“It’s about making marginal gains” – 100,000 face to face donors 12 months on – what factors make a difference to retention?
Today I attended the Face to Face Fundraising Conference 2025 hosted by Fundraising Everywhere. Here are my notes from just one of the speakers, Liam McEntegart. I highly recommend signing up to watch the whole thing on demand!
Liam and his team at REAL Fundraising looked at the no-show rate of 100,000 donors a year ago. This time, they have looked at the same donors 12 months on, focusing on retention.
(REAL Fundraising is a B Corp founded in 2009, built on Respect, Ethics, Activism and Love.)
KPI1: Obtaining a landline from a donor improves no show rate by 1%, and 16.9% more likely to be retained. Correlates with age of donor but also if they’re willing to give two numbers they’re more engaged with the fundraiser.
KPI2: Getting an email address reduces no show by 2.8% and 12 month retention improved by 2% with getting marketing opt in
KPI3 speaking to your donor at welcome calling reduces NSR by 2.4 times and imporoves retention by 16.8%
KPI 4 Retired donors and employed donors less likely to cancel. REAL has an average donor age of 43.
For every 1 year increase in average age, NSR decreases by an average of 0.75%.
Doesn’t mean just targeting older people though!
Over 30s sign ups v under 30s – 18% difference.
Payment dates of 2nd, 3rd 1st 28th and 26th are best days for retention. Middle of the month payment dates are less likely to be retained.
People who make annual donations are much less likely to cancel before their first payment and are 25% more likely to still be giving after 12 months. Make this an option.
In summary, the unicorn donor is over 60, retired, gives an email address and landline number, and gives at the beginning and end of the month.
But don’t restrict all the KPIs – it’s about marginal gains in a volume channel.
