How to retain donors

It’s important to build strong relationships with all donors, and especially those who donate regularly. Repeat donations provide a consistent cashflow, helping you to plan better – and plan long-term. In essence, they allow your charity to be more impactful and effective. 

 

According to Experian, it can cost five to seven times more to find a new donor than to keep an existing one. That alone is good reason to care for your regular givers, but it’s likely that they don’t only support your organisation financially. They can also become strong advocates, active supporters, and potentially volunteers.

 

Here are six ways to retain donors and keep them engaged in your work.  

 

 

Use your data to retain donors

 

There are lots of ways to do this, but the first is using your donor database to understand key donor metrics – including how many donors you’ve retained, gained, and lost over recent years. This will give you a baseline from which you can track and improve retention.

 

We share more on how to use data to target donors and retain them, including how to use data to identify and champion your most loyal supporters.

 

 

Get to know your donors

 

Research your donor segments to find out who they are, what motivates them, and how they want to engage with your organisation. Keeping donors engaged with, and loyal to, your charity will look different for different people.

 

Some supporters will want to hear from you regularly via email, some might prefer an annual thank you letter. Ask which channels they prefer and how often they are happy to be contacted.

 

Sow donors that you’re paying attention to their contributions by personalising messages – at the very least by using their name. You could also include other details, like how much they last donated, or when they started supporting your charity. All these small details can help donors feel more valued.

 

 

Say thank you and show how their money is helping

 

Always thank donors – no matter what size their donation.

 

Donors want to know that their contributions are valued and make a difference, so share honest and regular updates about how their money is being used.

 

That could be through an annual impact report, or with newsletters, case studies, or socials. Again, be led by donor preferences when it comes to how and how often they’re happy to be contacted.

 

Stories from the people your charity helps can be a powerful and emotive way to demonstrate your impact, whether you share them through a written article, video, podcast, social media post, or guest blog.

 

 

Build trust with donors

 

Trust is critical for charities, particularly when keeping donors on board. When a donor gives you their hard-earned money, they are trusting you to spend it well.

 

Enthuse has found that nearly three quarters (73%) of the public have either moderate or high trust in good causes. But that doesn’t mean you can take the public’s trust for granted. To inspire trust it’s helpful to:

• Be transparent about finances (e.g. publish budgets in an easy-to-understand format)
• Make regulatory information easily accessible, including diversity and gender pay gap stats
• Be honest in your comms, clearly explaining what you do and the difference you make, without overselling (the slightest hint of exaggeration can lead to mistrust)
• Keep your content up to date and relevant

Read more about how your organisation can build trust.

 

 

Understand why donors might leave

 

According to Blackbaud, there are some common reasons a donor stops giving to a charity: they think the charity doesn’t need them, they were never thanked for their donation, they didn’t receive information on how their money was used, or they can’t afford to donate. 

 

But you don’t have to wait until they leave to find out what the blocks are. Short donor surveys can be illuminating, as can any complaints or feedback that might prompt a donor to stop giving. Gathering this information, and acting on it, can pre-empt any issues.

 

 

Keep the door open to donors

 

When a donor stops giving to your charity, for example, cancelling a direct debit, call to thank them for their support. This also gives an opportunity to find out why they’ve stopped donating – which could be valuable feedback on your donor journey.

 

The conversation could open up the possibility of them reducing their donation, rather than cancelling completely, or pausing it for a certain amount of time. And, if ultimately they do choose to leave, then they do so feeling that their support has been valued. You may have lost a donor, but you’ll still have an advocate.