Nonprofit

Three Steps to Grow Your Donor Retention Rate

These can be done even if you are a one-person fundraising shop!

The author in his office. Photo credit: Author

For those of us in nonprofit fundraising, any time is a good time to focus on whether or not someone who gives will give again. So here’s a kind reminder from me to you to support your efforts with keeping donors.

These steps can be incorporated into what you are already doing. They may be a reminder to you or a new idea.

They work.

And as we know, keeping a donor is much easier than finding a new one.

Here we go!

Step one: Thank promptly. I know most of you already know this, and hopefully are already doing it. Thanking promptly builds a stronger relationship with your donor. The stronger the relationship is the better chance you have of the donor deciding to donate again.

Step two: Let your donor know how you spent their donation and the impact of that. I like to do this three or four months after the donation. This of course depends on your capacity. I have seen even the smallest of fundraising teams be able to accomplish this. Sometimes you have to be a little creative.