We Are For Good Podcast – Ep. 676

Shift 6 — The Modern Donor Journey: Modernize Individual Giving for Today’s Donor
Guests: Mike Duerksen (BuildGood) & Dana Snyder (Positive Equation)
Date: January 21, 2026
Hosts: Jon McCoy & Becky Endicott

Episode Overview

This episode explores how nonprofits can modernize their individual giving strategies to align with today’s donors—those shaped by the subscription economy, digital journey, and shifting behaviors. Renowned fundraising experts and practitioners, Dana Snyder and Mike Duerksen, offer deep insights on donor journeys, monthly giving, risk mitigation, and the vital importance of making generosity visible again. You’ll hear practical advice, real-world examples, and essential mindset shifts for futureproof individual giving.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Major Shifts in Donor Behavior

Timestamps: [04:07]–[07:01]

• Nonlinear Donor Journey

  • The traditional linear funnel is obsolete. Donors today make decisions based on myriad touchpoints—social media, conversations, content, peer recommendations, and tools like ChatGPT.
  • Dana Snyder: “There's not a linear path. This donor journey that we've always kind of known [...] Like, that's not typically what we've always thought about as this traditional marketing funnel.”

• From Crisis to Systems Challenge

  • The so-called “generosity crisis” is really a systems and stability crisis, especially for small nonprofits (<$1M budgets).
  • Donors are searching for where and how to help, not whether to help.

• Monthly Giving as Risk Mitigation

  • Recurring giving isn't just revenue—it's a stability tool. Most nonprofits lack sufficient cash reserves; friction leads to burnout and instability.
  • Dana Snyder: “Monthly giving is not just a nice to have. It's not just a revenue channel. Like, it is literally a risk mitigation strategy for sustainable funding.”

2. The Social Norm of Generosity—And Its Decline

Timestamps: [07:03]–[10:37]

• Generosity Remains Important

  • In Canada, over 80% say generosity is vital—but only half feel able to give more. The issue is not awareness or prompting.

• Visibility and Social Proof

  • Private, digital giving has made generosity “invisible,” eroding social norms and modeling for the next generation.
  • Mike Duerksen: “Most of my giving… is monthly. It gets taken off my credit card with nobody ever seeing it. My kids don't see it.”

• Building Community Among Donors

  • Opportunities exist to connect recurring donors and celebrate their impact, both digitally and in-person.
  • Dana Snyder: “How can that be created in either micro or macro ways, either IRL or digitally? So that to your point, it's like, whoa, like, there's hundreds of people on this call...”

3. Mapping the Modern Donor Journey: Moments That Matter

Timestamps: [11:34]–[16:21]

• Before the Gift

  • Retention starts before a donation—with brand clarity, messaging, and first impressions.

• Key Early Touchpoints:

  • Clarity: Can donors instantly grasp your organization’s focus?
  • Relevance: Does the content resonate?
  • Ease of Giving: Is the giving moment frictionless?
  • First 7 Days Post-Gift: Shift from transactional to “you belong”—welcome donors as insiders, not buyers.
  • Reporting Impact: Share immediate stories of progress to affirm the donor’s decision.

• Welcome Experience & Duty of Care

  • The confirmation and post-gift experience is usually overlooked but critical.
  • Mike Duerksen: “The way you welcome somebody into your community is all you need to know about an organization, about their intentions.”

• Neglecting Gratitude

  • In a study of 120 major charities, only 50% said “thank you” on their donation confirmation page.

4. Practical Wins: Where to Start Auditing Your Giving Experience

Timestamps: [18:39]–[25:40]

• The First 90 Days Are Crucial

  • Retention begins at acquisition. These early weeks form the donor’s lasting memory of your organization.

  • Assess if your communications build:

    • Autonomy: Remind donors their generosity is a choice.
    • Competence: Show tangible impact, even small victories.
    • Relatedness: Connect donors to others in your community.

• Recognizing “Pattern Givers”

  • Not all recurring support is monthly; some donors give at set times (e.g., holidays). Consider facilitating and automating these patterns.

• Team Structure & Focus

  • Is someone specifically empowered to build individual/recurring giving? Are you setting bold goals and focusing resources?
  • Dana Snyder: “If you're saying recurring giving is like your priority, who's in charge of it?”

• Marketing Visibility

  • Audit where you’re invisible but should lead the conversation. Invest in both people and marketing.

5. Innovation in Action: Org Case Studies

Timestamps: [26:02]–[29:25]

• The Store (Nashville, TN):

  • Focused on what worked—lunch and learns—which became their top acquisition channel for donors and corporate engagement.
  • Mike Duerksen: “What's working already? Well, it's lunch and learns. So what if we just take all the marketing and use it to drive lunch and learns?”

• SAFE (Monthly Giving Retreat Example):

  • Started with 34 monthly donors in August, grew to 105 by December by implementing new tech, naming the program, and immediate action.
  • Dana Snyder: “They decided to go all in. This is a smaller organization, but 105 monthly donors is a big deal.”

• Homeboy Industries:

  • Using social enterprise alongside traditional giving as a sustainability model.

6. Top Playbook Moves for Nonprofit Leaders

Timestamps: [30:15]–[35:00]

• Dana Snyder’s Advice:

  1. Set Impossible Goals: Focus only on what drives toward your big, ambitious target; let go of distractions.
     • “Set your impossible goal. There's a very straight path there. It just doesn't seem possible in the moment.” [30:15]
  2. Make Monthly Giving Core: Don’t treat it as an afterthought—it's essential to stability.
  3. Audit All Friction: Review every step in the donor experience for unnecessary hurdles.
  4. Allow Pausing Over Canceling: From subscription data, over 50% who consider canceling choose to pause if given the option, increasing long-term retention.
     • “What pausing is the norm. Not ruining on somebody's parade because something is happening and making them feel awful…” [31:37]

• Mike Duerksen’s Advice:

  1. Mystery Shop Yourself: Have friends or family make a donation and review their (and your) experiences in detail.
  2. Fix ‘Forgotten Copy’: Audit auto-emails, confirmation pages, receipts—suggestions for gratitude and warmth are often overlooked.
  3. Make Generosity Visible at Home: Create family giving rituals to model generosity and re-establish it as a norm.
     • “You might be a super generous person, but your kids don't know that about you. They don't see it. So make it visible again.” [34:40]

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “Everybody wants recurring giving to happen. Everybody wants recurring value from donors. Very few people want to actually provide recurring value.”
  – Mike Duerksen [01:06 & 13:48]
• “Retention starts actually before the gift. It's all of the feelings, all the things we see. By the time we are donating, I'm in.”
  – Dana Snyder [11:34]
• “Monthly giving is not just a revenue channel. Like, it is literally a risk mitigation strategy for sustainable funding.”
  – Dana Snyder [06:47]
• “We have this duty of care that when somebody joins our organization, if we're thinking about this, they're joining as an important part of the team.”
  – Mike Duerksen [15:40]
• “Individual giving is a visibility game. It's marketing.”
  – Dana Snyder [24:42]
• “Set your impossible goal [...] It changes what you do in the present if that's what you decide is your future.”
  – Dana Snyder [30:15]
• “Make generosity the social norm again [...] It starts at home.”
  – Mike Duerksen [34:40]

Actionable Takeaways

• Audit Your Experience: Walk through your giving experience as a donor, fix anything that feels impersonal or transactional.
• Prioritize Monthly Giving: Treat it as a strategic, core focus with proper staff and investment.
• Celebrate and Make Giving Visible: Both internally (to your team and donors) and externally (public acknowledgements, peer groups).
• Embrace Donor Autonomy: Make it easy to pause, lower, or change gifts, not just cancel.
• Harness What’s Working: Double-down on your unique acquisition channels; don’t blindly follow trends.

Resources & How to Connect

• Mike Duerksen:

  • BuildGood Fundraising Podcast; buildgood.com
  • LinkedIn: Mike Duerksen

• Dana Snyder:

  • Positive Equation, Monthly Giving Mastermind
  • Monthly Giving Summit: monthlygivingsummit.com
  • LinkedIn: Dana Snyder

Memorable Quote to Close

“Make generosity the social norm again... If generosity starts at home, then start at home. That's your homework.”
— Mike Duerksen [34:40]

For nonprofit professionals or changemakers looking to futureproof their fundraising, these insights, stories, and strategies are the playbook for building more stable, human-centered, and impactful individual giving programs in 2026 and beyond.