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  • 1.  Calculating Retention Over time / best practice and transparency

    Posted 3 days ago

    Hi All,

    I have a question about calculating and reviewing retention. When I look at our numbers, sometimes our retention looks very steady. However, when I get more granular, I often find that some donors drop off while others are brand new donors. So rather than keeping the donors we have, we are losing and gaining donors. It may appear that we aren't losing any donors when in fact we are losing a few each year. I don't know how relevant it is to get this granular, but I'm wondering how you all approach this subject. Especially relevant is if you have a small team like us (1.5 staff). How do you all report retention & attrition to your leadership? Thanks for any insight you have.



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    Melissa Rufener
    Director of Advancement and Alumni Engagement
    Life Pacific University
    San Dimas, CA
    mrufener@lifepacific.edu
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  • 2.  RE: Calculating Retention Over time / best practice and transparency

    Posted 3 days ago
    Just to be clear, are you asking for advice on what tool to use? Or which methodology? Or both?

    While you can crunch the numbers in Excel, it's not very illustrative what's happening. I recommend a visual intelligence tool like Tableau or Power BI, both of which are free. Especially if you need to frequently consult Refresh numbers.    If you want to see some specific examples of retention models, I'd be happy to give you a tour.  




    Dave Woodley
    Owner
    49 Data/Fractional Advancement LLC





  • 3.  RE: Calculating Retention Over time / best practice and transparency

    Posted 3 days ago
    I should also point out. This is a spectacular easy problem for Claude or just about any other LLM.  Consider getting a free Trial account to WIZE. 

    It's pretty easy to anonymize your data. You only need four data points.

    Gift ID
    Unique donor ID
    Gift date
    Gift amount.

    Ask the LLM to produce a few different takes on retention.


    Dave Woodley
    Owner
    49 Data/Fractional Advancement LLC




    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Calculating Retention Over time / best practice and transparency

    Posted 2 days ago

    Hi Melissa,

    Here are some of the definitions our Pipeline Development and Annual Giving team use for looking at retention.

    • Potential to be retained: Constituent is living, they are not excluded from solicitation, and we have some way to contact them.
    • Retained: Donors in the year who gave in the previous fiscal year and again in CFY.
    • New: Donors in the current year who made first ever gift in CFY.
    • Reactivated: Donors in the current year who gave in CFY after being lapsed (for 1 to 3 years).
    • Long-Lapsed Reactivated: Donors in the current year who gave in CFY after being lapsed 4 or more years.
    • Coverage Ratio: (New + Reactivated Donors + Long-Lapsed Reactivated Donors) divided by newly lapsed donors. Coverage ratio greater than 100% means the number of new + reactivated donors more than compensates for the attrition of lapsing donors. Coverage ratio less than 100% means the number of new + reactivated donors is less than the number of donors lapsing.
    • Donor Retention Rate: Previous fiscal year donors who gave again in CFY. Percentage of people with potential to be retained.
    • Donor Reactivation Rate: Donors lapsed for 1 to 3 years who made a gift in CFY. Percentage of people with potential to be reactivated.
    • Long-Lapsed Donor Reactivation Rate: Donors lapsed for 4 or more years who made a gift in CFY. People with potential to be reactivated.

    I hope that's helpful.

    Lianna



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    Lianna Bodzin
    Colorado School of Mines
    lbodzin@mines.edu
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