Welcome to The Explorer

The Premier Online Knowledge Base for Information and
Statistics About Social Good

Browse The Explorer

Donor Retention and Attrition

Donor retention measures the percentage of donors that return to donate to your organization from one time period to another. Donor attrition gauges the percentage of donors that are lost from one time period to another. Read on to learn what this means for your organization.


Retention Tactics

Donor retention reflects how nonprofits keep in contact with their donors and how organizations build a pathway for continued support. It is a direct, quantifiable reflection of how you are engaging your donors and communicating your mission. Fewer donor households are giving, but those who are still giving are giving more.1 This shows that there is more value than ever before in retaining the donors you do have. 29% of first-year, offline-only donors were retained in 2021 in addition to 60% of multi-year-offline only donors.2 This shows that successfully securing a second gift vastly improves the chances of retaining your donors for the long haul.

Consider these best practices for your organization:

Continually review each of the components that make up your donor journey. Think through the pipeline of someone being introduced to your organization, navigating your website, speaking with a team member, and making a first gift. Be on the lookout for opportunities to hear from your supporters about the relative ease and comfort they have navigating your channels and outlets. By examining each step that a supporter makes along their journey, you can continually adjust your strategy to ensure that the experience of giving is as simple as possible.

Ensure that your thank yous are prompt, sincere, and effective. Thank yous are absolutes within the social good sector. These should be leveraged as an opportunity to speak to your mission, communicate your values, and invite supporters to get more involved with your organization. A thank you can go a long way in securing a future gift. Head over to Creating Content that Works for more help here.

Keep benchmarking in mind. When you welcome donors new and old, be sure that you are inputting and maintaining their personal and financial data in accordance with data and privacy best practices. The quality of any future calculations depends on the quality of your data; maintaining this appropriately can ensure reliable applications in the future.

Acquisition Tactics

While retention is critical in any fundraising strategy, retained donors can’t comprise your entire supporter base. According to the 2020 Blackbaud Luminate Online Benchmark the average annual revenue per usable email address on your list is $11.56, a 5.1% increase in value compared to 2019. You can bolster your performance by retaining current donors and introducing new supporters to your file.³ 

A successful acquisition strategy provides compelling imagery, a clear and compelling description of your organization, optimized donation pages, and most importantly, it gives potential donors an easy, straight-forward way to stay in touch. Explore these best practices to strengthen your acquisition strategy:

• Go mobile and optimize well.

• Assure that the story of your organization is clear, compelling, and confident.

• Make the landing stick. Ensure that your donation page is easy to use, encourages people to give (and give monthly!), and offers people a way to stay in touch.

• Follow up with new and potential donors!

• Start benchmarking your acquisition against others in your sector. Reports like the Blackbaud Luminate Online Benchmark Report can help evaluate your nonprofit’s acquisition performance for the year ahead.

Visit the Development Plan Toolkit: Your Three-Step Guide to Strategic Fundraising for best practices in crafting your organization’s message and engagement strategies.