grow your monthly supporters (without guilt-tripping anyone)
Viral spikes are fuel. Monthly supporters are the engine. Run actions every week, ask right after people act, show where the money goes, and your recurring income grows with your movement.
One viral post can bring in a wave of one-time donations. Then the algorithm moves on, and so does the money. Monthly supporters don't. They're the people who let you plan the next six months instead of the next six days. Here's how to grow them, the chilli way: action first, money second, guilt never.
quick context
On chilli, your supporters take action on your actions (pages with a few ways to help, like an email or a call) and can fund your work with the fund button, one-time or monthly. chilli takes a 0% platform fee, and only banking fees come out of each donation (follow the money: how payments and cash out work on chilli). If donations aren't set up yet, start with set up donations and get funded by your community.
why monthly beats viral
On Instagram, you rent your audience. A change in the algorithm and your reach halves overnight. Monthly supporters are a relationship you own, and they show up under revenue in your dashboard as recurring income: "your work on chilli earns you [amount] / month". That's a number you can plan around.
the playbook
1. action first, then the ask
Start by giving people something concrete to do. Once donations are switched on for your account, the fund button also appears on your action page. Invite people to back the work after they see what it achieves.
2. run actions every week
Give supporters a reason to come back: a new way to help each week. The weekly rhythm is simple:
- Create a new way to help tied to what's happening now.
- Promote it on social.
- Drive completions, and close the loop with an update.
- Let donations flow naturally from people who keep showing up.
your first 30 days on chilli: a week-by-week plan lays this out week by week.
3. show where the money goes
Every so often, post what donations paid for. Keep it concrete: research, gear, software, travel. "Thanks to 84 monthly supporters, I spent three days in the county archives and found the water permits" beats "thanks for your support" every time.
4. run a time-boxed drive
A deadline works for money the same way it works for action (see the three urgency signals that get people to act now). Try a 72-hour drive with a clear goal: "50 new monthly supporters by Sunday, to fund the next investigation."
Make the goal something people can picture. "Fund the next investigation" beats "support my work". Post the running count every day of the drive ("31/50, 24 hours left"), and when it closes, show what the money is paying for (step 3). A drive with a finish line and a receipt earns you the next one.
Turned its 5th anniversary into a time-boxed donation drive. Monthly donations grew 300%. The lesson: a real moment, a clear deadline and a concrete goal move people.
5. thank monthly supporters like they matter (because they do)
A monthly supporter who hears nothing for three months starts wondering why they're paying. Thank them by name (unless they chose to stay anonymous), show them the wins first, and bring them into the fight with updates on your actions (close the loop: show your supporters their action mattered).
asks you can copy
Because of you, [win in one line]. 🔥
This is what independent, community-funded work looks like. If you want more of it, become a monthly supporter: "fund my work" on my chilli profile. [Amount] a month, cancel anytime, and chilli takes no cut.
72 hours. 50 new monthly supporters. One goal: [what it funds].
We're at [x]/50. Link in bio, "fund my work", monthly. Let's make it count.
Monthly supporters, this one's for you 🫶
This month your support paid for:
- [thing 1]
- [thing 2]
- [thing 3]
And here's what's next: [plan]. Thank you for making this possible.
track it
Check revenue in your dashboard weekly: recurring income, paying supporters and the monthly summary show whether your base is growing. Pair it with community insights: read your numbers, run better actions to see which actions bring people back, then do more of those. Each monthly payment shows as pending for about a week before you can cash it out: follow the money: how payments and cash out work on chilli explains every status.
the long game
The Captain Paul Watson Foundation didn't run one petition and hope. It ran wave after wave of actions through a whole whaling season, and built a core of highly engaged supporters along the way: 5K of them, behind 47K+ actions. That is a model for building trust before making a funding ask.
real win · Captain Paul Watson FoundationPaul Watson put Iceland's whale hunt in the spotlight
your next move
Open revenue in your dashboard and note your recurring income today. Then plan four weeks of actions, one per week, and put one concrete "here's what your money did" post in the calendar. Check the number again in a month.
