is a, well, a universal headache for nonprofits. We're talking about the hidden cost of recurring giving. You know, donor churn and just the administrative grind that comes with it.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's a huge problem. We sometimes call it the ghost donor phenomenon.
Speaker 1:The ghost donor.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Think about it. You have this amazing committed supporter. They set up a monthly gift. They feel great.
Speaker 2:But six months down the line, their credit card expires. They might not even realize they've stopped giving. That's that's committed revenue just, you know, vanishing.
Speaker 1:And that's lost impact. Right? Not to mention the staff time. We hear these stories all the time. I mean, having one person whose whole Friday afternoon is just fielding calls to update an address or change a $5 donation to 7.
Speaker 2:Exactly. That time sync is precisely why we're going to unpack the Click and Pledge Connect recurring updater today. It's a tool designed to make all of this for both the donor and the organization truly frictionless.
Speaker 1:Okay, so frictionless. That's the goal. The idea is to shift control, move it from phone calls and emails to more of a self-service model. So how does that work? How do you empower the donor securely?
Speaker 2:It's all about making it seamless. So when a donor gives, they get their normal receipt email. But now, embedded right in that receipt, there's a unique secure link. It says something like, to manage or update this recurring transaction, just click here.
Speaker 1:That sounds simple enough, but my first thought is security. A link in an email. Yeah. How do we make sure that's safe? We can't have just anyone making changes.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Security is priority number one. So when the donor clicks that link, they land on a page that looks and feels like your organization, your logo, your colors. But, and this is the key part, to do anything, anything, they have to request a verification code. That code gets sent instantly to the email address that's on file for that specific donation.
Speaker 2:So it's a form of two factor authentication. They enter the code and only then does the portal open up.
Speaker 1:That verification step is critical. And to build that trust, I know we also recommend using the custom domain feature.
Speaker 2:Yes, that is so important. When you enable that, the URL in the address bar is your organization's domain, not a generic one. It removes any doubt or hesitation a donor might have about putting in their financial info.
Speaker 1:It all just feels like it's coming from a trusted source.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Okay. That makes perfect sense. So let's get into the big wins. Once they're in that secure portal, what can they actually do? I assume the first thing is updating that expired card.
Speaker 2:That's the most immediate win. It's the low hanging fruit for revenue recovery. By default, they can update their entire credit card info. A new expiration date or a completely new card number. Just think of the staff hours you save right there.
Speaker 1:For sure. But it goes beyond just fixing payment methods, doesn't it? This is where it gets more strategic. What else can an admin allow a donor to do?
Speaker 2:Well, we give the admin granular control with simple checkboxes inside You can let donors update their own contact, info name, email, mailing address, but the real game changers are the financial options. We really suggest allowing donors to change the donation dollar amount.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:And the payment interval. So they could switch from monthly to quarterly or even yearly all on their own.
Speaker 1:Changing the amount and the frequency, that's huge.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:That turns what was a maintenance task into an actual engagement opportunity. But I have to ask the devil's advocate question. If you give donors that power, what about the risk? What if they use it to, you know, lower their gift or even cancel?
Speaker 2:It's a fair question and it really comes down to transparency. A donor might use it to adjust downward, yes, But empowering them to do that easily is usually better than making them call, get frustrated, and then have a negative feeling about your organization.
Speaker 1:That's a good point.
Speaker 2:If they need to cancel, they can do it with dignity. And the system can even capture valuable data. Most of the time this frictionless process just makes them happier supporters.
Speaker 1:Right. And speaking of keeping them happy, let's go back to recovering revenue. We don't want to just hope a donor finds an old receipt. What happens when a payment actually fails?
Speaker 2:This is where the system really does the heavy lifting. The moment a recurring donation declines for any reason, it automatically triggers a customized transaction declined email. It comes from you, explains the problem, and gives them that same secure link to fix it right then and there. It stops that ghost donor problem in its tracks.
Speaker 1:So you're recovering that money within days, not months, or never.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:And this seems like the perfect place to integrate our predictive tools. Right?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. This is where it gets really powerful. If you have our AI tool, Intellibrewster, enabled on that campaign, when the donor goes into the portal to update their expired card, they don't just see a blank field. They see AI tailored donation amounts presented as easy to click buttons.
Speaker 1:So they came to fix a problem.
Speaker 2:And they're presented with a frictionless way to increase their gift while they're at it. You're turning a chore into a potential upgrade.
Speaker 1:I love that. Okay. Let's shift to the administrator who's listening right now and wants to get this going. How do they set it up? Where are the controls?
Speaker 2:The controls are super accessible. They're in the settings area within Connect. For anyone new to the platform, this is usually turned on by default. For existing users, you just go in and you'll see the check boxes. You literally check off what you want donors to be able to update, name, address, amount, frequency, and, even the ability to cancel.
Speaker 1:So you have that fine tuned control. And what about when a campaign a donor is giving to actually ends? You wouldn't want their gift to just stop.
Speaker 2:We thought of that. In that same control panel, you can decide what happens. You can choose to automatically roll that recurring over to your general operating fund.
Speaker 1:Your default campaign.
Speaker 2:Right. Or you can have it send a custom message thanking them and letting them know that specific campaign is over. It ensures you don't lose that continuous support.
Speaker 1:Okay. Now a really important point for organizations that have been with us for a while, their existing receipt templates. Okay. It might need a little tweak. Right?
Speaker 2:That is the one thing we ask everyone to check. All our new templates have the link built in. But if you're using an older customized receipt, you just need to make sure you delete the old recurring info node and drag the new one in. It's a quick fix to make sure that click here to update link actually shows up.
Speaker 1:Automation.
Speaker 2:Definitely.
Speaker 1:And what if someone does call in? You know, maybe an older donor who isn't comfortable online. Staff can still handle these changes, can't they? And how do we keep records clean?
Speaker 2:Of course, staff can always go into the transactions and reports section, find the order, and click manage recurring. They can update anything needed right in the virtual terminal.
Speaker 1:And this is where the change log becomes so important.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. The change log is your audit trail. Every single change, whether it was made by the donor in the portal or by a staff member, is recorded. You see who made the change when and what was changed. Total accountability.
Speaker 2:And we actually suggest that if a donor does call, the best practice is for the staff member to just grab that unique updater link and email it directly to the donor. It's always more secure than taking card numbers over the phone.
Speaker 1:Good tip. And before we wrap, a quick word for our Salesforce users. What do they need to do?
Speaker 2:Super simple. For anyone using our app in Salesforce, you just activate the permissions in your global settings. There's a section called patron portal, and you just flip the switches there to enable everything. It keeps all the data in sync.
Speaker 1:Perfect.
Speaker 2:You know, if you connect all these dots, this isn't just about saving time on admin tasks. It's fundamentally about growth. By using tools like Intellibooster in the portal, you're changing the entire dynamic. You're turning what used to be a maintenance chore into a consistent opportunity to upgrade your recurring revenue.
Speaker 1:That is such a powerful way to think about it. So to sum it all up for you, the learner, listening in today. The Recurring Updater is really a triple win. It saves your staff an incredible amount of time, it recovers lost revenue automatically, and maybe most importantly, it increases donor satisfaction by making giving easy and frictionless, which boosts their lifetime value. For more information about this and all Click and Pledge products, make sure to visit clickandpledge.com and request for a one on one training or demo.
Speaker 1:Whether you're a client or curious about our platform, just ask us and we will gladly get together with you to chat. And don't forget to subscribe to this podcast to stay up to date with all the latest and greatest features of the Click and Pledge Fundraising Command Center.