Retaining donors is a constant battle for nonprofits everywhere. In 2023, the one-year donor retention rate was 44%, and the new donor retention rate was a mere 23%. While many blame economic factors—which are certainly at play—donor fatigue and a lack of focus on donor retention are culprits as well.
With 75% of people surveyed by the Bristol Strategy Group admitting they don’t have dedicated plans to keep donors around, nonprofit leaders must prioritize creating donor retention strategies and making the donor experience worthwhile.
In this guide, we’ll point out key signs of donor fatigue and, more importantly, how to prevent these scenarios in the first place. Whether you’re developing a donor retention strategy from scratch or strengthening your current plan, these tips will ensure you attend to donors’ needs and create a fulfilling experience that encourages them to stick around.
1. Decreased Donation Frequency
If a consistent, recurring donor stops donating as frequently as they used to, that could be a sign of fatigue. They may feel undervalued by your nonprofit or like their contributions aren’t making a difference.
How to Prevent This Scenario:
- Show appreciation often. It’s not enough to just send donors a generic thank-you message after they contribute. Invest in a comprehensive donor appreciation strategy that truly demonstrates your gratitude for their support. You may host donor appreciation events, call donors on the phone, or create a donor recognition wall to show your thanks.
- Talk to your donors. Make it a habit to schedule phone calls or live meetings with current donors to ask for their feedback, and even better, their advice. This is a prime way to get donors more engaged – especially if you follow their advice.
- Offer flexible giving options. The easier it is to give, the more likely donors are to contribute. Accept multiple payment options and offer a variety of engaging ways to give, including planned giving, donor-advised funds (DAFs), text-to-give, stock giving, and in-kind donations.
- Give regular impact updates. Send regular impact updates to show donors how their contributions make a difference. Highlight key outcomes and be transparent about how you’re allocating funds to further your mission.
2. Reduced Donation Amounts
Donors who start giving in smaller amounts than they used to may be experiencing fatigue. Whether they feel dissatisfied with the donor experience or that you’re over-asking them for donations, they may continue to reduce their donation sizes until they lapse entirely.
How to Prevent This Scenario:
- Maintain comprehensive donor records. Using your nonprofit’s CRM, store information about donors’ giving history to determine their average donation amount and create donation requests that align with their giving capacity. Additionally, keep track of how often you’re reaching out with appeals and donors’ response rates to prevent soliciting again too soon.
- Explain the impact of different donation amounts. Letting donors know exactly what their contributions allow your organization to accomplish will prove that each dollar they give to your nonprofit is worthwhile. Bloomerang recommends adding these details directly to your donation page and taking an approach like the Nashville Food Project, which lists four example donation amounts and what the organization can do with each one.
- Provide nonmonetary engagement opportunities. Donors don’t want to feel like their only worth to your organization is their wallets. Encourage supporters to become involved in your work and community in various ways that don’t require donations, including volunteering and advocacy.
3. Lack of Engagement
Consider the different ways donors engage with your organization. Supporters who stop opening emails, attending events, or participating in campaigns may be fatigued and at risk of lapsing.
How to Prevent This Scenario:
- Solicit feedback. Ask donors how they’d like to engage with your organization and incorporate their insights into your strategy. Send surveys after specific initiatives like events and campaigns to gather feedback on how you could make these experiences more engaging. You may also send more general check-in surveys to identify donors’ feelings about their experience and pinpoint donors who may be more likely to lapse so you can attempt to re-engage them. And again, nothing beats a live conversation.
- Leverage social proof. 70% of people trust product recommendations from people they don’t even know, and donating is no different. When donors see others supporting your cause, they’re more likely to be engaged. Share testimonials from supporters passionate about your cause to inspire deeper involvement across your donor base.
- Experiment with new campaigns. While your annual 5K may be a fun tradition, donors may become bored seeing the same campaigns year after year. Switch it up by incorporating exciting new fundraising initiatives. For instance, Qgiv recommends leveraging peer-to-peer fundraising to “engage current supporters on a deeper level by involving them in a hands-on fundraising role.”
4. Membership Non-Renewal
Participants in your membership program show their dedication to your cause by regularly contributing and attending events. If they decide not to renew, they likely think your program doesn’t provide enough value to them and may stop showing support for your organization altogether.
How to Prevent This Scenario:
- Offer enticing membership benefits and early renewal incentives. Make membership worthwhile with benefits like members-only events, access to exclusive content, and discounts. You may also offer early renewal incentives and automatic renewal options that make it easy to stay in the program.
- Provide tiered membership options. Create different membership tiers for small, mid-level, and major donors with varying benefits at each level. That way, members can choose which tier aligns best with their budgets and move between tiers if their financial situation changes instead of leaving the program entirely.
- Develop a membership community. Encourage members to meet and bond over their shared love of your cause. Use membership software to facilitate community-building opportunities and connect like-minded members.
5. Unsubscribing from Communications
When supporters unsubscribe from your communications, they may signal that your messages aren’t engaging enough or that you’re contacting them too frequently.
How to Prevent This Scenario:
- Personalize your content. Leverage automation to easily enter details like donors’ names and donation amounts to individualize each message. Segment your supporters to further personalize your content and ensure it speaks to different donor groups’ preferences and values.
- Allow donors to control communication frequency. Let donors decide how often they’d like to hear from you. Then, segment them based on this characteristic to ensure you respect their wishes.
- Incorporate multimedia. Make your communications stand out by including engaging elements like photos and videos. Visuals can break up the text and make your content more digestible for readers.
While it’s normal for donors to come and go, there are steps you can take to optimize their experience and maximize the chances they’ll stick around. Regularly assess your donor retention rate to identify your strategy’s successes and adjust as needed.