Leadership thinks donor retention is a fundraising problem. It’s not. It’s a leadership problem. And confusing the two is costing your organization a fortune. Here is a number that should bother you: 43%. That is the sector-wide donor retention rate, per the Fundraising Effectiveness Project’s most recent full-year data. Forty-three percent sounds almost survivable until … Read more
Every year, many EDs and Boards look at the budget gap and decides development will close it. They write down a number. No one asks if it’s real. This is magical thinking, they call it budgeting. Annually, in budget meetings across the nonprofit sector, a number gets written down. It is arrived at by combining … Read more
Charitable giving in the United States now exceeds $590 billion annually. It is the third largest industry in the country. By raw dollars, philanthropy has never been healthier. And yet…donor retention has hovered below 50% for over a decade, according to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. Total donors are declining. For every two donors an organization … Read more