10 Donor KPIs for Evaluating Nonprofit Fundraising Campaigns
As a fundraiser, you need to collect and analyze donor data to assess and understand the progress and impact of your campaigns. By measuring and tracking specific donor-related key performance indicators (KPIs), you can determine what strategies are working and how you can build on your current successes to reach more donors and supporters.
This article will explore 10 donor KPIs that you need to consider when evaluating and reporting on your fundraising campaigns.
1.Donor Retention Rate
Donor retention rate measures the percentage of your donors who continue to give to your organization annually. This is a vital metric to consider, given the high cost of donor acquisition and that recurring donors are a valuable and sustainable source of revenue for your organization.
To calculate your donor retention rate, divide the total number of donors who gave this year by the total number of those who gave last year and multiply that number by 100. You can improve your donor retention rate by communicating your nonprofit’s impact and finding ways to show your appreciation frequently. These practices can encourage donors to stick around and keep contributing to your organization.
2. Donor Lifetime Value
Donor Lifetime Value (LTV) is the total amount that the average donor will contribute to your organization throughout their relationship with you. You can use this metric to assess your fundraising ROI, decide which campaigns and initiatives are worth investing in, and evaluate your donor acquisition cost.
To calculate your donor LTV, multiply the average number of years a donor spends with your organization (this number is ten for most nonprofits) by your overall average donation amount. Then multiply that number by the average number of times that a donor contributes to your organization in one calendar year.
Fundraising and donor engagement strategies like peer-to-peer fundraising, monthly donor programs, and targeted communications can help prolong the length of time your average donor keeps contributing to your nonprofits. In turn, this can boost your donor's lifetime value as an organization.
3. Average Gift Size
Average gift size refers to the average donation amount that you receive from your donors. This can also be calculated for segmented groups such as donors who donated within a certain period or donated to a specific campaign.
To calculate your nonprofit’s average gift size, simply divide the sum of all donation amounts received by the number of donations received. If your average gift size isn’t closer to what you want it to be, then you should consider amplifying your outreach and marketing efforts.
To increase your average gift size, you could either work to attract more new donors or use a tool like Keela to segment your donors based on how likely they are to contribute to your campaigns. Then, share targeted communications with the donor segment.
4. Donation Growth Rate
Donation growth rate measures the year-over-year change in your nonprofit’s donation revenue. It is a good indicator of how much fundraising progress your organization is making. As such, you could always report on this metric in your annual reports.
To calculate your donation growth rate, sum up the total donations or gifts contributed from the current year and, from that number, subtract the total donations or gifts from last year. Divide your answer by the total donation amount from last year. Finally, multiply that number by 100.
Improve your donation growth rate by focusing on donor stewardship. Cultivate more one-time donors to become recurring donors. These donors will serve as a key source of revenue. When attracting recurring donors, you can use these fundraising appeal templates in your communications.
5. Fundraising ROI
Fundraising ROI measures how successfully your fundraising initiatives have been over time. Understanding your return on investment for your campaigns can help you streamline your fundraising efforts. Your goal is to raise money, so if you’re losing money by running fundraising campaigns, it’s time to reassess your strategies.
To calculate your fundraising ROI, sum up all funds raised from a campaign. Next, subtract the total cost spent on running the campaign. Divide your answer by the cost of the campaign and multiply by 100. If your fundraising ROI is 100%, that means you doubled your investment, and if it’s 30%, that means you raised $1.30 for every dollar you spent on the campaign.
You should have a set goal for your fundraising campaign ROI, and if you find that you’re not meeting that goal, you should consider focusing on donor segments that are more likely to contribute to specific campaign types. More so, you should set up a recurring giving program so that your bottom line can always be taken care of.
6. Online Gift Percentage
Online gift percentage is the percentage of your fundraising revenue from digital channels. This percentage indicates how effective your nonprofit’s online fundraising efforts and digital marketing strategies are performing.
To calculate your online gift percentage, divide the total amount of online donations received by the total overall donations received. Then, multiply that number by 100.
Improving your online gift percentage comes down to how you steward and communicate with donors online. Leveraging proven email marketing strategies, building strong relationships through social media platforms, being transparent as an organization, and creating well-designed, high-converting nonprofit website and donation pages can contribute to your online fundraising success.
7. Event Attendance Rate
With more hybrid and virtual events taking place today, monitoring how effective your event fundraising strategy is critical. Measuring and tracking event attendance rates can help you assess the audience’s interest and participation in your events.
Your event attendance rate can indicate how efficient your registration and ticketing process is. It can also help you determine the best way to promote and package your events. This metric is measured by dividing the number of invited attendees by the number of actual attendees and multiplying by 100.
That said, your event attendance rate doesn’t tell you the whole story. You also need to monitor the percentage of attendees who became donors, and pay attention to the marketing channels that are attracting the most number of attendees.
8. Email Click Rate
Email click rate is the percentage of recipients who clicked a link in your nonprofit’s email. This metric is important because it gives you insight into your readers' engagement and tailors content based on their interests. To calculate your nonprofit’s email click rate, divide the total number of clicks in an email by the number of emails delivered and multiply that number by 100.
As of December 2021, the average email click rate in the nonprofit sector was 1.29%. If your email click rate is below that average, you should consider switching up your call-to-actions (CTAs), making your copy more concise and engaging, and cleaning your lists to ensure you’re sending emails to the right audience.
Email click rate is especially important as email open rates have become more complex to track. With the introduction of Apple’s Mail Privacy Policy in 2021, Apple users now have the option of opting in to mail privacy features that block third-party users from collecting that engagement data. So, if any of your contacts open your nonprofit’s emails using the Apple Mail app, your email open rate may not be accurate anymore.
9. Donor Lifecycle Migration/Conversion Rate
This metric helps evaluate your donor funnel. Your donor funnel is the journey that a current or prospective donor takes as they become more engaged with your nonprofit. Donor lifecycle migration or conversion gives you an idea of how prospects interact with your fundraising and marketing channels and if those interactions produce the desired results.
To calculate your donor lifecycle migration or conversion rate, simply track the number of prospects or donors who move from one stage of your funnel to the next over a period of time.
10. Donor Churn Rate
Donor churn rate is the percentage of donors who donated in a previous year but didn’t donate again the following year, i.e., the rate at which your nonprofit is losing donors. It is essentially the opposite of your donor retention rate.
To calculate your donor churn rate, subtract the total number of donors in the current year from the total number of donors in the previous year. Divide your answer by the total number of donors in the previous year. And finally, multiply your answer by 100.
Ideally, if everything you’re currently doing is not working to improve your current donor engagement strategy, you should revisit it. Be sure to communicate your nonprofit’s impact and send thank-you messages automatically after each contribution. You can also send out donor surveys to gather feedback on how you can engage them better.
How to Track Donor KPIs for Your Nonprofit
While there are a plethora of KPIs to consider, you can use these ten fundraising metrics as a base for tracking your fundraising performance. You can also download this fundraising KPIs Toolkit and manually start monitoring the metrics that matter to your nonprofit.
However, if you’d like to take advantage of a smart nonprofit tool that can quickly and efficiently measure, track, monitor, and predict your fundraising metrics, you should consider using Keela. With Keela’s fundraising CRM, you can visually track your campaign performance over time, benchmark your progress and gather key donor insights.
More importantly, by using Keela, you can get predictions and recommendations to improve your donor communications and campaign development. See how nonprofits are using Keela to track, analyze and act on their donor KPIs.
Taylor Palmer
Taylor, a content writer at Keela, has always believed that knowledge is power, and the pen (or, in this case, keyboard) is the sword. Philanthropy and human rights are at the core of her ethos. When she is not engaged in friendly debate, you can find Taylor training in the boxing ring, snowboarding in the mountains, or running on Vancouver's seawall.
