Monthly donors are invaluable to any nonprofit organization.  They provide a steady stream of income and they do not require the organization to spend time and money renewing them annually.

Pretty much every group I talk to today has the capacity to accept sustaining donors.  But many struggle to put all the pieces together to truly grow their sustaining donor list.

Here' are a baker's dozen (13) tips for how to grow a sustaining donor program.

1.         Make monthly/sustaining giving a prominent option on all donation materials

Both your printed donation forms and online donation forms should prominently feature monthly donations as an option.

Don't make this an afterthought when designing these forms.  Whoever does the design should know that your top preference is a sustaining donor.

2.         Give them multiple options

Don't rely solely on either credit card donations or automatic withdrawal from checking accounts. 
Allow donors to use either option.

And don't get hung up on "monthly" as the only sustaining option.   Some donors will opt for quarterly on a sustaining basis and that should be an option if feasible.