Chances are that your recurring donors are willing to give more — all you have to do is ask! Upgrade Links from Fundraise Up give you a tactful way to ask supporters to increase the size of their donations. And donor-specific Upgrade Links can be quickly added to existing and new fundraising efforts like marketing emails, SMS campaigns and other supporter communications.
How do Upgrade Links work?
With Upgrade Links, it’s now easy for donors to increase their support with one click. When your recurring donors visit an Upgrade Link, they can select from a series of personalized upgrade amounts and increase the size of their donations without having to reenter payment method information.
Example:
Consider a donor who opts-in to recurring giving when making a donation to your organization. Their monthly donation might begin as a $10 gift, but by incorporating Upgrade Links into an annual upgrade email that you send, you can create a seamless experience for the donor to increase their support. That original $10 amount can then easily become a $20 or $30 monthly gift.
Using Upgrade Links, you can multiply the lifetime value of individual donors and dramatically increase the output of your recurring giving program.
The power of AI with Upgrade Links
Upgrade Links solve another common problem with donations — determining how much more to ask for. Through the power of AI, you can put complicated spreadsheets and Excel formulas behind you. Let’s talk about it.
Fundraise Up’s AI uses more than 100 personalization data points to choose donation amounts that are most likely to be selected by a donor. These data points include:
- Donation frequency (monthly, annually, biweekly, quarterly, etc.)
- Donation installments (e.g. how many installments have incurred so far and the subscription start date)
- Donation amount
- Donation currency
And because Fundraise Up’s AI technology uses only first-party data, you can upgrade donors knowing their privacy comes first.
Upgrade donors with just one click
With Upgrade Links, the upgrade experience takes just one click. The best part? Donors don’t have to reenter their payment information! It’s a secure and seamless way to increase donations.
2 Ways to create Upgrade Links
Links with verification
One way to create Upgrade Links is with a verification step. In this approach, a donor will choose an upgrade amount and confirm it by simply verifying their email address.
Links with encryption
Upgrade Links created using this approach use SHA256 encryption to identify supporters and their recurring donation plans. Because each link includes a signature unique to individual donors, the upgrade experience can be completed without an email verification step.
2 Types of Upgrade Links
Main donation amount upgrade
This type of Upgrade Link encourages donors to increase their base donation amount. Supporters will see three AI-personalized upgrade amounts and a fourth donor-customizable amount to choose from.
Cost coverage upgrade
Cost coverage upgrades encourage donors to cover the transaction fees associated with their recurring donations. It’s an effective way of reducing costs and increasing revenue from recurring giving.
Tips from real-life applications of Upgrade Links
Our partners at Media Cause are leveraging Upgrade Links to grow giving for their nonprofit clients. Here are a few recommendations they have for getting the most out of Upgrade Links.
- Use Upgrade Links every January alongside your sustainer acquisition campaigns, upsell existing donors.
- Set up an automated anniversary email to upgrade sustainers. Include personalize impact statistics and an upgrade CTA that uses an Upgrade Link.
- Include an Upgrade Link in an upgrade CTA that’s integrated into your email templates. Use a display rule to show the CTA when the email recipient is an active recurring donor.
- Don't ask for upgrades too often. Once every 3-6 months is recommended.
- Don't try to upgrade donors too soon. Wait at least 3 months before upgrading new recurring donors.
- Focus most of your upgrade efforts on how you make the ask. Donors should feel that increasing their support will produce perceivable value.
Ready for more donations?
Upgrade Links are the perfect tool for nonprofits looking to engage supporters more effectively. Add them to your fundraising campaign tactics and watch the magic happen. Learn more about implementing Upgrade Links into your strategy with a discovery call today.
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Nelly is a Product Marketing Manager at Fundraise Up with more than four years of experience working with nonprofit organizations. She specializes in go-to-market strategy, product positioning, and turning complex technology into clear, compelling stories. Through Fundraise Up’s Product Insider series, Nelly helps nonprofits stay informed about the latest fundraising innovations. She is passionate about helping nonprofits discover and adopt innovative fundraising solutions that create better donor experiences and drive meaningful impact.