Maryland Food Bank retains new donors by asking them to give again — before the window of opportunity closes.

By Amy Syracuse

The average response rate for the new-donor, second-gift mailing is 10 percent. It generates an average gift of $38, and the cost is 50 cents on the dollar, Flateman says.

Though the revenue the new-donor, second-gift mailing generates is important, Craycraft stresses that the true measure of its value is retention. Following the mailing’s introduction in 2007 — it was the only change in Maryland Food Bank’s new-donor contact strategy that year — retention of newly acquired donors rebounded from 34.9 percent to 38.85 percent.