Charities still losing more donor dollars than they’re adding
- Fri, September 16 2011
- Filed under: Fundraising essentials
Charities are still losing more donor dollars than they’re adding, according to an AFP and Urban Institute study of over 2,000 nonprofits. For every $5.35 that organizations gained in gift dollars in 2010, $5.54 was lost through donor attrition, for an average net loss of -1.9 percent.
Small nonprofits are hurting the most:
* Organizations raising $500,000 or more had an 8 percent net gain.
* Organizations raising $100,000 to $500,000 had a 2.3 percent net gain.
* Organizations in the under $100,000 groups had a net loss of -12.2 percent.
The good news (if you can call it that) is it’s not as bad as 2009, when there was an average net loss of -17.7 percent (a median net loss of -8.1 percent). And in terms of the number of donors, things look better. Nonprofits gained more new or reactivated donors than they lost in lapsed donors in 2010. Organizations saw an average net increase of 1.7 percent in the number of donors. This compares favorably to a -3.2 percent average net loss of donors in 2009.
OK, enough with the statistics. Here’s the message: The most important thing you can do this year is keep the donors you have.
Need advice on that? Check out these 7 tips on how to retain your support during tough times.