Tips to Retaining Different Kinds of Donors

Donor retention is a huge issue for every nonprofit organization. Given the cost of acquisition of individual donors — not to mention major donors — it’s important that organizations properly steward current donors so that they’ll feel compelled to continue giving.

This is the focus of the book “Building Donor Loyalty: The Fundraiser’s Guide to Increasing Lifetime Value,” by Adrian Sargeant and Elaine Jay. In order to succeed in retaining donors, Sargeant and Jay advise that organizations proactively plan their retention strategies, which “involves far more than simply devising the communications that donors will receive” (Page 171). What kind of relationship will your organization have with each group of donors? How will you deliver and deepen these relationships over time?