When donors continue giving to your nonprofit year after year, it lays the foundation for sustainable growth and long-term impact. In addition to the more stable, reliable funding that longtime supporters can provide, retention is much more cost-effective than acquisition. Nonprofits often spend up to $1.50 per dollar raised to acquire a new donor. But it usually only costs $0.20 per dollar raised to retain an existing one!
However, the average year-over-year donor retention rate in the nonprofit sector is just under 35%. This benchmark should be your minimum goal—but it’s even better to increase your donor retention from there!
In this guide, we’ll walk through four best practices for transforming one-time donors into lasting partners who help you further your nonprofit’s mission for years to come. Let’s get started!
1. Thank Donors for Every Gift
Every gift your nonprofit receives is important to its mission and therefore deserves your gratitude, no matter the amount. But thanking donors goes beyond fulfilling a basic obligation. It’s a foundational step in building relationships that reinforce each donor’s decision to give.
Many nonprofit professionals think of stewardship and retention as separate steps in the donor management lifecycle. But they fuel each other. As Double the Donation’s donor stewardship guide explains, appreciation “remind[s] donors of your cause and how vital their support is, and with a dedicated donor stewardship plan, you can keep in contact with donors and ultimately retain them.”
2. Demonstrate the Impact of Giving
According to DonorSearch’s donor retention guide, a major reason donors lapse (i.e., stop giving to your nonprofit) is uncertainty about the impact of their gifts. “If donors don’t know how your organization is using their contributions to further its mission, they might decide that donating isn’t actually worth it.”
The best way to combat this? Show donors how their gifts are making a difference for your cause. me helpful tools for this include:
- Statistics: Quantifying outcomes with concrete data helps prove impact to donors, especially those who are persuaded by logic. For example, an animal shelter might let one supporter know that their $20 donation provided new beds for three rescue dogs and tell another that their gift of $500 helped the shelter’s veterinary team vaccinate and microchip 10 cats they recently took in.
- Stories. While some supporters respond to facts, we are all moved by emotion, which storytelling helps you tap into. For example, the aforementioned animal shelter could tell the story of Henry, one of those newly vaccinated cats who was surrendered by an elderly owner who could no longer care for him. But thanks to your donors generously funding his medical and social needs at the shelter, Henry found a new forever home where he is now living his best life.
- Images. Images help supporters visualize the stories you tell and the statistics you share, further cementing their gifts’ impact. Before sharing any pictures of your (human) beneficiaries or supporters, make sure to get their consent. Don’t feel limited to just photos, either—infographics can also help donors make sense of complex impact statistics.
In addition to thank-you notes and impact reports specifically aimed at your donors, these tools can also be useful in mass marketing content (newsletters, social media posts, etc.) to provide an additional touchpoint for donors to understand the difference they’re making. You can even inspire other supporters to contribute through those channels as well!
3. Offer Various Opportunities for Involvement
If every single message you send your supporters is a fundraising appeal, donor fatigue (a lack of participation in response to overwhelming appeals) can set in quickly. To prevent burnout, diversify your touchpoints—not only with thank-you notes and impact reports, but also with invitations to get involved with your nonprofit’s work in other ways besides monetary donations, such as:
- Volunteering in various roles that lend themselves to different skillsets and availability levels.
- Participating in advocacy activities related to your cause, such as signing petitions or contacting local legislators.
- Contributing in-kind gifts of goods, services, or assets (stocks, real estate, etc.).
- Attending a fundraising event—while there is still a financial component to this ask, donors may be more receptive to it than a regular donation request because most events also involve fun activities and community-building.
These activities are all critical to your nonprofit’s ability to further its mission. So, encouraging donors to get involved in them is a win-win. Plus, if a donor is at risk of lapsing due to changes in their financial situation, you can suggest these low- to no-cost ways to stay engaged with your organization until they’re in a position to make a monetary gift again.
4. Track & Leverage Donor Data
Your team probably recognizes the value of data in donor acquisition and cultivation, but its importance doesn’t end there. After a donor gives, continue referencing what you know about them as you keep them engaged over time and eventually ask them to upgrade their support.
Your nonprofit’s donor database will continue to be a key resource in this process. Keep their profiles updated with any new interactions with your organization and other life updates they tell you about. Additional digging in your prospect research database can also be useful if you’re considering them for future major gifts.
Integrating other software like these prospect research tools, donation processors, marketing solutions, volunteer management systems, and event platforms makes data collection on retained donors seamless. However, you should also actively seek information through donor conversations and surveys. Firsthand perspectives are the most valuable, and this shows supporters you value their input.
Boosting your donor retention rate comes down to thoughtful communication, consistent appreciation, and a genuine effort to keep supporters connected to your mission. If you thank every donor, demonstrate impact, offer various engagement opportunities, and use data wisely, your nonprofit can turn one-time donors into lifelong ambassadors for your mission.
Sarah Tedesco
Sarah Tedesco is the Chief Operating Officer and Part Owner of DonorSearch, a prospect research company that focuses on proven philanthropy. She is responsible for managing the production and customer support department, which focuses on client contract fulfillment, retention, and satisfaction. She also collaborates with other team members in various areas like sales, marketing, and product development. Sarah holds an MBA from the University of Maryland and worked as a foundation prospect researcher before joining DonorSearch, providing her with industry experience that she applies to her responsibilities day-to-day.
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