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Nov 11, 2019

A Cautionary Tale of Stopping New Donor Acquisition

As I’ve shared before, one of our most common analyses, sadly, is projecting what happens to a donor file’s active counts if an organization decides to discontinue new donor acquisition – after all, new donor acquisition is just too expensive.

Well, today’s graph is not a projection . . . but a real-life example of what happens to donor file when an organization stops acquiring new donors for just two years.

Figure 1: Active Donor Counts

Not sure I need to say anything else. What a total unmitigated disaster.

In just two years of not acquiring new donors, this organization’s active donor counts were cut in half.

This organization now faces the dim prospect of having to invest more in new donor acquisition over the next several years just to get back to where they were in FY17.

So unnecessary.

If you (or your client) is considering such a decision, please, please, show them this graph.

Top 5 Mistakes: #3 Chasing Younger Donors

If I had to guess, the median age of the donors on your database is between 65 and 70-years old, and the median age of a new donor is probably between 60-65 years old. When organizations hear this, they worry that their donor database is going to “eternally lapse”...

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Top 5 Mistakes: #4 Legacy “No-Mail” Flags

I have been analyzing the fundraising business for nearly three decades and over the years I keep seeing nonprofit organizations making the same mistakes. These errors hold organizations back. If you are new to fundraising, please commit yourself to avoiding these...

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Top 5 Mistakes: #5 CRM Expectations

I have been analyzing the fundraising business for nearly three decades and over the years I keep seeing nonprofit organizations making the same mistakes. These errors hold organizations back. If you are new to fundraising, please commit yourself to avoiding these...

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