Retention

Did you know that nonprofits as a whole have a donor retention rate of 49 percent? Retention rate refers to the percentage of donors who make another gift or have an ongoing relationship with a nonprofit.

There’s no question that poor donor communications is a core driver of poor retention. This is something most organizations can fix. But let’s raise the ante a bit. Let me posit that too many nonprofits out there are not making a difference. Or, putting it more charitably, maybe their performance has peaked! Look at your organization closely. Do you need better communications or a poison pill?

In our May 2012 issue, Donor Voice CEO Kevin Schulman mapped out the "Anatomy of a Committed Donor."

Sustainable fundraising is about keeping your entire house in order. A focus on donor retention will raise lots of money. Period. Everyone knows by now (I hope) that it’s a lot more expensive to acquire a new donor than to retain an ongoing donor. Nonetheless, too many nonprofits still focus the lion’s share of their resources on (1) upgrading a handful of major donors and (2) getting new donors in the door. Don’t get me wrong.  Tending to those things is important. But it’s definitely not all there is.

American Bible Society, a faith-based organization dedicated to bringing the message of the Bible around the world, is one of the three featured organizations at Engage. In our May 2005 issue, Stratmark's Max Bunch described how ABS retooled its message and survived two years without acquisition mailings by taking "A Well-Calculated Risk."

Fundraising researcher Adrian Sargeant found that “improving donor retention by just 10 percent can double the lifetime value of your donor database.” So how do you capture those lovely LYBUNTs (Last-Year-But-Not-This-Year donors)? We suggest more strategic and more frequent or targeted communications (surprise!). Here are some approaches you should try at home.

Building an effective donor program takes time and effort. Here are 10 ideas to help you foster the one thing we all desire most: donor retention.

We have to accept our sector is in a crisis of near terminal proportions. So anyone who might throw a lifeline setting out what wise nonprofits should be doing to slow, stop and reverse this situation should be very welcome to sector leaders. Under the general theme of wise investment, both time and money, to increase retention Chuck Longfield launched in with five specific, timely nuggets of advice.

In times where acquisition is both expensive and difficult, how is it possible that we let Mr. and Mrs. Opportunity knock on our door and we don’t answer? Even when the numbers are not big, it should be possible to organize a tiny process to accommodate these friendly people who want to get in contact.

I bet you 100 euros that donors who are willing to take the trouble of letting you know they have moved are more loyal donors, therefore have a higher Lifetime Value …

If your organization’s retention efforts aren’t fine-tuned, this is the perfect webinar to help you focus.