donor retention education w/ steven shattuck
DESCRIPTION
https://bloomerang.co/retentionTRANSCRIPT
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What Fundraisers Can Do to Stop Falling Donor Retention Rates
Steven Shattuck@StevenShattuckVP, Marketing -‐ BloomerangContributor 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
Your presenter »
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Do you know your retention rate?
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In our surveys, less than 45% of fundraisers knew their current donor retention rate.
Do you know your retention rate?
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Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) !
A project to help nonprofit organizations measure and compare.
@StevenShattuck
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
Fundraising Effectiveness Survey »
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New donor retention is even worse »
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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% 800 640 512 410 328
1,000 40% 600 360 216 130 78
1,000 60% 400 160 64 26 10
So what?
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So what?Improving donor retention rates by just 10% can increase the lifetime value of your database by 150-‐200%! - Dr. Adrian Sergeant,Bloomerang Chief Scientist
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Donor retention math »
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# of Donors in Current 12 Months (from the previous years pool)
divided by # of Donors in Previous 12 Months
Calculating your retention rate »
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https://bloomerang.co/retention
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How do we retain donors?
• 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
Why nonprofit donors leave »
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140520191728-746287--infographic-why-donors-stop-their-support
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• 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
Why nonprofit donors leave »
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140520191728-746287--infographic-why-donors-stop-their-support
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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
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http://aherncomm.com
Beginning of mail
End of mail
Elapsed time: 1-‐3 seconds
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https://bloomerang.co/blog/infographic-‐the-‐great-‐5-‐donor-‐communications-‐experiment
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https://bloomerang.co/blog/infographic-‐the-‐great-‐5-‐donor-‐communications-‐experiment
$5 experiment »• 48/50 email receipts • 17/50 snail mail letters • 3/50 hand written notes • 0/50 phone calls (19 asked for phone #s)
• 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 email • Send branded email 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
How to improve retention »
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Acknowledgement segmenting »
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Above average gift amount
At or below average gift amount
Acknowledgement segmenting »
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http://www.tripointfundraising.com/how-‐are-‐you-‐treating-‐your-‐donors-‐time-‐to-‐find-‐out
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Who can do the thanking? »• Board members • Volunteers • DoD • ED
https://twitter.com/Mercetheseries/status/474366392712847360
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Acknowledgement via social media »
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Acknowledgement via social media »
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Acknowledgement via social media »
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Volunteers are 10x more likely to donate to your organization than non-‐volunteers. (source) !Thank. !Them. !Duh.
Acknowledgement via social media »
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Acknowledgement via social media »
• Utilize communication preference • Make the donor the star of the show
• more “you” than “we” • State exactly how donation will be used • Communicate impact
Acknowledgement content tips »
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Monthly giving »
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Source: Target Analytics, 2009 DonorCentrics US Recurring Giving Benchmarking Analysis
• Make it an option on donation forms • Suggest donation amounts • Ask quickly after the first gift (upgrade)
Monthly giving »
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Keep donors happy »
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Source: Target Analytics, 2009 DonorCentrics US Recurring Giving Benchmarking Analysis
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Can acquisition trump retention?
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Acquisition vs Retention »
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½ of 1%
Acquisition response rate »
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40-‐70%
Renewal response rate »
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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
Pay attention to dollar retention »
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• $0 -‐ $25 • $26 -‐ $100 • $101 -‐ $1,000 • $1,001 -‐ $10,000 • < $10,000
Importance of dollar retention »
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Total Dollars from Donors in Current 12 Months (from the previous years pool)
divided by Total Dollars from Donors
in Previous 12 Months
Calculating your $ retention rate »
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• 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.
Final thoughts »
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Free educational resources »
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https://bloomerang.co/retention
Free educational resources »
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https://bloomerang.co/resources
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