It is one of the most crucial aspects of operating a successful nonprofit, and the methods to accomplish it are well-known and commonsensical, as this article from Nonprofit About.Com notes.
An excerpt, with links at the jump.
“Katya Andresen reported recently on a study that showed nonprofits in 2010 lost $5.54 for every $5.35 that they gained in donations. Donor attrition results in a net loss of nearly two percent.
“The good thing is that nonprofits may be getting better at engaging donors and keeping them since the attrition rate decreased from minus 3.2 percent in 2009….
“The difference between donors that stay around and increase their level of giving to a cause is commitment. Commitment is a scale from low to high that can be measured.
“For every 1000 donors that an organization can move from low commitment to high commitment, it could gain, on average, $200,000 more income.
“This study identified, out of many possibilities, seven key drivers of donor commitment. These are things that your nonprofit can do to improve donor commitment scores. Those seven drivers are:
1. Showing that you are effectively trying to achieve your mission.
2. Letting donors know what they can expect from every interaction.
3. Providing timely thank you's.
4. Giving donors the opportunity to express their views.
5. Helping the donor to feel that he or she is part of an important cause.
6. Making sure that donors feel involved and appreciated.
7. Providing information about who is being helped.”
About
- David H. Lukenbill
- I am a California native, married, we have one daughter and live close to the American River with two cats and all the wild critters we can feed. I am a management consultant to nonprofit organizations and have an Associates of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Sacramento City College, a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Public Administration degree, also from the University of San Francisco.