Donor Retention: What Do We Know & What Can Nonprofits Do about It?

Retention is one of the Big 5 KPIs to measure, but why is it so important?

A 10 percent improvement in attrition can yield up to a 200 percent increase in projected value, as with lower attrition significantly more donors upgrade their giving, give in multiple ways, recommend others, and, ultimately, perhaps, pledge a planned gift to the organization.

In this sense the behavior of “customers” and the value they generate appear to mirror that reported in the for-profit consumer sector, where similar patterns of value and behavior emerge. Indeed, the marketing literature is replete with references to the benefits that a focus on customer retention can bring.

Adrian Sargeant explains more in this article.

https://nonprofitquarterly.org/donor-retention-nonprofit-donors/