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Sep 29, 2014

We Don’t Have a Retention Problem – Part 1

I can envision the comments now: “What do you mean ‘we have don’t have a retention problem?’ Our retention is plummeting faster than the NFL’s credibility as a useful nonprofit organization.”

Oh I hear you. Retention, particularly among second year donors has been going south for a decade.

But I don’t think it’s a retention problem.

I think it’s a demographic communication problem.

Check out this graph. It shows CY13 second year retention of donors acquired in CY12 by generation.

Look at the retention rates of Builder’s – 49%! Talk about a throwback metric. This is the kind of retention rates we use to see back in the old days. So our current methods of fundraising, which are still relying on the B-52 era workhorse direct mail, are still very effective with Builders.

However, the younger donor we acquire the lower the retention rate.

The big question is whether this trend is a generational issue; a communication method issue; or a combination of both.

The sad fact is that we are no longer acquiring Builders in large quantities any more. And as a larger portion of our new donor classes dip into these younger generations, the lower our retention rates will become.

Now we can either blame these younger generations for not being as loyal as their parents. Or, we can adapt and communicate with them in a more relevant way to ignite their potential.

One More Gift from Sustainers

I think we’d all agree that sustainers are great. Having a group of donors that have committed to giving every month is like money in the bank. And, not surprisingly, a lot of organizations are careful to limit additional appeals to this group so not to alienate any...

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Early Returns

We are knee-deep in analyzing last fall’s results. While there is of course some variation in results by organization, the general narrative is that last fall wasn’t great . . . but it wasn’t awful either. It was just OK. What we are seeing is that overall revenue was...

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How Fundraising Will Evolve

In honor of International Data Week, I’m sharing how the future of fundraising will evolve. Many people are concerned about fundraising (I’m not btw). For nearly two decades, the “experts” have been predicting the death of direct mail fundraising. Eventually, the...

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