Retention - Agitator

Breaking Out of the Status Quo

Why the Retention Resistance?

I shuddered as I read Nick’s post on the latest –and dismally declining—donor retention rates. Here are the sorry figures from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) comparing the first six months of 2018 with those of 2017: Total donors are down 6.6% New donors are down 9.2% New retained donors are down 18% Repeat retained […]

Learn More October 9, 2018

The Essential Importance of First-Party Data

Nick just sounded the warning bell about the inaccuracy of third-party data. I want to follow up with a more fundamental question: Even if third-party data were more accurate, why would you want it? After all, looking at the Predictably Inaccurate study from Deloitte, when data-brokers had the data wrong and even when people found out […]

Learn More September 21, 2018

Fundraisers I Fear: Part 2– Insufficient Knowledge of Basic Information

In Part 1 I urged all of us to become “expert novices” –fundraisers who have knowledge and confidence but are capable of maintaining a seed of doubt that they may be wrong. Of course, the building blocks of knowledge, skepticism and curiosity must be stacked on top of the rock-solid granite foundation of fundamental fact. You […]

Learn More September 14, 2018

A case of (donor) identity

I voted already. I did it the minute I got my new voter registration card here in Tennessee. I have the sticker to prove it. And I did this despite knowing in my brain of brains (as opposed to my heart of hearts) that it made no possible difference. Everyone I voted for will win […]

Learn More November 3, 2016

A visit from the ten percent genie

You are walking down your favorite beach. As the water laps at your toes, you kick back at the surf absent-mindedly. After all, your mind is still partly back at the office on your direct marketing program. It’s not that it’s doing badly per se. It’s just not doing great. And it’s getting harder. Response […]

Learn More August 18, 2016

Do we retain donors or burn donors?

Hello, world. I’m Nick Ellinger, the newest addition to the DonorVoice team. I’m excited to join an organization dedicated to improving donor experiences, increasing donor retention, and doing both with science-proven strategies. One of my pet questions is why retention is not taken more serious in the nonprofit world. Yes, we track it (sometimes), but […]

Learn More August 11, 2016

Demographics are Garbage

This is absolutely the type of headline we would write in order to be contrarian and provocative (not to mention, accurate). Alas, we can’t take credit. This is the headline from a recent article about Netflix whose headline reads, in full, “Netflix says geography, age and gender are garbage for predicting taste.” Blame Netflix for […]

Learn More July 20, 2016

Is Donor-Centric Real or Unicorn?

In our prior post we stipulated that donors want to donate. They don’t want massive frustration and irritation in doing so, which is precisely what all the asks (i.e. volume) causes. There is a study here proving that point. And it doesn’t irritate some tiny, minority of folks who really aren’t “good” donors anyway, it irritates the […]

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Want a good donor experience and better retention? Start with understanding donor identity.

Why do donors give? Seems like a question worth knowing the answer to if you are in the business of trying to affect that giving behavior. One of the main reasons they give has nothing to do with your specific charitable brand but rather, their using your charitable brand to deliver on or otherwise reinforce […]

Learn More December 9, 2015

The Charity “Membership” Ruse

Imagine you signed up for an annual gym membership in January and paid with a check (or cash for the Mafioso readers). Now further imagine that you also signed up for the gym’s “healthy eating” monthly email. What does the term annual connote to you? What about membership? Would you expect to have the gym […]

Learn More December 4, 2015

Ask A Behavioral Scientist

Behavioral Science Q & A

Q: Do you have any insight on whether integrating an individual giving appeal with other comms from the charity in both appearance and messaging can uplift results? Or does the actual appeal become ‘lost’ for lack of stand-out?

Integrating an individual giving appeal with other communications from a charity can have both positive and negative effects, and the outcome largely depends on how it’s executed. Advantages of Integration Brand Consistency: Maintaining a consistent appearance and messaging across all communications can reinforce the org’s brand identity and strengthen brand recognition and trust among your […]

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Q: Is there any research on response rate impact in direct mail when referring to a sustainer gift as ongoing or recurring (catching all frequencies) v. monthly or annual?

I’m not aware of any in-market tests specifically comparing recurring vs. gift frequency language. I suspect the answer might not be the same with all gift frequencies, nor with all people. It sounds like a great opportunity for you to test and find out what works for your audience. Based on the literature, here’s a couple […]

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Q: A major conservation nonprofit sends me lots of mail, many of which have on the envelope “time to renew” or “2nd notice.” I find this practice deceptive, especially as I haven’t given to said organization since 1997. It must be effective or they wouldn’t do it. But is it ethical?

Based on what we know from existing data, those renewal notices can actually be pretty effective in getting people to donate. They tap into our psychology – creating a sense of urgency, reminding us of past support, and using personalization to make the message hit home. They’re playing on our natural tendencies to feel obligated […]

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Q: I find it irritating when some nonprofits accept my “gift” and then ask me to cover their credit card fees separately. It feels like a practice that does nothing to help win donors and runs the risk of turning others off. Is there any data on this either way?

Interesting question. I had a quick look at the testing done on this topic. On the positive side, in all cases, over half of donors decide to cover the fee. In some cases, it goes as high as 65%. Not a negligible percentage at all. Here’s another test from iRaiser showing consistent results (see point […]

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Q: What are the three most important things to consider when designing a brilliant supporter journey?

There’s just one thing to consider when designing a supporter journey: the supporter. More specifically, you need to take into account: Who the supporter is i.e. their identity, which is the reason they support this cause, and their personality, which describes the way they “see” and process the world. These will determine the kind of […]

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Q: Is there any evidence that changes to the tax laws in the USA changed end of year giving behaviors? Previously, ~30% of US taxpayers filed itemized tax returns allowing them to receive a deduction for charitable giving. Tax law changed in 2017 so that now only ~10% itemize. This should mean tax year-end giving should not matter to millions of people for whom it used to matter. Is there any data evidence to support this?

I’m not an expert in this but a quick search surfaced this article on the effect of tax reforms on 2019’s charitable giving. The researchers didn’t find a reduction. Actually, they observed an “increase in charitable contributions in 2019, even with the lower tax rates and the dramatically smaller number of taxpayers who itemize their […]

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Breaking Out of the Status Quo

Why the Retention Resistance?

The Essential Importance of First-Party Data

Fundraisers I Fear: Part 2– Insufficient Knowledge of Basic Information

A case of (donor) identity

A visit from the ten percent genie

Do we retain donors or burn donors?

Demographics are Garbage

Is Donor-Centric Real or Unicorn?

Want a good donor experience and better retention? Start with understanding donor identity.

The Charity “Membership” Ruse

Ask A Behavioral Scientist

Behavioral Science Q & A

Q: Do you have any insight on whether integrating an individual giving appeal with other comms from the charity in both appearance and messaging can uplift results? Or does the actual appeal become ‘lost’ for lack of stand-out?

Q: Is there any research on response rate impact in direct mail when referring to a sustainer gift as ongoing or recurring (catching all frequencies) v. monthly or annual?

Q: A major conservation nonprofit sends me lots of mail, many of which have on the envelope “time to renew” or “2nd notice.” I find this practice deceptive, especially as I haven’t given to said organization since 1997. It must be effective or they wouldn’t do it. But is it ethical?

Q: I find it irritating when some nonprofits accept my “gift” and then ask me to cover their credit card fees separately. It feels like a practice that does nothing to help win donors and runs the risk of turning others off. Is there any data on this either way?

Q: What are the three most important things to consider when designing a brilliant supporter journey?

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