If you want a bigger donation, ask for a monthly subscription first—even if they say no, they’ll usually give more as a one-time gift.
Charities often fear that 'aggressive' requests for recurring payments will drive donors away. In reality, declining a big commitment seems to trigger a 'guilt-free' boost in smaller, one-off donations, increasing total revenue by 7%.
Beyond Upgrade Success: How Declined Subscription Requests Shape Subsequent Donation Behavior
SSRN · 6441018
A key managerial challenge for charitable organizations is to upgrade donors who donate irregularly or ad-hoc to subscribed givers through upgrade solicitations. While prior research has focused on identifying ways to increase upgrading success, we know little about the consequences of unsuccessful upgrading attempts by charities, which constitute the vast majority. Adopting an empirics-first approach, we examine how declining an upgrade request affects subsequent ad-hoc donation behavior. We an