Donor Retention: Acquisition For The Long-Term

Year-to-date retention. Under Year to date retention, you can quickly analyze donors who gave gifts — of any type! — during both the current and previous fiscal years. You can also analyze the cash-in-hand giving received from these donors, compared to the previous fiscal year.

• The Retained donors total provides how many of the current year's donors gave gifts of any type during the previous year.
• The Donor retention rate percentage provides how many of the previous year's donors gave again during the current year.
• The Retained revenue amount provides how much the retained donors gave through cash-in-hand giving —that's donations, gifts of stock/property, and payments toward pledges and other commitments — during the current year.
• The Revenue retention rate percentage compares the Retained revenue amount to the previous year's overall giving from retained donors.

Year-over-year donor retention. Under Year over year donor retention, you can compare the Donor retention rate percentage to the overall retention over the previous two fiscal years. To help keep donors engaged, assign them to fundraisers who can provide regular interaction and chances for involvement.

Year-over-year revenue retention. Similarly, under Year over year revenue retention, you can compare the Revenue retention rate percentage to giving from retained donors over the previous two fiscal years. As you compare annual giving, set realistic goals, and keep in mind any windfalls that you shouldn't expect to replicate year-over-year, such as an unusually large one-time major gift.

Rolling donor retention. To track retention over the past five years rather than by fiscal year, under Rolling donor retention, you can analyze how many donors — for each month — gave within 12 to 15 months since their previous gift (just like donors with a lifecycle status of Retained!).

If donor retention starts to take a downward trend or struggles compared to the previous year, consider these best practices to focus on acquiring — and keeping! — loyal supporters.

Clearly tell your story online and in marketing. To help market your mission, grab the attention of prospects and potential donors with strong imagery that supports why they should give and promotes your brand. Simplify your story and cut out any noise that could overwhem prospective donors. To ease donations, include a clear call to action that enables donors to show their support — such as a prominent Donate Now! button on your website — and provide suggested gift amounts of increased giving levels.

Show how your organization uses donations. To encourage giving from prospective and engaged donors alike, provide tangible evidence of the impact of their generosity. Include a concrete description of how gifts help your cause on your donation page, and promote the work your organization does through email newsletters, direct marketing, and a presence online and in social media. For suggestions on how to promote your mission in social media like Facebook and Twitter, see the Social Media Best Practices Help.

Immediately thank donors for their gifts. Timing is critical to help secure a second gift from an acquired donor and convert them to a loyal supporter. We recommend you add gifts through the database view as soon as you get them and thank first-time donors within 24 hours with an acknowledgement and personal email or phone call. Consider a welcome package to introduce first-time donors to your organization and its mission.

For more information about the Retention metrics, see the Donor Retention Analysis Help.