What Is Donor-Centered Fundraising?®
Donor-Centered Fundraising fulfills donors’ essential requirements
Donor-Centered Fundraising is an integrated and collaborative approach to raising money that inspires donors to remain loyal longer and give more generously sooner. It is easy to understand; it focuses on the things that make fundraising profitable; and it comes from donors themselves.
- receiving prompt and meaningful acknowledgement whenever they make a gift;
- having every gift they make, regardless of its value, assigned to a program, project or initiative narrower in scope than the mission as a whole;
- receiving a report, in measurable terms, on what was accomplished with the last gift before being asked for another.
Comparing Traditional and Donor-Centered Fundraising Strategies on Retention and Gift Value
Question | Traditional Fundraising Gift Renewal/Gift Value/Generosity | Donor-Centered Fundraising Gift Renewal/Gift Value/Generosity |
---|---|---|
Likelihood of giving again the next time donor is asked | (1)35% of new donors renew sometime within the next year, though not necessarily the next time they are asked | 67% would definitely or probably renew the next time they were asked |
Likelihood of making a larger gift | (2)21.4% of donors who renew make a larger gift | 52% would definitely or probably make a larger gift when they renew |
Likelihood of continuing to give indefinitely | (3)<10% of donors continue to give to the same not-for-profit beyond five asks or campaigns | 67% would definitely or probably continue supporting a donor-centered not-for-profit indefinitely |
(1) donorCentrics Index of Direct Marketing Fundraising, 2014 First Quarter Caledar Quarter Results, H Flannery, P Grainger, R Harris, C Rhine, Target Analytics, a division of Blackbaud, Inc., July 2014
(2) 2016 Fundraising Effectiveness Survey Report, AFP/The Urban Institute, September, 2016
(3) Estimate by Cygnus Applied Research, Inc. based on long term retention/attrition analysis of donors giving to Cygnus’ clients
(2) 2016 Fundraising Effectiveness Survey Report, AFP/The Urban Institute, September, 2016
(3) Estimate by Cygnus Applied Research, Inc. based on long term retention/attrition analysis of donors giving to Cygnus’ clients