In accordance with OneCause’s Fundraising Outlook Report, the share of organizations that determine donor retention as a essential precedence has decreased from 57% to 51%. Whereas it’s regarding that fewer nonprofits are attempting to cut back prices and type lasting relationships by specializing in donor retention, this perception reveals a chance to get forward and stand out from different organizations vying for consideration in your sector.

Whereas the common donor retention price hovers round 40%, there are methods your group can implement to extend this quantity and safe extra long-term help. The highest solution to hold donors coming again is to create a donor stewardship plan.

We’ll enable you to dive into donor stewardship by reviewing the next subjects:

With a greater understanding of donor stewardship and a devoted plan, you can also make stewardship an ongoing, iterative course of at your group and constantly construct enduring donor relationships.

What’s donor stewardship?

Donor stewardship is the method of extending a relationship past the donor’s reward. The final word aim of donor stewardship is to encourage them to present once more by constructing a deeper reference to them. Growing that sense of loyalty will make your fundraising efforts extra seamless sooner or later since you’ll have a robust supporter base to faucet into.

For stewardship to be efficient, nonprofits should type mutually helpful relationships with their donors. Whereas nonprofits obtain monetary help, donors get to be ok with the impression they’ve made and be a part of a neighborhood of individuals obsessed with your trigger. To create these relationships, nonprofits implement stewardship methods that hold donors up to date on the impression of their presents and supply them with further engagement alternatives.

Donor retention is a measure of what number of donors come again to contribute to your group after their preliminary reward. You possibly can calculate your donor retention price by dividing the variety of donors who gave once more this yr by the variety of donors who contributed final yr, then multiplying that quantity by 100.

In recent times, donor retention has been on the decline, with an general donor retention price of 42.6% in 2022, which was 3.5% lower than the earlier yr. There are prices related to buying new donors, and when your donor retention price is low, your group has to repeatedly maximize the time, effort, and sources it pours into donor acquisition.

Donor stewardship helps your group preserve sources and construct a extra dependable donor pool. You want common communication to remind donors of your trigger and the way very important their help is, and with a devoted donor stewardship plan, you may hold in touch with donors and in the end retain them.

Moreover, retained donors are extra precious to your group as a result of they offer extra, extra typically, and usually tend to have interaction together with your nonprofit in different methods. Contemplating 94% of recurring donors choose to present to their causes of selection month-to-month, stewarding these donors allows you to construct a constant neighborhood of supporters fairly than a sporadic, always shifting listing of one-time donors.

Lastly, you have already got knowledge saved for earlier donors in your database or constituent relationship administration platform (CRM). You need to use this data to reengage and steward these relationships as a result of you understand extra about their pursuits and preferences. With a data-driven stewardship method, you may meet donors the place they’re and personalize your communications to retain their help.

The donor pyramid is a visible illustration of various donor giving ranges. Since first-time donors are probably your largest donor group, they occupy the underside of the pyramid whereas the few main donors you’ve gotten reside on the high. Once you perceive which class of the pyramid every donor suits into, you may higher steward them up the pyramid and improve their help.

The principle classes of the donor pyramid embody:

• Potential donors. Some organizations embody potential donors on the backside of the pyramid to symbolize all potential giving alternatives. It’s possible you’ll omit this group or slender it all the way down to those that have proven curiosity in your trigger however haven’t but contributed monetarily, akin to volunteers, social media followers, or e-newsletter subscribers.
• First-time donors. Most nonprofits place first-time donors on the backside of the pyramid. Whereas these supporters have demonstrated curiosity in your mission, it’s essential to comply with up with them instantly after their preliminary reward to indicate your appreciation and share the impression of their contribution.
• Recurring donors. Recurring donors might give on a month-to-month, quarterly, annual, or various foundation. It’s possible you’ll create totally different segments for every of those teams and develop stewardship methods relying on giving frequency.
• Deliberate donors. Deliberate donors pledge presents to be contributed to nonprofits as soon as they move away. These bequests are sometimes sizable donations, so it’s essential to indicate your appreciation for deliberate donors’ contributions.
• Main donors. The highest of the pyramid is comprised of main donors who give the most important presents to your group. Relying in your nonprofit’s measurement and typical donation quantities, it’s possible you’ll outline your main reward threshold otherwise than different organizations do.

To type your nonprofit’s personal donor pyramid, draw supporter insights out of your donor database. This data will enable you to decide which classes to incorporate, roughly what number of donors are in every tier, and how you can finest steward every group to greater ranges of the pyramid or bigger commitments at their present tier.

Step one within the donor cultivation cycle is to determine potential donors. This step might contain reviewing your CRM for supporters who could also be excited by donating, figuring out earlier or lapsed donors, or conducting outreach to those that are fully new to your group and mission.

Some methods for figuring out potential donors embody:

• Prospect analysis. Once you’re on the lookout for potential main donors, conducting prospect analysis might help you establish supporters’ giving capability and willingness to contribute. That method, you may focus your outreach on those that are almost certainly to make a serious contribution.
• Present connections. Present supporters and stakeholders in your group might help you determine folks of their networks who could also be excited by contributing to your trigger. Ask your board members, main donors, and employees if they’ve any connections they will leverage.
• Surveys. Generally one of the simplest ways to determine if somebody can be excited by giving is to easily ask them. Ship surveys to your supporter base asking them in the event that they’re open to creating a financial contribution and what kind of reward they want to make.

On this stage, it’s essential to emphasise your nonprofit’s mission and let potential donors know the impression their contributions might make.

2. Qualification

Now that you simply’ve recognized potential donors, it’s time to slender down that listing additional to prioritize these with the best giving chance. Some components it’s possible you’ll assess to find out probably the most certified potential donors are:

• Earlier engagement. Potential donors might have interacted together with your group in methods aside from donating, akin to attending an occasion, volunteering, following your social media accounts, or signing up to your e-newsletter. These interactions display potential donors’ curiosity in your nonprofit and will point out their chance to donate.
• Wealth markers. Figuring out potential donors’ capability to present is very helpful for figuring out who might turn into a serious donor. These wealth indicators might embody actual property possession, inventory holdings, and enterprise affiliations.
• Affinity markers. Simply because somebody has the capability to present doesn’t imply they’re excited by contributing. Affinity markers akin to political involvement and former help for different charitable causes let you assess the alignment between a possible donor’s values and your group’s mission.

Whereas a few of this data could also be saved in your CRM or present in public information, it may be useful to work with a fundraising advisor or knowledge supplier who can purchase this knowledge for you.

3. Cultivation

The cultivation step includes laying the inspiration for a long-term relationship with prospects. Earlier than soliciting a donation, introduce potential donors to your group and invite them to become involved with:

• Academic supplies. Enable prospects to study extra about your mission and work by offering them with instructional supplies. Ship them introductory pamphlets, movies of your beneficiaries, and summaries of your companies to allow them to turn into extra accustomed to your group.
• Volunteer alternatives. When prospects volunteer together with your nonprofit, they’ll obtain hands-on expertise together with your trigger. Because of this, they could develop a connection to your mission and be extra open to donating.
• Occasions. An occasion is an ideal alternative for prospects to fulfill present donors and discover out why they help your trigger. Think about inviting prospects to your subsequent fundraising or advocacy occasion to allow them to turn into immersed in your neighborhood and decide in the event that they’d wish to turn into extra concerned.

Personalizing your communications with prospects can be a strong technique for creating relationships with them. Use knowledge out of your CRM to study extra about your prospects and tailor your communications accordingly. For instance, if a prospect lately volunteered together with your nonprofit, thank them for his or her help and comply with up with further volunteer alternatives they could be excited by.

4. Solicitation

After attending to know potential donors and informing them about your group, you may start soliciting donations. When making your preliminary asks, hold the following tips in thoughts:

• Be particular. Utilizing the information you’ve gathered about your prospects, recommend a particular donation quantity that aligns with their giving capability. You also needs to be clear about what that amount of cash will enable your nonprofit to perform. For instance, an animal shelter would possibly specify {that a} $100 donation permits it to restock its pet meals provide for one week.
• Enchantment to prospects’ feelings. Don’t be afraid to make use of emotionally charged language to indicate prospects why they need to care about your trigger and the way they’ve the ability to make an impression. Together with a testimonial from a beneficiary or present donor might help make a prospect’s potential impression extra tangible.
• Point out matching reward alternatives. Do you know that 84% of individuals say they’re extra prone to donate if a match is obtainable, and 1 in 3 donors declare they’d give a bigger reward if matching is utilized to their donation? Informing prospects about matching reward alternatives in your ask can inspire them to donate and let you acquire much more to your trigger. Matching presents happen when an organization matches their workers’ donations to a nonprofit, often at a 1:1 ratio. Because of this, your nonprofit can double its donation income. Study finest practices for selling matching presents within the video under:

Because the video states, elevating consciousness for matching presents is essential. As soon as potential donors know concerning the energy of matching presents, you can also make the method simpler by researching their eligibility for them or offering them with an identical reward database the place they will simply discover their employer’s matching reward insurance policies.

If a prospect says “no” to your first ask, that doesn’t imply you’ve did not garner their help. Proceed cultivating a relationship with this particular person till it’s applicable to make one other donation request. Even when they don’t find yourself contributing monetarily, they will nonetheless turn into an energetic member of your neighborhood by volunteering, attending occasions, and fascinating together with your content material on-line.

5. Stewardship

It’s best to start the donor stewardship course of instantly after a prospect turns into a donor. Observe these steps to kick off your stewardship efforts:

• Thank donors for his or her help. Present donors your appreciation for his or her contributions. To shortly and effectively thank donors, automate a thank-you eCard to be despatched to every donor proper after they submit their donation. For bigger presents, it’s possible you’ll ship a handwritten thank-you observe or name main donors to display your appreciation.
• Acknowledge your donors. Bigger presents may warrant public recognition of your donors by means of plaques, donor appreciation occasions, or invites to your nonprofit’s giving society. It’s also possible to acknowledge mid-level donors by creating social media or e-newsletter spotlights.
• Report on their impression. Regardless of the scale of their donation, donors need to know that your group is utilizing their funds responsibly. Replace donors on the precise initiatives you’ve allotted their donations towards, whether or not that’s a brand new program, provides, a fundraising occasion, or one thing else totally.

• Particular. Our fundraising staff will attain out to first-time donors to introduce them to the recurring donor program and display how recurring presents will maximize their impression.
• Measurable. Our aim is to transform 20% of first-time donors into recurring donors.
• Achievable. Contemplating 57% of donors are enrolled in a recurring giving program, and we had 10% of final yr’s first-time donors turn into recurring donors, it is a difficult but lifelike aim.
• Related. Rising our recurring donor program will enable us to develop a extra constant income stream for our nonprofit, empowering us to raised serve our beneficiaries and fulfill our mission.
• Time-Sure. Our aim is to transform these donors to recurring donors by the tip of the yr. We are going to begin speaking with first-time donors subsequent week and monitor month-to-month progress.

Different frequent targets might embody rising your donor retention price, bolstering your main reward fundraising, or enhancing your post-event outreach. It doesn’t matter what your targets are, setting clear aims permits your staff to remain on monitor and create progress benchmarks so you can also make changes as wanted.

2. Phase your donors.

Whereas reaching out to every donor individually can be ultimate for stewardship, it’s typically unfeasible. Once you phase your donors into related teams, you may personalize the donor stewardship course of extra effectively.

Frequent methods to phase donors embody grouping by:

• Donation quantity
• Donation frequency
• Donation recency
• Engagement degree
• Communication preferences
• Demographics

Then, you may attain out to every group with communications and engagement alternatives that they’ll resonate with. For instance, it’s possible you’ll create a particular e-newsletter for month-to-month donors that lets them learn about upcoming occasions and volunteer outings taking place every month.

3. Develop an outreach cadence.

Utilizing your segments, create an automatic outreach cadence that retains donors’ shared traits in thoughts. New donors ought to obtain extra in-depth details about your group and mission that they could not have acquired within the preliminary cultivation course of. Then, you may automate extra particular communications to your segments to streamline your donor stewardship.

By integrating your e-mail advertising and marketing software program and your donor database, you may create personalised campaigns relying on donors’ pursuits and present phases within the stewardship course of. For example, throughout the cultivation stage, it’s possible you’ll ship prospects inside a ten-mile radius of your group’s headquarters details about in-person occasions and engagement alternatives of their neighborhood.

4. Supply further engagement alternatives.

To take care of relationships with donors, you’ll want to supply engagement alternatives aside from merely donating. Whilst you might have already got normal fundraising occasions and volunteer alternatives deliberate, take the time to develop further alternatives for donors to interact together with your trigger, akin to:

• Trigger-related workshops and speaker classes
• Conferences with beneficiaries
• Excursions of your facility
• Unique main donor occasions
• Fundraising occasion planning committees

Once you share actions together with your donors which might be unaccompanied by a donation ask, you show to donors that you simply’re dedicated to offering them with a optimistic expertise together with your nonprofit. By quite a lot of engagement alternatives, you may construct a robust neighborhood of supporters and advocates to your trigger.

5. Acquire suggestions.

You possibly can (and will) measure progress utilizing the important thing efficiency indicators (KPIs) and targets you recognized early on within the stewardship course of. Nonetheless, qualitative knowledge within the type of donor suggestions may give you perception into what your donors get pleasure from about your stewardship efforts and what your staff might enhance.

Ship common surveys to your donors to assemble suggestions about your donor stewardship plan. The questions it’s possible you’ll ask embody:

• How typically would you want our nonprofit to speak with you?
• Is our present communication frequency too little, an excessive amount of, or the correct quantity?
• What engagement alternatives have you ever most loved?
• What further engagement alternatives would you wish to see provided?
• Is there anything our nonprofit can do to enhance your expertise with us?

Analyze donors’ responses together with your staff to glean any insights you may apply to your donor stewardship plan. For donors with a number of concepts or many factors of suggestions, take into account calling them to listen to extra about their expertise and acquire an much more in-depth understanding of your stewardship efforts’ efficacy.

Wrapping Up

With a complete donor stewardship plan, your nonprofit can construct robust donor relationships, improve donor retention, and earn extra to your trigger. Whether or not you’re making an attempt to develop your recurring donor program, purchase extra main donors, or comply with up with occasion attendees extra successfully, a devoted plan will help you in reaching your targets and stewarding donors to greater ranges of the donor pyramid.

To study extra about components of the donor stewardship course of, try these sources: