Did you know that recurring donors can contribute up to four times more than one-time donors? However, many NGOs still rely on one-time contributions and lack an efficient system for managing regular donations.

This is where CiviCRM makes a difference. In this article, we explain how its recurring donations feature can transform your organization’s financial stability and how to implement it correctly.

You don’t need an expert IT team. With Civi-Go, we take care of everything: infrastructure, security, and service. Civi-Go is how we package CiviCRM right out of the box. Read on to see if your organization needs this feature.

What is the recurring donations feature in CiviCRM?

It’s a tool that allows you to:

✔ Set up automatic payments on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis.
✔ Integrate with payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, Redsys, or GoCardless. If you’re in Latin America, we can also enable Mercado Pago.
✔ Automate personalized receipts and thank-yous.
✔ Segment and retain donors with targeted communications.

In other words, Civi-Go, powered by CiviCRM, helps you turn one-time donations into ongoing support, ensuring stable and predictable income.

Your users will be able to choose the start date, frequency, and number of repetitions:

 

They will also be able to activate a patronage:

If you want to increase the price in bulk, you can do so with the “Bulk Updates” functionality, which exists thanks to a CiviCRM extension.

Could this benefit your NGO?

If your organization:

🔹 Wants to generate sustainable revenue.
🔹 Is losing donors because it lacks automation.
🔹 Needs an easy and secure recurring payment collection system.

👉 Then this CiviCRM feature is for you.

At Ixiam, we’ve seen how NGOs that implement recurring donations achieve:

📈 A 30%-50% increase in sustainable income, reducing dependence on events or grants.
💰 Lower acquisition costs: Retaining a recurring donor is cheaper than acquiring a new one.
⏳ Less administrative burden, as payments are automated and manual reminders are minimized.

We wouldn’t be surprised if in the future we hear you say something along the lines of “We used to have to send emails manually to remind our partners to pay. Now everything is automated” —your future self.

Steps to implement recurring donations in CiviCRM

1️⃣ Define donation levels: Do you want to offer options of €10, €20, €50? Make it attractive and clear.
2️⃣ Enable the option on your website: Civi-Go allows you to integrate donation forms with “Become a Member” or “Donate Monthly” buttons.
3️⃣ Configure your payment gateway: Connect with Stripe, PayPal, Redsys, or Mercado Pago to process secure payments.
4️⃣ Automate welcome and thank you emails: This is key to building loyalty.
5️⃣ Follow up: Use CiviCRM reports to see who’s donating and adjust your strategies.

👉 Need help? At Ixiam, we’ll guide you step by step through implementation.

⚠ Common mistakes and how to avoid them

❌ Not facilitating cancellation or modification
🔹 Solution: CiviCRM allows donors to easily manage their contributions from a user portal.

❌ Lack of post-donation communication
🔹 Solution: Set up personalized emails with updates on the impact of their donations.

❌ Not segmenting recurring donors
🔹 Solution: Use CiviCRM to send exclusive campaigns and improve their loyalty.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

🔹 Is it safe to receive recurring payments in Civi-Go and CiviCRM technology?
Yes. CiviCRM uses secure payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, and Redsys, with encryption and anti-fraud measures.

🔹 Can we customize thank-you emails?
Of course. You can set up personalized automated messages with the donor’s name and the impact of their contribution.

🔹 What happens if a donor wants to change their amount or cancel?
From the donor portal, they can easily modify their subscription without complications.

🔹 Does CiviCRM integrate with our current website?
Yes, Civi-Go runs on Drupal. If your website is running on WordPress, we can review it and recommend migrating to an integrated website.

How to get started?

📞 Request a free consultation with our team using this form.
💻 We’ll show you how it works in a personalized demo.
🛠 Together, we’ll implement the solution and optimize its performance.

At Ixiam, we help you make it happen

If you want to increase recurring donations and optimize their management, CiviCRM is the perfect tool, and at Ixiam, we’re experts in its implementation.

📩 Contact us and get started today.