Key takeaways
- The Fundraising Effectiveness Project reported overall donor retention of 43.3% for 2025.
- Retention rate = donors who gave last year and again this year ÷ donors who gave last year × 100.
- First-time donors are retained at much lower rates than repeat donors, so the second gift matters most.
- Quick, personal thanks, specific impact reporting, monthly giving and personal calls are practical ways to improve.
What is donor retention?
Donor retention is the share of donors who give again. It's usually measured year over year: of the people who gave last year, how many gave again this year?
How to calculate your donor retention rate
Donor retention rate = (donors who gave last year and again this year) ÷ (donors who gave last year) × 100
For example, if 1,000 people gave last year and 450 of them gave again this year, your retention rate is 45%. Calculate it separately for first-time donors, repeat donors and monthly donors, because the overall number hides big differences between them.
Donor retention benchmarks
The Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP), which tracks giving data from thousands of nonprofits, reported overall donor retention of 43.3% for 2025, up slightly from 43.1%. Over the same period it estimated that the number of donors fell 3.6% while dollars raised rose 5.0%.
FEP data has consistently shown that first-time donors are retained at much lower rates than repeat donors. That makes the second gift the most important moment in a donor relationship.
Why donors stop giving
- They didn't feel thanked, or the thank-you felt generic.
- They never heard what their gift accomplished.
- They were asked too often, or for the wrong things.
- Their circumstances changed: a move, a tighter budget, a new cause.
- A monthly gift failed when a card expired, and no one followed up.
- Their contact details went out of date.
Several of these are within your control, and most can be uncovered simply by asking.
Eight ways to improve donor retention
- Thank donors quickly and personally. A prompt receipt is the minimum; a personal call or handwritten note stands out.
- Focus on the second gift. Build a welcome series for first-time donors that shows impact before the next ask.
- Report impact in specifics. Tell donors what their gift did, in concrete terms.
- Grow monthly giving. Recurring donors keep giving without needing to make a new decision each year.
- Recover failed recurring gifts. Contact donors whose payments fail before the gift lapses.
- Call your most at-risk donors. Donors approaching a year since their last gift are worth a personal conversation.
- Ask for feedback. A short call or survey shows donors their opinion matters and tells you what to fix.
- Keep your data clean. Update addresses, emails and phone numbers so your messages reach people.
Win back lapsed donors
Retention and reactivation go together. Recently lapsed donors already know your organization and are usually easier to bring back than new donors are to find. See our lapsed donor reactivation service, and our guide to phone fundraising for how to structure those calls.