6 ways to hold on to your donors

You know what really crushes fundraising programs?

Donor attrition.

All donors eventually stop giving to your organization. Many after just one gift. But some stay until the end of their lives … and then they leave you a charitable bequest. The longer a donor stays with you, the more valuable they are.

And there’s a lot you can do to increase their stay, most of it being good and consistent at thanking them.

Here’s a great post from Clairification, Will Your Nonprofit’s Donors Decide to Leave You? that can help you keep more donors for longer:

1. People must hear from you immediately after they give. If weeks or months go by without a thank-you, you’ve squandered the relationship. You’ll have to win them over again if you want another donation. (And some of them will be annoyed and actively choose not to donate again.)
2. The way you communicate with donors must make them feel good. Perfunctory, robotic gift acknowledgements might check the box that you did something, but it also needs to be warm, human, and relevant to really do that job.
3. Appreciate the donor as a person; don’t simply thank them for giving money. All you know about a donor is that they gave (and when and how much). But donations flow from the heart and mind of the donor. It’s personal. Thank them for that!
4. The donor acknowledgement, to work its magic, must be prompt, personal, relevant and ‘stand out.’ You should spend as much time, budget, and creativity on thanking as you do for asking.
5. People must hear from you again, before you make another ask.
6. Both flattery and impact reporting work. Tell them you appreciate them. And tell them what their giving makes possible.