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Donor Loyalty

How strong is your donor loyalty practice? This short, evidence-based self-assessment scores your organisation against fundraising standards, shows where your biggest gaps are, and puts the most useful fixes first.
It takes about 15 minutes. Every question is optional, and the more you can share, especially real numbers and documents, the more accurate your result.

Do you measure your overall donor retention rate annually, i.e. what % of last year's donors gave again this year, and what range is it in?

Do you measure your overall donor retention rate annually, i.e. what % of last year's donors gave again this year, and what range is it in?
A
B
C
D
E

Does your board / leadership understand that a 10% improvement in donor attrition can yield up to 200% lifetime value increase, and is retention improvement modelled in your financial planning?

Does your board / leadership understand that a 10% improvement in donor attrition can yield up to 200% lifetime value increase, and is retention improvement modelled in your financial planning?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you measure first-year donor retention SEPARATELY from overall retention, and what is the rate?

Do you measure first-year donor retention SEPARATELY from overall retention, and what is the rate?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you track donor retention and projected lifetime value by ACQUISITION CHANNEL (e.g. F2F vs direct mail vs online vs event), and use that to allocate acquisition budget?

Do you track donor retention and projected lifetime value by ACQUISITION CHANNEL (e.g. F2F vs direct mail vs online vs event), and use that to allocate acquisition budget?
A
B
C
D
E

Do newly-acquired donors receive a structured welcome cycle (multi-touch onboarding across email/mail) over their first weeks?

Do newly-acquired donors receive a structured welcome cycle (multi-touch onboarding across email/mail) over their first weeks?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you measure repeat-donor retention (donors active in both N-1 AND N-2 who give in N) separately from overall, and what is the rate?

Do you measure repeat-donor retention (donors active in both N-1 AND N-2 who give in N) separately from overall, and what is the rate?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you segment retention analysis by both donation FREQUENCY (1, 2, 3-6, 7+ gifts last year) and PAYMENT METHOD (cash/card vs recurring debit/standing order)?

Do you segment retention analysis by both donation FREQUENCY (1, 2, 3-6, 7+ gifts last year) and PAYMENT METHOD (cash/card vs recurring debit/standing order)?
A
B
C
D
E

How does your NGO position recurring (monthly) giving?

How does your NGO position recurring (monthly) giving?
A
B
C
D
E

Does your NGO calculate donor lifetime value (LTV) using a documented methodology?

Does your NGO calculate donor lifetime value (LTV) using a documented methodology?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you compute DOLLAR retention rate (revenue retained from existing donors) separately from donor COUNT retention?

Do you compute DOLLAR retention rate (revenue retained from existing donors) separately from donor COUNT retention?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you recognise that not all donors should be retained at the same cost, some have short but profitable lifetimes, others long? Do you segment stewardship accordingly?

Do you recognise that not all donors should be retained at the same cost, some have short but profitable lifetimes, others long? Do you segment stewardship accordingly?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you measure donor satisfaction with the quality of service you provide (separately from satisfaction with your cause impact)?

Do you measure donor satisfaction with the quality of service you provide (separately from satisfaction with your cause impact)?
A
B
C
D
E

Does your stewardship differentiate by donor relational depth (new/weak-relational donors get satisfaction-building; deep/long-term donors get trust + commitment-building)?

Does your stewardship differentiate by donor relational depth (new/weak-relational donors get satisfaction-building; deep/long-term donors get trust + commitment-building)?
A
B
C
D
E

Does your NGO's donor practice demonstrate the four trust dimensions, (a) donor relationship investment (you respect their effort to engage), (b) mutual influence (donors share values and feel heard), (c) forbearance from opportunism (no list-swap without consent, no exploitative tactics), (d) communications acceptance (your messages are credible to donors)?

Does your NGO's donor practice demonstrate the four trust dimensions, (a) donor relationship investment (you respect their effort to engage), (b) mutual influence (donors share values and feel heard), (c) forbearance from opportunism (no list-swap without consent, no exploitative tactics), (d) communications acceptance (your messages are credible to donors)?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you distinguish between ACTIVE commitment (donors with genuine passion for the cause) and PASSIVE commitment (donors who give out of inertia or haven't gotten around to cancelling)?

Do you distinguish between ACTIVE commitment (donors with genuine passion for the cause) and PASSIVE commitment (donors who give out of inertia or haven't gotten around to cancelling)?
A
B
C
D
E

Has your NGO administered a PUBLISHED, VALIDATED donor commitment and trust scale to your donors (e.g. a validated 4-dimensional instrument, or a similar published scale) in the past 24 months?

Has your NGO administered a PUBLISHED, VALIDATED donor commitment and trust scale to your donors (e.g. a validated 4-dimensional instrument, or a similar published scale) in the past 24 months?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you have a named, recurring programme to win back lapsed donors (e.g. donors 13-36 months since last gift) with segmented messaging?

Do you have a named, recurring programme to win back lapsed donors (e.g. donors 13-36 months since last gift) with segmented messaging?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you conduct exit polling / surveys of lapsed donors to find out why they stopped giving?

Do you conduct exit polling / surveys of lapsed donors to find out why they stopped giving?
A
B
C
D
E

Is your reactivation spend targeted at lapsed donors whose projected LTV justifies the cost, or do you mail all lapsed donors uniformly?

Is your reactivation spend targeted at lapsed donors whose projected LTV justifies the cost, or do you mail all lapsed donors uniformly?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you calculate the percentage of retained donors who INCREASE their gift year-over-year, segmented by donor band?

Do you calculate the percentage of retained donors who INCREASE their gift year-over-year, segmented by donor band?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you track whether your donors engage across MULTIPLE programmes / giving products (cross-buying), and recognise this as a longevity predictor?

Do you track whether your donors engage across MULTIPLE programmes / giving products (cross-buying), and recognise this as a longevity predictor?
A
B
C
D
E

Are your upgrade asks tailored to a donor's prior gift level (e.g. ask ladder = prior gift � 1.2-1.5), or do you use the same ladder for everyone?

Are your upgrade asks tailored to a donor's prior gift level (e.g. ask ladder = prior gift � 1.2-1.5), or do you use the same ladder for everyone?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you segment newly-acquired donors by likely relationship type, responder (one-off reactor, no future potential), prospect (could be nurtured), occasional (some engagement), loyalist/advocate (high engagement + potential), and differentiate stewardship accordingly?

Do you segment newly-acquired donors by likely relationship type, responder (one-off reactor, no future potential), prospect (could be nurtured), occasional (some engagement), loyalist/advocate (high engagement + potential), and differentiate stewardship accordingly?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you capture the acquisition CONTEXT (channel + campaign + initial message + trigger) at first gift, so future stewardship can attempt to replicate what worked?

Do you capture the acquisition CONTEXT (channel + campaign + initial message + trigger) at first gift, so future stewardship can attempt to replicate what worked?
A
B
C
D
E

Do your communications and asks support donor AUTONOMY, donors choose freely, articulate views, shape their relationship, without social pressure / guilt tactics?

Do your communications and asks support donor AUTONOMY, donors choose freely, articulate views, shape their relationship, without social pressure / guilt tactics?
A
B
C
D
E

Do your communications reinforce donor COMPETENCE, i.e. frame impact as what THE DONOR has accomplished, not what the organisation has?

Do your communications reinforce donor COMPETENCE, i.e. frame impact as what THE DONOR has accomplished, not what the organisation has?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you cultivate donor CONNECTEDNESS, to beneficiaries, to other supporters, to organisation leaders, or to the cause? And have you identified what connection 'focal point' each segment values most?

Do you cultivate donor CONNECTEDNESS, to beneficiaries, to other supporters, to organisation leaders, or to the cause? And have you identified what connection 'focal point' each segment values most?
A
B
C
D
E

Do your communications affirm donor IDENTITY, i.e. invoke who the donor is (their values, role, community: 'as someone who cares about cats...', 'because being [a Christian / a parent / a community member] means...')?

Do your communications affirm donor IDENTITY, i.e. invoke who the donor is (their values, role, community: 'as someone who cares about cats...', 'because being [a Christian / a parent / a community member] means...')?
A
B
C
D
E

Do your communications use LOVE / affective language ('your love can...', 'your kindness...') rather than purely transactional language ('your gift', 'your donation')?

Do your communications use LOVE / affective language ('your love can...', 'your kindness...') rather than purely transactional language ('your gift', 'your donation')?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you actively INVITE donor complaints (not just passively accept them), and track number and category of complaints?

Do you actively INVITE donor complaints (not just passively accept them), and track number and category of complaints?
A
B
C
D
E

Do you have a documented service-RECOVERY process?

Do you have a documented service-RECOVERY process?
A
B
C
D
E

Suggested uploads

These are optional. If you can share a few, we can check your answers against real evidence and give you a sharper, more useful result:

� Donor records spanning two consecutive years
� Computed retention rate with methodology
� Financial-projection model showing retention sensitivity
� Donor records with first-gift year and acquisition channel
� Per-channel retention and LTV calculation
� Welcome cycle workflow / content
� Donor records with payment method and N-2/N-1 gift counts
� Recurring giving page / lead ask materials
� Conversion-from-one-off-to-recurring metrics
� LTV calculation methodology document
� LTV by segment (channel, type, frequency)
� Dollar retention figures
� Cross-program engagement data
� Donor satisfaction survey instrument and recent results
� Stewardship journey map by donor segment
� Data consent / preference centre policy
� Donor research or interview protocols
� Reactivation programme brief / workflow
� Recapture rate calculation
� Exit polling survey instrument and findings
� LTV-by-lapsed-segment analysis
� Donor records with prior-year gift amounts
� Cross-program engagement data per donor
� Sample ask ladders / suggested-amount strings
� Donor database schema showing acquisition-context fields
� Welcome / stewardship workflow with typology-driven branching
� Any retention-by-typology analysis
� Sample communications demonstrating autonomy / competence / connectedness language
� Donor survey instrument with SDT-aligned items
� Segment-level connection focal-point mapping
� Sample appeal copy + thank-you templates demonstrating identity / love language
� Donor survey items measuring identity esteem
� A/B test results on identity-boosting lift sentences (exemplary tier)
� Complaint policy / SLA
� Complaint log with categories and resolution outcomes
� Resolved-complaint cohort retention analysis (exemplary)

Upload any of these documents (optional). You can add several files.

A little context

Over the last 3 years, is your work in this area getting better, staying the same, or getting worse?

Over the last 3 years, is your work in this area getting better, staying the same, or getting worse?
A
B
C
D

Where do you keep the relevant records?

Where do you keep the relevant records?
A
B
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D
E

Anything outside your control that recently affected this area? For example a crisis, a funder leaving, or a sector shock.

This is a demo of the tool. If you have any feedback on it, we would appreciate hearing it.