1. How to keep your donors and raise more money
Donor Retention
How to keep your donors and raise more money
March 2016
Laurie Jarrett Rogers

2. Story Telling and Donor Retention…
Go hand in hand
No coincidence that these are two hottest topics in NP research and focus

3. Donor Retention The more we lose, the less $ we raise
Typical donor retention rate: 39%
Best practices says: 65% minimum
Calculate: # of donors who gave a gift in year one
# of donors who gave in year one AND year two
(year=same timeframe)
Who are they: annual, major gifts, new, program/event
$6 to get a new donor, less than $1.50 to keep the one you have
Less than 29% is a major issue
30-49 is fair/average
50-69 is good
Anything over 70% is excellent

4. Benefits of Long-Term Donors
Higher level of giving over time
Best ambassadors ever
Planned gifts
Advisors on all sorts of levels, especially about donor service and quality issues.

5. WHY DID THEY LEAVE? 53% = lack of communication
what are your P&P around when you send thank you?
Make a call?
How are you using their donation?
What’s their impact?
How do they know?
• A stewardship plan is integral to your fundraising plan
Handout: 10 tips for keeping donors happy

6. Donor Retention Stats
23.7% is the average retention rate for first time donors
58.4% is retention rate of multi-year donors
63% of donors want to know how their $$ will be used
Source: Blackbaud: 50 fascinating nonprofit statistics

7. Why Does Donor Loyalty Matter See Handout

8. 3 Things Every Donor Expects:
1) Prompt, accurate, sincere appreciation for their gift
2) Confirmation that the agency will use the gift as donor intended
3) Measurable results and reporting on how their gift was used
“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
May Angelou

9. 5 Ways to Keep Donors Remind them that they gave Tell them they matter
Tell them how their $ is used
Say thank you
Provide excellent customer service

10. The Experts Weigh In… …on an effective donor retention strategy
Authentic engagement: deeply understand why the donor supports you and give them great service (Mark Rovner)
See the gift as a step in the relationship, not a one-off business transaction
Create the systems you need to deepen relationships with people who are our fans! (Marc Pittman)
Believe deeply that donors matter, then genuinely respect and honor the difference they make in the world (Simone Joyaux)
If nearly 3 out of every 4 new donors leave and never come back, that should have our attention!
10 years ago the average retention rate of a newly acquired donor were roughly 33%, and today it’s 27% -- that’s going in the wrong direction

11. Continued….
Create a new donor welcome kit; send heartfelt, hand written thank you notes promptly; have in place an ask-thank- report back strategy (Lisa Sargent)
Make your donors smile, celebrate them and tell them how they made the world a better place (Shannon Doolittle)
A plan and consistent action (if you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there!) (Vanessa Chase)
Thank donors well and promptly; 12 touches a year (Pam Grow)
Year round practice attitude of gratitude (Claire Axelrad)

12. Last One!
Make your donors feel like they are the most important people in the world (John Haydon)
Key to donor loyalty is to be loyal to your donors (Harvey McKinnon)

13. Action Plan Do an analysis of the last 3 years
Make this part of your agency’s culture
Write 5 thank you notes before you turn on your computer!
Job performance reviews
Reward it!
Make it EASY
Create donor stewardship activities into your staff and board meetings, make it part of the job description, training, on boarding and prof dev plans!
Be bold: tie donor retention rates to job performance

14. Resources • Bloomerang: 23 questions to ask donors and prospects • Chuck Blackbaud Research