Charities Seek to Entice Frugal Donors to Give a Little Bit More

With the troubled economy causing many Americans to become more thrifty, fund raisers face numerous challenges this holiday season in persuading donors to give generously.

Experts say charity officials should stay in close contact with donors, and provide flexibility in giving arrangements, to maximize year-end donations.

Global Camps Africa, a small charity in Reston, Va., that runs camps for children in South Africa, plans to reach out to its donors three times this season, compared with just once in 2008. Robert I. Evans, a fund-raising consultant who is working with the group, says he moved up the first direct-mail solicitation to late October. That was followed by an e-mail blast after Thanksgiving. A second letter will go out soon to those who have not yet responded. “We’re more intensely following up with donors in the last weeks of the year than the charity has in the last few years,” Mr. Evans says.

Some charities are starting campaigns focused on monthly giving, as a way to bring in significant annual revenue while showing donors that such gifts don’t cost much on a monthly basis.

Grameen Foundation, a Washington organization that makes small loans to entrepreneurs, is asking its donors to give $27 on the 27th of each month, to commemorate the $27 that Muhammad Yunus loaned to a group of Bangladeshi women in 1976, kick-starting a global effort focused on the power of small loans.

The Cerebral Palsy Center of Knoxville, in Tennessee, rolled out its “Double Nickel” campaign in November.

To celebrate its 55th birthday, the small nonprofit group will try to find 55 people to pledge $55 per month for the next five years.

“I’m hoping it gives donors some sense of control,” says Tracey Bise, the center’s development director. “They can pledge this amount and then put it into their monthly budget.”