Donor Retention Strategies for Your Non-Profit

Donor retention is a very essential part of fundraising which every NGO needs to sit up and take notice of. Simply put, donor retention means keeping contributions coming from your existing pool of regular, monthly and annual donors. The objective of donor retention is to keep donors giving regularly, without losing their connection to your non-profit organisation’s larger objectives. Following donor retention strategies are particularly important for monthly giving programmes since the length of time that a donor stays will directly impact the overall ROI of the programme.

Every NGO operates knowing the fact that the cost of acquiring new donors is much more than the cost of retaining existing donors. This is what makes donor retention strategies so effective and vital to your non-profit’s ROI.

Regular donors are the financial backbone of your NGO. However, a common issue is that the relationship between many donors and charities fizzles out after some period of time.

There are multiple reasons why this could happen, but here we will focus on three essential donor retention strategies that your NGO could apply to ensure that your donors continue to support your cause.

• Successful Onboarding and Service

First impressions count when you’re fundraising for your NGO. Make your donors’ first giving experience a hassle-free one. Simplifying your own process such as keeping donation forms short, jargon-free and coherent, and offering multiple payment channels helps.

These gestures nudge donors to appreciate the ease of donating to your NGO and they are more likely to donate regularly based on the initial encounter. Dealing with donor queries and offering honest solutions is an important donor retention strategy as well.

• Get Donors Involved

One major donor retention strategy that often gets overlooked is the chance to involve active donors in your non-profit’s cause and activities. For example, if your NGO deals with providing health care to the elderly, a section of your donors who are medical professionals could be asked to volunteer on a particular activity.

Such onsite experiences reinforce that your NGO is working towards its specific mentioned goals. The donor will be confident in your charity’s work and you will earn the support of someone with the requisite skills. In short, this is a great way to engage with and retain donors, while placing equal value on their financial contribution and unique talents.

• Share Your Success

Donors want to know that their support matters and they are indeed helping to make a difference. This final donor retention strategy requires your NGO to develop and send communication materials (personalised emails/newsletters/online videos etc.) to your donors that illustrate results from the field.

Instead of stating facts and numbers, try and tell a story of one of the people whose life was sincerely affected by your charity’s work. While doing this, focus more on how a donor’s contribution helped impact this positive change rather than the value of your organisation.

Drawing up and implementing efficient donor retention strategies for your NGO is one of DDII’s main specialities. As a comprehensive provider of services to non-profits, we utilise a range of donor retention mechanisms to ensure that your non-profit is able to provide solutions and aid to issues that matter.