7 Key Fundraising Metrics Nonprofits Should Track
In the world of nonprofit fundraising, success isn't just about passion and effort—it’s also about creating smart strategies and data-driven decisions. Tracking the right fundraising metrics helps organizations understand donor behavior, optimize campaigns, and ultimately raise more funds for your cause. Knowing what metrics to track will be key to know important answers such as:
Are we retaining our donors?
How effective are our campaigns?
Are we spending resources wisely?
When tracking and analyzing the right metrics, they don’t just help you raise funds, but also help understand the impact your marketing and outreach campaigns are having. Here are the top fundraising metrics you should be monitoring.
1. Donor Retention Rate
This metric is one of the most important metrics for any nonprofit: Are your donors coming back? High donor retention rates indicate strong relationships, trust, and satisfaction with your nonprofit’s work. On the other hand, low retention rates can signal a disconnect between your organization and its supporters. Retaining donors is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. A sustainable donor base ensures predictability and stability in your fundraising efforts.
How to calculate donor retention rate:
(Number of donors who gave this year and last year / Total number of donors last year) x 100 = Donor Retention Rate
2. Donor Growth Rate
Your nonprofit’s ability to grow its donor base speaks volumes about the effectiveness of your marketing and outreach efforts. The donor growth rate tells you if you’re attracting new supporters or plateauing.
How to calculate donor growth rate:
[(Number of Donors at End of Period - Number of Donors at Start of Period) / Number of Donors at Start of Period] x 100
3. Average Gift Size
This metric tells you how much each donor is contributing on average. Tracking average gift size helps you gauge donor support and provides ideas for fundraising strategies. Being able to identify your biggest donors allows you to nurture these relationships with personalized updates, invitations to exclusive events, or VIP recognition.
How to calculate average gift size:
Total Donations / Number of Donations = Average Gift Size
4. Cost Per Dollar Raised
The Cost Per Dollar Raised (CPDR) reveals how efficiently your nonprofit raises funds. It measures how much money your nonprofit spends on fundraising activities to raise each dollar in donations, with a typical benchmark being around 20 cents per dollar raised. Lower CPDR values mean you’re raising funds more efficiently while a high CPDR can indicate overspending or inefficiencies in your campaigns.
How to calculate CPDR:
(Total expenses ÷ Total revenue from fundraising)
5. Conversion Rate
The conversion rate measures the percentage of people who take a specific action such as donating, signing up for a newsletter, or attending one of your fundraisers. A strong conversion rate shows that your messaging is resonating with your audience.
How to calculate conversion rate:
(Number of completed actions ÷ Total number of engaged individuals) × 100
6. Recurring Donors Percentage
Recurring donations are great because they give nonprofits stable, predictable income. This metric tracks what proportion of your donors contribute regularly so you know if you need to focus more on acquiring new donors versus building long-term relationships with your core supporters.
How to calculate recurring donors percentage:
(Number of recurring donors ÷ Total donors) × 100
7. Fundraising ROI
ROI is critical for determining if your fundraising efforts are working. It measures how much money you earned in donations compared to what you spent.
How to calculate fundraising ROI:
(Total revenue from donations - Cost of fundraising activities) ÷ Cost of fundraising activities × 100
Tracking metrics is important, however, it’s what you do with those metrics that makes the difference. Here are some software companies who specialize in nonprofits.
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