Recurring Gift Migration: How to Successfully Transition Recurring Donors
Nonprofits are increasingly finding themselves in a position where they must transition from one recurring donor processor to another, driven by a need for better functionality. This shift can be daunting, particularly given the potential risk of losing recurring donors if not managed correctly. However, with careful planning and a positive approach, a recurring gift migration can be an opportunity to strengthen your donor relationships and enhance your fundraising capabilities.
What is a Recurring Gift Migration?
Recurring gift migrations are a process of moving active recurring donations from one fundraising platform or payment processor to another while maintaining donor information, payment schedules, gift amounts, and other essential data.
Migrating one-time gift history is typically straightforward, but recurring gifts require additional planning because payment credentials and active donation schedules must continue to process correctly after the transition. Depending on your current provider, payment processor, and new fundraising platform, recurring gifts may be transferred directly or donors may need to reauthorize their gifts.
The stakes are high: A poorly planned migration can result in interrupted payments, donor confusion, or lost recurring revenue. With the right strategy, however, organizations can minimize disruption and use the migration as an opportunity to improve the donor experience.
How to Prepare for a Recurring Gift Migration
1. Know That Your Donation Data is Yours
Before beginning a recurring gift migration, ensure that your current platform will cooperate in transferring all necessary data, including credit/debit card information, payment dates, amounts, and frequencies. This step is crucial to maintaining continuity in your recurring donations. Ask both your current and future providers exactly what can be transferred and what, if anything, will require donor action.
2. Protect Your Donor’s Data During the Migration
Secure handling of donor and payment information is paramount throughout a recurring gift migration. Donors trust you with their financial details, and it’s your responsibility to ensure this data is transferred safely and accurately. Make sure responsibilities, security requirements, and transfer processes are clearly established before the migration begins.
3. Map Out Your Existing Recurring Gifts
Understand how your recurring gifts are currently processed. Identify the sources and mechanisms, including any third-party processors like Stripe or PayPal, to ensure you have a complete picture of your donation landscape. This gives your team a clear picture of the recurring giving program before data moves and makes it easier to validate that gifts were migrated correctly afterward.
4. Evaluate the Need for a Platform Migration
Before making a move, critically assess whether a new platform is essential. Sometimes the allure of new features can overshadow the practicalities. If your current platform is meeting your needs, weigh the benefits and potential disruptions carefully.
A migration is also an opportunity to take a broader look at your nonprofit’s technology ecosystem and determine whether your current tools are supporting your fundraising and engagement goals. Explore the technology solutions available to nonprofits and the factors to consider when evaluating your tech stack.
5. Build Enough Time Into Your Migration Plan
Avoid rushing your recurring gift migration. Build enough time into the project to export and validate data, coordinate with providers and payment processors, test recurring transactions, communicate with donors when necessary, and resolve unexpected issues.
Ideally, run both systems in parallel temporarily to ensure a seamless transition. This approach helps to identify and address issues without compromising donor contributions.
Engaging Your Donors in the Transition
6. Communicate Proactively With Recurring Donors
If donors need to take action to maintain their recurring gifts, communicate early and make the process as simple as possible. Explain why your organization is changing platforms, what donors need to do, and how the change will benefit their giving experience. Don’t rely on a single email. Depending on the size of your recurring donor program, multiple touchpoints — emails, phone calls, and letters — may be needed to secure their participation.
7. Use the Migration to Reactive Lapsed Donors
A recurring gift migration can also create an opportunity to reconnect with lapsed donors. A well-crafted campaign can reactivate those whose payments have stopped, strengthening your donor base.
8. Address Declined Recurring Payments With Care
Not every failed recurring gift represents a donor choosing to stop giving. Recognize that declined payments are often due to banking issues rather than donor intent. As part of your migration, identify declined or failing recurring gifts and establish automated processes for payment recovery and donor outreach. Resolving these issues before or during migration can help prevent unnecessary donor attrition.
Protect Donor Retention During Recurring Gift Migration
A recurring gift migration is more than a technical project. It is an opportunity to improve your organization’s fundraising infrastructure while reinforcing relationships with some of your most committed donors.
By approaching the transition with a strategic plan, clear communication, and a focus on donor retention, you can navigate this change successfully. The key is to view the recurring gift migration not as a hurdle, but as an opportunity to reaffirm your commitment to your donors and your mission.
Planning a Broader Nonprofit Technology Migration
Successfully migrating recurring gifts is just one part of navigating a larger technology transition. From evaluating your current systems to preparing your data, managing stakeholders, and minimizing disruption, thoughtful planning can make all the difference. For more guidance on managing the entire process, explore our nonprofit digital transformation and technology migration guide for practical steps to help your organization prepare for a successful transition.
How Engaging Networks Supports Recurring Gift Migration
Recurring gift migration can be an overwhelming task, but Engaging Networks is well-equipped to facilitate this process seamlessly.
Recurring donors are among the most valuable assets for any nonprofit. Engaging Networks prioritizes the smooth transition of these donors, ensuring that their recurring donations continue without interruption.
This process is typically part of the onboarding phase and is facilitated by an Engaging Networks Account Success Manager and a Client Support Specialist, ensuring a smooth and efficient transition.
Please ensure you discuss timelines with your Account Success Manager assigned to onboarding to ensure the timing is such that no transactions will be missed as part of the migration.
By choosing Engaging Networks, you can transition your recurring donors with confidence, knowing that you have a robust system and dedicated support team to back you up.
This transition is not just a logistical change; it’s an opportunity to enhance your donor management and strengthen your fundraising efforts.
Want to Learn More?
Learn how Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada grew its monthly givers by 175% and developed an engaging communications plan to their donors in our case study.
And if you’d like to learn more about how Engaging Networks can help you migrate recurring donors, schedule a demo below. A member of our team can show you around!