In the Trenches: Donor Attrition: The Insidious Statistic

“For a good while it took just 10 to 12 months to recoup the donor acquisition cost[s],” Graham affirms. “Now it takes 18 months to recoup the out-of-pocket costs to break even on a new donor.”

Mal Warwick, founder of the Berkeley, Calif.-based, full-service fundraising company Mal Warwick & Associates, put the issue in Darwinian terms: “There are fewer donors on file today only because some nonprofits are unwilling to pay the higher donor-acquisition costs necessary in today’s competitive marketplace.”