You Don’t Own Your Donors
2 min to read ✭ In this post, we’ll discuss the importance of focusing on retention and increasing lifetime value.
With year end giving season upon us, it’s important to remember that you do not own your donors. Recognize if your organization is acting off of this mindset so you can alter your course of action to increase lifetime value.
Focus on Retention
On average, nonprofits retain only 45% of donors that give again in their first year after a first donation. This statistic can and should be significantly higher. Organizations that thrive have stronger retention. When we allocate ad spend and marketing budgets, it’s not solely focused on acquisition. Rather, these types of efforts also need to be focused on retention.
Analyze and Act on KPIs
For example, if you have a Facebook ad budget, determine what percentage is going into current or recently lapsed donors for retention and for increasing lifetime value. Analyze those Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Determine what the cost is to get a donation in these specific areas. If you have strong revenue in these KPIs, your dollars are going to go further. Then, break things out on more of the acquisition campaigns. This simple tactic can make your marketing team more effective.
Reinvest and Market Your Mission
Don’t assume your previous donors will automatically donate again. During year end, donors receive countless emails from various nonprofits, so their attention could be directed elsewhere. Be sure you put your organization at the forefront of their awareness through emailing, Facebook feeds, Instagram feeds and showing up on Google remarketing, etc. During this time of year, it’s important to further invest in your mission and work to increase retention rates, because we don’t own our donors.
