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Donor Retention Rate Calculator

Enter repeat donors and last year's donor count to find your retention rate.

Result

43.8%
438 donors
780 donors

How it is calculated

The rate is retention % = repeat donors ÷ prior-year donors × 100, shown with one decimal. Repeat donors are the people from last year's donor list who gave again in the current period, counted once each. Prior-year donors is the size of that earlier list and must be above zero. The tool also reports lapsed = prior − repeat, the number of donors who did not return, and echoes the prior-year count. Inputs that cannot be true give no result: a repeat count above the prior-year count, a negative repeat count, or a prior-year count of zero. A repeat count of zero is allowed and gives 0.0%. New donors who first gave this year belong in neither field.

Worked example

Last year 780 people gave to a charity. This year, 342 of those same people gave again. Retention: 342 ÷ 780 × 100 = 43.8%. Lapsed donors: 780 − 342 = 438. In other words, a little over four in ten of last year's donors came back, and 438 did not. If the organization also won 150 brand-new donors this year, those do not change the retention figure, because it only follows last year's donors.

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Common mistakes

  • Using this year's total donor count as the repeat figure. That includes new donors; only people who also gave last year count as repeat donors. If the total is larger than last year's list, the tool shows no result.
  • Dividing by this year's donors instead of last year's. The base must be last year's donor list, otherwise the rate answers a different question.
  • Counting gifts instead of donors. A donor who gave four times is still one donor, so use unique people.
  • Treating the figure as growth. Retention only follows last year's donors; a high rate says nothing about how many new donors you won.

Sources

About this calculator

Donor retention rate measures the percentage of last year's donors who gave again this year, calculated as repeat donors divided by last year's total donor count. It's arguably the single most important health metric in nonprofit fundraising, because acquiring a new donor typically costs far more than retaining an existing one, and even small improvements in retention compound into significantly higher lifetime donor value.

Sector benchmarks tracked by groups like the Fundraising Effectiveness Project have historically put average overall donor retention in the roughly 40–45% range, with first-time donor retention notably lower than repeat-donor retention — which is why fundraising teams segment this metric by donor tenure and use it to justify investment in stewardship, thank-you communications, and recurring-gift programs rather than acquisition alone.

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Comments (1)

  • Editorial team

    Retention here counts only people on last year's list who gave again, so a donor who lapsed two years ago and returned this year is not in the repeat figure. In the default case 320 of 500 is 64.0 percent, with 180 lapsed. Tracking the lapsed number beside the rate shows how many people a follow-up appeal would need to reach. How do you treat donors who return after a gap?

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