Can donors choose an end date to their recurring gift on the Online Express donation page?

Hi Liz. Yes - we recently added the ability to offer pledge gifts. Edit your form and check the "Extras" step to configure pledge giving. This will allow the donor to give make gifts over time with a finite end date.



From an online fundraising strategy perspective, we recommend having both a general giving form (that can also include open ended recurring gifts), and a separate form focused on pledge giving. You can then offer more targeted messaging around the pledge form for the right type of donors.

Matthew Hemmerly:
Hi Matt



While the pledge function is nice it isn't quite what we're looking for. If a specific total amount is in mind this works well, however, if a donor for example wants to pay $15 a month for 24 months using the pledge functionality they need to play around with the total pledge amount and month options until they get the monthly payment to be $15.



Adding an end date option to a recurring gift removes this calculation from the donor simplifying the process.

Hi Matthew, thanks for posting. We did quite a bit of research around the relationship between pledge giving and recurring giving. What we found was that from an online fundraising perspective, there are basically two types of recurring donors. The type that want to make a big impact, but spread the payment out over time (pledges) and the type that wants to offer sustaining support over time (recurring).



In the case of pledges, we optimized the form to make it clear the big impact is front and center, and donors feel great about how much their pledge can contribute.



In the case of recurring gifts, offering an end date online is almost always a fundraising loss for an organization. Given the choice, many donors that would otherwise make an open-ended recurring gift may choose an end date if it's offered to them. Fast-forward some time and the end date comes around; now you (the NPO) have a burden of trying to retain this donor, and no retention is perfect. Sure, some open-ended sustaining givers will cancel their gifts over time, but when that happens you can ask if they would like to reduce their gift amount rather than cancel, remind them of the impact their gift has, etc. The donor has to make a conscious choice to cancel the gift, rather than a passive passing of time and a choice to continue to give. We want to use momentum to our advantage with sustaining giving.



On the other hand, let's assume that some subset of donors may not complete a transaction because they do not have the ability to select an end date. What we found however was that the *vast* majority of folks aren't looking to specify an end date at the time of starting to become a sustaining supporter, and those that did typically were looking to make a big impact pledge.



I hope that gives you some insight into the research we have done and why we made these decisions. If you have any questions or you'd like some more info I'm always happy to talk strategy!