Examining The Ins and Outs of How Donors Give
Nonprofit organizations and charitable causes that encourage donations know that the donor cultivation cycle does not lead to 100% donor retention. Rather, there is quite a lot of donor attrition that must be calculated into annual fiscal plans. Building relationships and paying attention to timelines and cultivation cycles can help ensure that these organizations remain financially healthy.
Donor RetentionDonor retention is every nonprofit's dream. While donor acquisition can be difficult, you need to hustle just as hard to retain even half of those donors year after year. The practice of donor retention involves engaging existing donors so that they'll donate again the following year. Two major elements of good retention practices are encouraging the donor to give according to a set schedule and making them feel valued as often as possible. There are many philosophies on what leads to a good donor retention percentage, which sits at around 40%. Some of the most popular ways of boosting retention rates include:
Donor AttritionThe donor attrition rate is the rate at which donors do not renew their gifts each year. This is expressed as a percentage of all given donors in a given year. The average donor attrition rate currently hovers between 60 to 65% across the nonprofit sector. If you have 10 donors, then you could reasonably expect four to give again the following year. Donor Attrition Continued & Additional TakeawaysWhen your donor attrition rate is trending in the wrong direction, there could be many reasons
why. The best you can do is try to be transparent, handle your business with integrity, and do
your best to honor donors and prospective donors in your attitude toward them.
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