Auto-upgrades for Sustainers

Erin Shuler

Hi all,

I'm wondering which organizations do auto-upgrades for their monthly donors. One I know of so far is Save the Children. Do any of your organizations do this too?

-Erin (Sustainer Advisor, CRS)

Amy Barker 7

@Erin Shuler do you mean increasing their giving automatically year over year?

Erin Shuler

@Amy Barker- yes, automatic increases but not necessarily annually (also recognizing there would be a lot communications to donors when/if it were to happen).

Amy Barker 7

@Erin Shuler
Interested to read the replies! We contact our sustainers when their cards are expiring and see if they'd like to upgrade at the same time, but I think we wouldn't get a good reaction to upgrading sustaining gifts without really specific consent.

Catherine Ross 2

Hi @Erin Shuler, this is a great question for relief orgs and NGOs that have country offices in Australia or Europe. Auto upgrades are a bit more standard outside the U.S. In Australia, for example, some orgs use an auto upgrade process akin to “inflation guard” to upgrade the gift at the rate of inflation (which donors agree to at sign up).

Erin Shuler

@Catherine Ross- Thanks! I didn't realize it was more common outside of the US.

Erin Shuler

@Amy Barker- Thanks for your reply. We've done a few upgrading asks in the past but don't always see a great response. In terms of the “auto-upgrade” there would be multiple communications before actually implementing it including clear reasoning as to why, timing and opt-out options. This isn't something we are looking to do right now but I am interested in learning more how other organizations navigate it.

Erin Shuler

@Catherine Ross- Do you have an example from any organization?

Catherine Ross 2

@Erin Shuler this article is a few years old, but the first portion provides a good description of how auto upgrade campaigns work. I hope this helps!

https://fandp.com.au/how-are-donors-moving-on-up-342897/