Frequent-flier programs and frequent-stay programs are so successful that now customers can earn free airline tickets by using their affinity credit cards at the grocery store!

Think about the basic structure of these programs.  Airlines don’t reward flyers for taking the longest flights.  Hotels don’t reward people for staying in the most upscale chains.  Instead, frequent-customer programs reward customers based on the quantity of flights (or miles) and hotel stays.  In other words, log 100 flight segments in a year and you become a United 1K member.  Stay at a Hilton property 28 times in a year and you become a Diamond VIP member.

Airlines and hotels know that they make more money from their repeat customers.

And here’s the point:  We know as development professionals that we will see increased gift amounts from repeat donors.  Lawrence Henze at Target Analytics reminds us of the research which suggests that donors who give for at least 7 years are much more likely to become your $1,000 donors.  Additionally, there is research which shows that donors who make gifts for at least 7 years are 900% more likely to make a major gift in their lifetime.  Yes, 900%!  And I’ve blogged about the strong and positive relationship between planned gifts and consistent annual gifts.

So, remind me again why almost every non-profit has giving societies based on gift amount (either annual or cumulative) and so few have giving societies based on consecutive year giving – regardless of amount?  In other words, why doesn’t every organization have “frequent-donor” programs?

Few non-profits, though, put a focus on donor loyalty – or recognizing those donors who give consistently regardless of amount.

This is a mistake.  Potentially a big one.  Why?  Let’s look at some facts:

• According to the National Committee on Planned Giving survey 97% of people who make planned gifts say they “care about the non-profit.”
• And who is it that “cares about your organization” and ends up making planned gifts?  The consistent, annual (in many instances small gift) donor.

And we aren’t talking small potatoes here.  By 2052 it is estimated that over $40 trillion (that’s with a “t”) will be transfered inter-generationally.  Over $6 trillion of that amount will go to charity.   To put that into perspective, last year there was $300 billion given to charities in the United States.  $6 trillion is equal to that same amount being given to charities for 20 consecutive years!

When we know that consistent and even smaller annual donors make up the bulk of the planned givers, why do so many of our organizations not recognize consecutive year giving?   Open up an annual Donor Report of your favorite organization and see if a list of donors by years of consecutive giving is provided – in my experience there is about an 8 in 10 chance it won’t be! But just about every Donor Report lists donors by gift level.

And let’s take it a step further:  Why doesn’t every non-profit have a giving society which encourages consecutive year giving (regardless of gift amount)?  Why shouldn’t we acknowledge and steward the donor who has given for 25 consecutive years with the same zest extended to a current major gift donor?  Loyalty may not seem important today but $6 trillion is a lot of money.