We all know measuring the performance of our donor development programs is important, but in the midst of the everyday hustle and bustle of raising funds, stopping to check in on how we’re doing can be the last thing on our minds.
As you start a fresh year, now is the perfect time to begin tracking your key performance indicators.
Here are 15 critical donor metrics you should always be tracking:
General Metrics
- Total number of active donors on file
- Total funds raised this year
- Number of monthly donors
Gift-Related Metrics
- Total number of gifts
- Average gift size (total funds divided by number of donors)
- Average monthly gift size
- Largest single gift
- Recurring gift percentage (number of recurring gifts divided by total number of gifts received and multiply by 100)
Retention-Related Metrics
- Donor acquisition rate (percentage of people who responded to a new donor acquisition campaign)
- Donor retention rate (number of recurring donors divided by total number of donors and multiply by 100)
- Number of donors who lapsed in the last 12 months
- Amount of time between first gift and second gift
ROI-Related Metrics
- Donor conversion rate (number of donors who respond to an appeal divided by number of appeals sent x 100)
- Cost per dollar raised (total costs of fundraising program divided by total funds raised)
- ROI (total funds raised divided by total costs); this is an inverse of cost per dollar raised and will show you how much you made for each dollar spent
Over time, these metrics allow you to track the growth (or decline) of your donor file, your donor retention rate, your gift size growth, your cost of fundraising, and other critical trends.
At the start of a New Year, make it a resolution to begin tracking these 15 things so that you can measure your performance year after year.
Donor.com can help you manage this data and make tracking, measurement and reporting easy. Request a free demo today!
