5 Clever Ways to Improve Your Thank You Letters

According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, first-time donor retention is a measly 19 percent. While repeat donor retention is much better at 63 percent, that still means one in three current donors don’t give again. Overall, the median donor retention rate is just 43 percent.

It’s not a huge mystery as to why. Donors want something quite simple: a prompt, meaningful thank you letter and additional communication that explains how the donation was used. That’s it. Eighty percent of donors say that would convince them to make the second gift, according to Penelope Burk’s research. That’s their test for the nonprofit sector, and we are largely failing it.