Your presenter» With Steven Shattuck. What Every Fundraiser Can Do To Stop Falling Retention Rates

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1 What Every Fundraiser Can Do To Stop With Steven Shattuck Your presenter» VP, Marketing - Bloomerang Contributor to: Ragan, NTEN, Business2Community, Social Media Today, National Council of Nonprofits, Search Engine Journal, ExactTarget, Raven Internet Marketing Tools, HubSpot, Content Marketing Institute, Nonprofit Hub, INside Indiana Business. Speaker: Association of Fundraising Professionals, National Council of Nonprofits, ADRP, NCDC, NAMP, Let s Talk Tech, Mixwest, Infinitive Digital Brainfest, Affiliate Summit, Indy Social Media RenoConference.org 1

2 Do you know your retention rate? Do you know your retention rate? In our surveys, less than 45% of fundraisers knew their current donor retention rate. RenoConference.org 2

3 Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) A project to help nonprofit organizations measure and compare. Fundraising Effectiveness Survey» Participating Donor Software Firms: Donor2/Campus Management Corporation PhilanthrAppeal (FundTrack Software) DonorPerfect Fundraising Software The Raiser s Edge (Blackbaud) etapestry Avectra Bloomerang Sage Software MatchMaker FundRaising Software Telosa Software (Exceed!) Metafile RenoConference.org 3

4 The 2013 results are in» New donor retention is even worse» RenoConference.org 4

5 So what? Donor Attrition Over Five Years # of Donors Attrition Rate Donors Remaining After 1 Year Donors Remaining After 2 Years Donors Remaining After 3 Years Donors Remaining After 4 Years Donors Remaining After 5 Years 1,000 20% ,000 40% ,000 60% So what? Improving donor retention rates by just 10% can increase the lifetime value of your database by %! - Dr. Adrian Sergeant, Bloomerang Chief Scientist RenoConference.org 5

6 Donor retention math» Calculating your retention rate» # of Donors in Current 12 Months (from the previous years pool) divided by # of Donors in Previous 12 Months RenoConference.org 6

7 How do we retain donors? Why nonprofit donors leave» 5% - thought charity did not need them 8% - no info on how monies were used 9% - no memory of supporting 13% - never got thanked for donating 16% - death 18% - poor service or communication 36% - others more deserving 54% - could no longer afford RenoConference.org 7

8 Why nonprofit donors leave» 5% - thought charity did not need them 8% - no info on how monies were used 9% - no memory of supporting 13% - never got thanked for donating 16% - death 18% - poor service or communication 36% - others more deserving 54% - could no longer afford Donor communications» Successful donor communications are quite simple. At heart, they are love letters to donors & prospects, woven through with clear cries for help. - Tom Ahern, Bloomerang Donor Communications Head Coach RenoConference.org 8

9 Beginning of mail Elapsed time: 1-3 seconds End of mail RenoConference.org 9

10 $5 experiment» 48/50 receipts 17/50 snail mail letters 3/50 hand written notes 0/50 phone calls (19 asked for phone #s) How to improve retention» Acknowledge offline gift within 48 hours First-time donors who get a personal thank you within 48 hours are 4x more likely to give a second gift. Acknowledge online gifts within 1 hour Send payment processor Send branded from organization Survey within 90 days Snail mail should include handwritten note Call ALL new donors A three-minute thank-you call will boost first-year retention by 30%. Schedule in-person meetings Make second ask quickly and appropriately RenoConference.org 10

11 Acknowledgement segmenting» Above average gift amount At or below average gift amount Acknowledgement segmenting» RenoConference.org 11

12 Who can do the thanking?» Board members Volunteers DoD ED Acknowledgement via social media» RenoConference.org 12

13 Acknowledgement via social media» Acknowledgement via social media» RenoConference.org 13

14 Acknowledgement via social media» Volunteers are 10x more likely to donate to your organization than non-volunteers. (source) Thank. Them. Duh. Acknowledgement via social media» RenoConference.org 14

15 Acknowledgement content tips» Utilize communication preference Make the donor the star of the show more you than we State exactly how donation will be used Communicate impact Monthly giving» Source: Target Analytics, 2009 DonorCentrics US Recurring Giving Benchmarking Analysis RenoConference.org 15

16 Monthly giving» Make it an option on donation forms Suggest donation amounts Ask quickly after the first gift (upgrade) Keep donors happy» Source: Target Analytics, 2009 DonorCentrics US Recurring Giving Benchmarking Analysis RenoConference.org 16

17 Can acquisition trump retention? RenoConference.org 17

18 Acquisition vs Retention» Acquisition response rate» ½ of 1% RenoConference.org 18

19 Renewal response rate» 40-70% Pay attention to dollar retention» Seattle s Lakeside Upper School counts Bill Gates among its alumni. Rumor has it a fundraiser for the high school called Gates, who asked: How much is everyone else giving? About $75 he was told. So put me down for $75, said Gates. -- Forbes, Jan 22, 1996, p. 16 RenoConference.org 19

20 Importance of dollar retention» $0 - $25 $26 - $100 $101 - $1,000 $1,001 - $10,000 < $10,000 Calculating your $ retention rate» Total Dollars from Donors in Current 12 Months (from the previous years pool) divided by Total Dollars from Donors in Previous 12 Months RenoConference.org 20

21 Final thoughts» It s not about you. It s about the donor. Get that second gift. If you ask for a phone #, call. Make social media a communications preference. Segment and personalize. Free educational resources» RenoConference.org 21

22 Free educational resources» Daily blog post Weekly webinar Downloadables Nonprofit Wrap-Up Bloomerang TV Questions? Slides: RenoConference.org 22

23 What Every Fundraiser Can Do To Stop With Steven Shattuck RenoConference.org 23