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

By Amy Syracuse

Patterns in new-donor retention
According to Rohrbach, Robbins has noticed distinct patterns in new-donor retention across the nonprofit industry.

“We know that … the more gifts [donors] give in the first year, the higher the retention rate,” he says. “We also know that the longer [the] time that elapses between the date of the first gift and that of the second gift, the less likelihood there is the donor will ever make that second gift.”