How the American Library Association grew recurring giving to 45% of its revenue on GoFundMe Pro
Mission
Empowering and advocating for libraries and library workers to ensure equitable access to information for all.
Challenge
Expand fundraising beyond a membership-driven model to engage a broader community of supporters.
Solution
After migrating to GoFundMe Pro, the American Library Association created a more flexible giving experience that expanded its donor community, increased recurring giving, and enabled staff to build and manage campaigns independently.
“GoFundMe Pro has made a world of difference for our donor-facing pages. We couldn’t have launched our new Public Supporter Program or grown our recurring revenue the way we’ve done with our previous tools.”
– Amy Katzenberger, Director of Development
Results on GoFundMe Pro in the past year*:
45%
of revenue is from recurring donations
New
recurring donor every three days, on average
92%
of donors choose to cover transaction fees
*Based on 2025–2026 GoFundMe Pro data and American Library Association-provided data
Launching a new program on a new platform
The American Library Association (ALA) is one of the oldest and largest library associations in the world. As a membership-driven organization, its fundraising tools were built around members, but others who cared deeply about libraries had no clear way to contribute. ALA’s Director of Development worked with GoFundMe Pro at her previous nonprofit and saw an opportunity to elevate the supporter experience for more growth across a wider audience through a Public Supporter Program.
This initiative was designed for library board volunteers, trustees, retirees, advocates, and members of the general public who don’t fit the traditional membership model but want to support libraries at the national level. With Campaign Studio, the ALA team was able to build, update, and launch the program optimized to grow their recurring donor base without web developer support.
When I saw what GoFundMe Pro could do, there was no going back. The difference between our old donor experience and what we have now isn’t incremental—it’s completely different.
Building a recurring donor base by making it easy to give
Flexibility in recurring giving was very important to ALA, especially as it launched the Public Supporter Program. With GoFundMe Pro, the Public Supporter Program has grown its recurring donors to represent more than 30% of its supporters, who ALA maintains ongoing engagement with through a dedicated newsletter, a monthly publication, and prompts to refer a friend.
By setting monthly giving as the default frequency and prompting donors to cover fees, ALA has built a strong recurring giving donor base, where:
- Recurring gifts account for 45% of total revenue.
- A new recurring donor signs up every three days, on average.
- 92% of donors cover platform fees.
When you make it easy to say yes to recurring giving and pair it with consistent engagement, donors show up. Ninety percent of our donors cover the fees — because we ask. That’s been a game-changer for us.
Results reflect American Library Association’s campaign strategy and may vary for other organizations.
ALA’s GoFundMe Pro tips:
- Prioritize recurring giving by setting it as the default or enabling Intelligent Ask Amounts. Donors who want to give once can still do so—but many will opt in simply because the option is there.
- Enable donor covered fees. When donors are given the choice, most will say yes.
- Use source codes to understand which channels drive your best donors.
