Charities Lost 103 Donors for Every 100 They Gained in 2014, Says Study

For every $100 in new donations nonprofits gained in fiscal year 2014 over the previous year, they lost $95 in lapsed or reduced donations, according to a new survey.

While that five percent net gain in gifts is "disappointing," said Nathan Dietz, senior research associate at the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute, the news regarding donors themselves is even worse: For every 100 new donors gained in 2014, participating nonprofits lost 103.

Charities also were asked what percentage of their 2013 donors made repeat gifts to charities in 2014, and the median was 43 percent, the same as from 2012 to 2013. Or, as Dietz put it, "more donors leave than stay."