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Acquiring nonprofit supporters is challenging, so retaining them is essential. Take our quiz to assess your current practices and identify opportunities to improve your retention.
Retaining supporters can be a challenge for nonprofits. After all, donor retention dropped by 2.5% in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the fourth quarter of 2022, which continued a trend of fewer donors giving more charitable dollars yearly. Retaining advocates, volunteers, and other non-monetary supporters often comes with its own obstacles.
Generally, it’s more affordable to retain the supporters you have than to focus entirely on acquisition. Keeping more supporters starts with figuring out what you’re already doing well, so we’ve put together a 10-question quiz to help you capture a baseline and identify areas for improvement. Give it a try!
Q1: When someone makes a gift for the first time, we give them a way to store their information, so it prefills the next time they encounter one of our forms.
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Q2: When someone decides they want fewer emails from us, their best bet is currently to:
A. Go to their self-service page, which lets them opt out of some messages or unsubscribe entirely.
B. Hit the unsubscribe button.
C. Call us on the phone to ask us to stop contacting them.
D. Mark our messages as spam or delete them.
Q3: When a donor makes a gift, the first thing that happens to acknowledge their donation is:
A. An immediate redirect to a confirmation page in our branding that features a sincere thank you.
B. Within a few days, they get an automatic thank-you email and a receipt.
C. Within a week, they receive a mailed acknowledgment.
D. We thank them in our annual report.
Q4: Once we acquire a new supporter, we get to know them and learn their preferences by (check all that apply):
[ ] Sending an email asking them to tell us more about their preferences.
[ ] Waiting for them to take actions we can track in our database.
[ ] Experimenting with the content and asks we send, and then reporting on those outcomes.
[ ] Calling them and getting to know them one-on-one.
Q5: When a supporter signs up for a volunteer shift, we (check all that apply):
[ ] Immediately send them an automatic email confirmation.
[ ] Automate mobile message reminders to go out the day of their shift.
[ ] Send a survey after the event to collect their feedback.
[ ] Send a sincere thank-you message with information about how their volunteer time helped make a difference.
Q6: A new person encounters our organization and signs up for their first volunteer shift. Aside from any confirmations, initial thank-yous, and shift reminders, the next time they hear from us is:
A. Within a few days, via a welcome email series that’s tailored to their interests, educates them about our organization, and doesn’t revolve around a donation ask.
B. Within the month, with a donation ask. It’s never too early to start working on converting volunteers into donors!
C. The next time we hold a volunteer event we want them to sign up for.
D. We don’t have a standard plan for that.
Q7: If a volunteer cancels a shift they signed up for, we keep them engaged by:
A. Offering them the chance to make a gift instead. Sometimes people still want to show support in a different way!
B. Adding them to our newsletter. We want them to stay informed, and maybe learning more about our work will help.
C. Adding them to our list of prospective donors, so they get asks from us during big campaigns like GivingTuesday.
D. Not taking any specific action. We don’t want to push them too hard.
Q8: We send our supporters impact stories to show how they’re helping us make a difference:
A. On a regular cadence. We’ve also included a few impact stories in our welcome series, and we refresh them every so often.
B. Only when we’re running our bigger fundraising or advocacy campaigns.
C. Only at year-end as part of our annual report.
D. I don’t remember the last time we shared an impact story.
Q9: We use our CRM technology to identify (check all that apply):
[ ] Donor upgrade opportunities.
[ ] One-time donors who are good candidates for becoming sustainers.
[ ] Donors at risk of lapse.
[ ] Supporters who haven’t opened a message from us within a certain amount of time.
[ ] Segments of supporters by fun quirks like their astrological sign.
Q10: We can track every single action someone takes with us all in one place, and the lists we cut and the messages we send are appropriate, well-timed, and supportive of our retention goals.
[ ] Yes
[ ] No
Now it’s time to score your quiz. You can score a maximum of 36 points.
| Multiple choice letter questions: A = 4 points B = 3 points C = 2 points D = 1 point | Multiple choice check-all-that-apply questions: 1 point per answer selected | Yes/no questions: 1 point for “yes” 0 points for “no” |
Points possible = 0-36
24-36 points = Getting strategic. You’ve embraced solid best practices for boosting retention! Check out our library of resources for tips to ongoing improvement.
12-24 points = Getting sophisticated. Some of your activities are driving retention, but you’ve also got room to grow! Get our guide to next-level donor retention and renewals for more recommendations.
0-12 points = Getting started. You have some golden opportunities to increase your retention! Download our guide to acquiring and retaining new donors for actionable tips to improve your practices.
Your technology should support your retention goals while saving time for your staff. If your current tools aren’t meeting all of your needs, talk to us to learn more about how Bonterra’s Fundraising and Engagement solutions are built to help nonprofits like yours give your audience an experience that keeps them coming back time after time.
