12 Essential Fundraising Metrics to Strengthen Your Development Program
12 Essential Fundraising Metrics to Strengthen Your Development Program
By Pat McMurtrie, Gathering Waters
How does your fundraising program measure up?
As fundraisers, we often focus on softer skills, including donor conversations, thank-you notes, and invitations. And without that important work, many nonprofits will languish. However, combining the information gathered during donor meetings with hard data from fundraising metrics will provide you with insight into the health of your fundraising program.
Just as an annual medical check-up helps discover health concerns before they become serious problems, regularly tracking and comparing your organization’s fundraising metrics with your organization’s financial history and industry benchmarks can reveal strengths and opportunities in your development program.
Analyzing fundraising results can help you prescribe the right strategies for growth in your organization.
Here are 12 metrics to use for checking the health and effectiveness of your fundraising efforts. Use these measurements to compare year-to-year, quarter-to-quarter, or campaign-to-campaign giving.
1. Number of Active Donors and Gifts
What it tells you: These foundational numbers are used in several key calculations. They measure the number of donors and the total number of gifts given during a specific period.
Why it matters: These key data points are the basis of your fundraising metrics.
How to calculate it: Count the number of active donors and the number of gifts given for a specific time period. Many donor databases automatically generate these reports.
Pro tip: Segment donors by giving level, program area, campaign, or acquisition source to gain deeper insights into the interests and motivations of your donors.
2. Average Gift Size
What it tells you: The typical amount your donors contribute when they give.
Why it matters: Tracking average gift size over time helps you set realistic goals for appeals and reveal opportunities to encourage donors to increase their giving.
How to calculate it: Total donations ÷ Number of donations = Average gift size
Pro tip: For more meaningful analysis, remove outlier gifts that skew your average. For instance, if your typical range is $25-$250 and you receive a one-time gift of $125,000, remove the larger amount from the total gifts to calculate a realistic average. When creating the report, note larger amounts separately and relate them to the project or program they support.
3. Cost to Raise a Dollar (CRD) or Cost Per Dollar Raised (CPDR)
What it tells you: How efficient your fundraising effort was — essentially, it’s your fundraising return-on-investment or ROI for the effort.
Why it matters: Cost to Raise a Dollar helps you decide which fundraising methods and campaigns are most cost-effective, and which efforts need adjustment or retirement.
How to calculate it: Total fundraising expenses ÷ Total fundraising revenue = Cost to Raise a Dollar
Pro tip: You can use Cost to Raise a Dollar to assess the effectiveness of different fundraising activities and/or communication channels (direct mail, events, digital) to figure out which fundraising efforts provide the best return on investment. The Angeletti Group created an info sheet detailing expenditures to include in the CPDR calculation.
4. Donor Conversion Rate
What it tells you: How effectively your communications inspire action from your audience.
Why it matters: This metric helps you evaluate the effectiveness of specific appeals, campaigns, or events.
How to calculate it: (Number of completed donations/actions during a particular fundraising event/campaign ÷ Total number of individuals who attended an event or received an appeal) × 100 = Donor Conversion Rate
Pro tip: Don't limit this to financial gifts — conversion rates also apply to volunteer sign-ups, petition signatures, event registrations, and website visits — conversion rate measures all types of donor engagement.
5. Donor Retention Rate
What it tells you: How well you’re keeping (stewarding) the donors you already have.
Why it matters: It costs significantly less to keep an existing donor than it costs to attract a new one. This is often considered the most important fundraising metric! According to AFP’s fourth quarter Fundraising Effectiveness Project report, 2024 was the fifth consecutive year that nonprofits saw a decline in donor retention, with average donor retention rates falling to 42.9%.
How to calculate it: (Total number of donors who gave this year ÷ Total number of donors who gave during the previous year) × 100 = Donor Retention Rate
Pro tip: Use the retention formula to calculate retention rates for first-time donors versus multi-year donors. First-time donor retention is typically much lower. Lower retention rates present an opportunity for enhanced stewardship and growth of the donor base.
6. Donor Attrition Rate
What it tells you: Many donor databases are aging, and unfortunately, many nonprofits say must say their final goodbyes to many wonderful supporters each year. However, some donors leave the organization for other reasons. Any reduction in the donor base can have a negative impact on the organization.
Why it matters: High attrition rates for reasons other than life events signal a problem with donor stewardship, communication, or mission alignment.
How to calculate it: (Number of donors who gave this year ÷ Number of donors who gave in the previous year) * 100. Subtract this number from 100 = Percentage of Donor Attrition
Pro tip: Survey lapsed donors to understand why they stopped giving. Their feedback can help you improve your donor experience.
7. Donor Value Attrition Rate
What it tells you: The donor value attrition rate reveals the financial impact of lost donors or donors who reduce their gifts. Often, this metric is masked by new donor acquisition.
Why it matters: According to Veritus Group, measuring donor value attrition reveals the true financial impact of donor attrition on your organization.
How to calculate it: ((Total amount given by donors in year #1 – Total amount given by these same donors in year #2) ÷ (Previous yearly/period total giving amount) x 100 = Donor Value Attrition Rate
For instance, donors who gave $10K in year 1, but only gave $7.3K in year 2, represent a donor value attrition rate of 2.7K or a loss of $2.7K from year 1.
Pro tip: Measuring donor value attrition often helps project long-term revenue trends based on donor retention and the value of the gifts lost. This measurement often motivates fundraisers to create donor stewardship strategies to retain more of the organization’s donors.
8. Donor Growth Rate
What it tells you: How effectively you’re expanding your donor base over time.
Why it matters: A healthy fundraising program should be growing its donor base to offset natural attrition and build for the future.
How to calculate it: [(Number of donors at current year-end - Number of donors at previous year-end) ÷ Number of donors at previous year-end] × 100 = Donor Growth Rate
Pro tip: Set realistic growth goals based on your organization’s size, age, and sector benchmarks from the FEP reports.
9. Donor Acquisition Rate
What it tells you: Your success at bringing in first-time donors.
Why it matters: New donors are crucial for an organization's growth and sustainability.
How to calculate it: Number of new donors ÷ Total number of donor prospects = Donor Acquisition Rate
Pro tip: Track acquisition costs alongside donor acquisition rate to ensure acquisition campaigns are cost-effective. When acquiring donors, keep in mind that it may cost more than $1 to raise $1. However, if you retain new donors, you’ll recoup acquisition costs over time.
10. Average Donor Lifetime Value (LTV)
What it tells you: The total contribution each donor is likely to make across their entire relationship with your organization.
Why it matters: This powerful predictive metric helps you make strategic decisions about donor acquisition and retention investments.
How to calculate it: (Average donation amount × Average donation frequency) × Average donor lifespan) = Average Donor Lifetime Value
For example, if your average donation is $112, donors typically give twice yearly, and your average donor stays with you for 4.5 years, the average lifetime value would be: $112 × 2 × 4.5 = $1,008
Pro tip: Knowing the average lifetime value of a donor helps give you the data you need to create strategic fundraising plans, develop donor retention programs, and forecast budgets.
11. Fundraising Return on Investment (ROI)
What it tells you: The overall effectiveness of your fundraising program.
Why it matters: Similar to Cost to Raise a Dollar for individual campaigns, specific events, or year-end efforts, fundraising ROI evaluates your overall program.
How to calculate it: [(Total revenue from donations - Cost of fundraising activities) ÷ Cost of fundraising activities] × 100 = Fundraising Return on Investment
Pro tip: Remember that fundraising is a long-term relationship-building process. Some investments may not show immediate returns but will pay off over the course of several years.
12. Percentage of Recurring Donors
What it tells you: The proportion of your donors who give on a regular, scheduled basis.
Why it matters: Recurring donors provide stable, predictable income and typically have much higher retention rates.
How to calculate it: (Number of recurring donors ÷ Total donors) × 100 = Percentage of Recurring Donors
Pro tip: Even a small increase in the number of recurring donors can dramatically improve your financial stability and reduce fundraising costs over time. Also, remember to review your recurring donor attrition rates to measure the health of the recurring program.
Your Fundraising Check-Up Made Easy with AFP's Tools
You don’t have to calculate all these metrics manually!
AFP's Fundraising Fitness Test (FFT) is a comprehensive Excel-based tool that provides over 100 performance indicators across five donor giving levels. It's free for AFP members and will help you:
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Track fundraising gains and losses
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Measure growth in giving and attrition
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Create predictive models for "what if" scenarios
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Compare your performance against similar organizations
The tools and reports you’ll find at the Fundraising Effectiveness Project can help you generate detailed reports and provide meaningful data comparisons to nonprofit organizations that work in your sector.
Remember, metrics aren’t just numbers — they’re powerful measurements that provide insights into your fundraising strategy. By regularly checking your metrics, you'll build a stronger, more sustainable development program that effectively advances your mission for years to come.
You can conduct your organization’s health assessment using the formulas above or visit AFPGlobal.org/FEP to download the Fundraising Fitness Test and let the macro-enhanced spreadsheet do much of the work for you.
