Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Ingredients of Retention Success

Last week, Roger and I asked for retention superstars to tell us their stories. We loosely set the superstar benchmark at an overall 70% retention rate. Given that we have thousands of readers, who generally respond with enthusiasm, we hoped to have dozens of retention success stories to share with you. But no such luck […]

Learn More October 14, 2013

Antibodies View Retention As Disruption

There’s little doubt in my mind that, when it comes to ‘retention’, the powers-that-be in most organizations will view any serious efforts to improve donor loyalty and commitment (retention) as disruptive. In turn, they will either deliberately or subconsciously move to subvert any efforts at improvement. All organisms contain antibodies — cells in their immune […]

Learn More October 11, 2013

Retention Rates Are Sick … Is It Terminal?

Yesterday Roger delivered the latest gloomy news about donor retention rates. Gloomiest of all is the fact that overall retention rates have fallen from 50% to 39% over the past seven years, as reported by the AFP/Urban Institute’s 2013 Fundraising Effectiveness Project Survey. What that suggests is a broad systemic failure, not some momentary glitch […]

Learn More October 10, 2013

Lemmings With Suicide Vests

Once again … the nonprofit world has painfully proven Aldous Huxley’s maxim that “facts do not cease to exist simply because they are ignored.” Once again … for the 7th year in a row the Donor Retention Rate among 2,840 American nonprofits surveyed has again dropped. Once again … millions and millions of $$ have […]

Learn More October 9, 2013

Shoot The Moon

Over at Future Fundraising Now, Jeff Brooks is warning fundraisers about misguided advice to stop acquisition efforts in order to focus on retention. Personally, I haven’t seen much of such advice floating around. I sure hope he was exaggerating … or that the speaker he cites was aiming for dramatic effect. Because Jeff is dead […]

Learn More October 8, 2013

Is Your ‘Product’ Up To Snuff?

As we head into October, most fundraisers are probably focused on technique and implementation. After all, we’re entering the year-end feeding frenzy (i.e., peak donation period). This is the time to go with the tide — to rake it in, using proven tactics of the past, not navel-gaze over strategy or lifetime value or, god […]

Learn More October 7, 2013