Keep your monthly donors giving.
Sustainers are your steadiest revenue — and they churn silently, on a failed card no one noticed. Tongba flags the ones at risk or already lapsed, drafts the right nudge for the moment, and queues it for your approval. You approve, it sends.
14-day free trial · payments stay in your Stripe · we take 0%.
Works with the tools your recurring giving already lives in
Your steadiest donors don't quit — their cards do, and no one is watching the door.
Monthly giving is now a large, growing share of online revenue — but a lapsed sustainer almost never says goodbye. Most churn is involuntary: an expired card, a failed charge, no follow-up. Recovering them early beats replacing them later.
of all online revenue now comes from monthly / sustainer giving
M+R Benchmarks 2026
of prior donors give again when reached — vs 24% of new donors
M+R Benchmarks 2026
from your recurring-donor list to the first batch of approved nudges
Tongba
From at-risk list to recovered gifts — in three steps.
Watch one recurring-donor run, start to finish.
Hi Maria — your $25 monthly gift didn't go through this month; it looks like your card expired.
That gift funds a week of meals every month — we'd hate to lose it over a card.
Could you take 30 seconds to update it here?
Your monthly gift needs a quick update
Flag at-risk sustainers
Tongba sorts your monthly donors by what each one needs right now.
The right nudge for the right moment.
A recurring donor needs a different message depending on where they are. Tongba knows which one — and drafts it.
1 · Recover failed payments fast
“Your card needs updating.”
Most sustainer churn is involuntary — an expired or declined card no one noticed. Tongba flags every failed charge and drafts a warm, low-friction note the same week, so the gift comes back before the donor drifts off.
2 · Steward on the anniversary
“One year of meals — because of you.”
A sustainer who feels seen keeps giving. On each monthly or yearly anniversary, Tongba drafts a specific thank-you that names what their giving has added up to — the cheapest retention there is.
3 · Win back before the habit breaks
“We'd love to have you back.”
A recently-lapsed monthly donor is far easier to recover than a cold one. Tongba catches them in the first weeks and drafts a gentle re-up ask while the habit — and the goodwill — is still warm.
$70/mo flagged · recovery notes drafted · payments stay in your Stripe
A failed card shouldn't cost you a donor.
When a charge fails, the window to recover it is short — and silence loses the gift. Tongba writes a warm, specific note the same week: what happened, why their giving matters, and a 30-second way to fix it.
- Names the real gift — “your $25 monthly gift didn't go through”
- Reminds them of the impact, not the inconvenience
- One clear link to update their card — payment runs in your Stripe
Everything the recurring-donor workflow includes.
Built for the one person who keeps the sustainers giving.
At-risk detection
Failed cards, missed charges, and lapsing sustainers surfaced automatically.
Approval inbox
Nothing sends without you. Approve or skip each draft in one click.
Your voice, not a robot's
Tongba learns your tone from a few examples and writes like your team.
Stripe stays yours
Payments run through your own Stripe. We never touch the money or take a cut.
Anniversary stewarding
Monthly and yearly milestones become a specific, timely thank-you.
Recovery tracking
See who you reached, who reactivated, and how much recurring revenue came back.
Sustainer retention by hand vs. with Tongba.
By hand
- Scroll Stripe for failed charges between everything else
- Mean to thank your sustainers — then never quite do
- Notice a monthly donor lapsed only months later
- Write a recovery note from scratch, if at all
- No idea how much recurring revenue you're losing
With Tongba
- Failed cards and lapsing sustainers flagged the moment they happen
- An anniversary thank-you drafted for every monthly donor
- Recently-lapsed sustainers caught in the first weeks
- The right nudge written for each moment, in your voice
- Recovered gifts and saved revenue tracked live
A small team recovers the failed cards and thanks every sustainer on time — instead of finding out months later that the monthly revenue quietly slipped away.
Illustrative of the workflow. Stats — monthly giving at ~27% of online revenue, and 66% prior-donor vs 24% new-donor retention — are from M+R Benchmarks 2026.
Recurring donor retention — FAQ
Why focus on recurring (monthly) donors?
Sustainers are your most valuable, most predictable revenue — monthly giving makes up a growing share of online revenue. But they churn quietly: a lapsed card, a forgotten pledge, a quiet drop-off. Catching that early is pure ROI.
What does Tongba actually send recurring donors?
It drafts the right nudge for the moment: a warm thank-you on the monthly anniversary, a gentle 'your card expired' recovery note, or a re-up ask for a sustainer who lapsed — each personalized and queued for your approval.
Does it process payments?
No — Tongba handles the outreach. Payments stay in your own Stripe (we never take a cut). Tongba spots who needs a nudge and writes it; the donor updates their gift through your existing donation flow.
Do I need a CRM for this?
No. Import your recurring-donor list from any CRM or a spreadsheet. Tongba figures out who's at risk and drafts the outreach.
Why do most sustainers actually stop giving?
Usually not because they meant to. The biggest driver of sustainer churn is involuntary — an expired or failed card the donor never noticed. A fast, friendly 'your card needs updating' note recovers gifts that would otherwise vanish without anyone deciding to leave.
How long does it take to set up?
About 10 minutes: import your recurring-donor list, pick the Recurring Donor workflow, and review the first batch of drafts. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial, no card required.
Catch lapsing sustainers before they're gone.
Start a 14-day free trial, or send us your recurring-donor list and we'll Loom you a walkthrough.