guest post // How to Boost Sustainer Program Performance: 3 Data Insights
By Dave Martin, CharityEngine
According to CharityEngine’s nonprofit donations guide, the health of a nonprofit can often be measured by sustainers, or those donors who can be counted on for recurring giving. That’s because nonprofits depend on the reliability of recurring gifts to continue funding their day-to-day operations.
A sustainer program is a fundraising strategy used by nonprofits to encourage donors to make ongoing, regular contributions. Often, these are set up as automated recurring payments. Your nonprofit can count on that reliable stream of income when making decisions about funding programs and initiatives. Additionally, the “set it and forget it” nature of automated recurring gifts means they often aren’t affected by rapidly changing conditions, such as political or economic volatility.
Just as with all donor communication and fundraising efforts, your nonprofit needs a dedicated strategy built on comprehensive donor data to ensure your sustainer program is as successful as possible. Let’s explore a few data insights your organization can use to optimize the performance of your program.
1. Donor engagement metrics
Building and maintaining a strong sustainer program starts with donor engagement. By measuring different engagement metrics, you can quickly identify the donors most committed to your nonprofit’s success. Those are the donors you’ll want to approach about joining your sustainer program!
Most nonprofit CRMs provide a wealth of data to nonprofits. For example, here are a few key engagement metrics you might want to track:
Social media interactions: Evaluate social media likes, comments, shares, and other activities to determine how your followers engage with your content. Social media can allow posts to spread quickly, extending your reach to potential donors and sustainers.
Email open rates: Many nonprofits use email automation to engage their constituents. By tracking the rate at which recipients open your emails, rather than deleting them, you can gauge their level of engagement. If your open rate is lower than you’d like, tweaking your subject line or the time and day you send messages might be enough to make the metric more favorable.
Event participation: Constituents who engage in events demonstrate a huge commitment to your nonprofit. These are excellent prospects for a sustainer program and would be a good group to target with a campaign.
For a holistic view of donor interactions, consider investing in a fundraising platform that manages all donor data. This tool can provide valuable insights into donor engagement, and the right solution will also offer sustainer management features that allow you to focus specifically on your recurring giving program.
2. Retention rates
It’s no mystery that boosting donor loyalty can help your nonprofit secure much-needed, consistent support. It’s easier to keep a donor than find a new one, so constant donor stewardship is a must.
If you have a healthy sustainer program, it means you’re retaining most of your donors and those people are giving regularly. If you see high turnover with your donors and sustainers, it’s worth zeroing in on why they’re lapsing and thinking about how you can remedy the problem.
To calculate donor retention, divide the number of donors who gave in the previous year by the number of donors who gave in the current year. Multiply the result by 100 to get a percentage, and this number will reflect the rate at which your nonprofit retains its donors.
Then, you’ll need to determine what your retention rate means. Double the Donation’s donor retention program guide gives these examples:
0%–25%: Your nonprofit may have a lower rate in its early stages when cause and brand awareness are low.
25%–50%: You’re likely about at or just below that nonprofit industry average.
50%–75%: This range of retention is on the higher end, and your nonprofit should feel proud of its ability to forge strong connections with supporters.
If you’re trying to move to a higher retention range, here are a few data-driven donor retention strategies you can try:
Analyze donor data to segment supporters and personalize communications.
Automate thank-you emails so they’re sent quickly after you receive a donation.
Regularly report on your impact, using data to show how your nonprofit is making a difference. This is highly effective at increasing repeat donations.
Use multiple channels to engage donors. It’s been shown that nonprofits using three or more channels have higher retention rates.
Use your fundraising software to regularly distribute surveys and ask for feedback about your programs and communication.
Beyond simply calculating donor retention, there are some other metrics you can track to guide your strategies. Donor lifetime value shows the average amount of money a donor will contribute to your nonprofit over their lifetime, helping to identify the future of their involvement. You can also calculate second gift conversion rate to determine the number of new donors who will make a second gift.
3. Donation frequency and amount
Tracking donor data, particularly surrounding their involvement in your organization, is a smart way to zoom out and measure the strength of your sustainer program. Donation frequency and average donation amount can help your organization understand donors’ giving patterns. Ideally, it’ll reveal an upward trend as your program grows.
If your trend line is going in the other direction, it’s time to consider some different strategies to optimize donation frequency and amount. Here are some ideas you can put into action immediately:
Use data analytics to determine personalized ask amount based on giving history.
Create giving levels with benefits.
Optimize your donation form so donors can toggle between one-time and monthly gifts.
Analyze donor data to identify the optimal times, days, and channels for appeals.
Consider adding matching gift campaigns.
Ask regular donors to gradually increase their gifts; pair these asks with impact statements to show how the gifts will be used.
Implement a strong stewardship program to convey appreciation for your donors.
These strategies will increase your metrics and strengthen your sustainer program.
The most effective way to learn from your nonprofit’s data and make informed decisions that improve your programs is by choosing nonprofit fundraising software that offers robust reporting and analytics. When selecting a CRM, consider how many native tools the system provides.
When you can run multichannel campaigns and the data is all kept in your CRM, it’s always comprehensive and reported in real time. This allows you always-on analytics, from which you can pull valuable insights that will inform your strategies.
The more your team knows your donors, the more you can personalize and customize your communication with them. Strong donor relationships are the foundation of solid sustainer programs!
This guest post was written by Dave Martin.
Dave Martin is the VP of Marketing for CharityEngine. He is a digital marketing expert with a unique combination of nonprofit and for-profit experience. Earlier in his career, Dave worked in global telecommunications marketing, product management, and product development both in the United States and Europe. Dave has a BA from the University at Buffalo, an MIA from Columbia University, and an MA from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Leuven, Belgium.