Learn About Donor Retention Reports

How engaged are your donors? Do they come back year after year? Are you seeing the impact of your fundraising and outreach efforts in bringing lapsed donors back into the fold? MonkeyPod's donor retention reports can provide valuable insights to help you answer these questions and build stronger, lasting relationships with your supporters.

MonkeyPod offers several reports, each focused on a different aspect of donor retention — from tracking year-over-year giving patterns, to spotting new donors who need a warm welcome, to finding lapsed donors before they slip away. We'll cover each of these reports in this article.

Where can I find MonkeyPod's donor retention reports?

To access your donor retention reports, choose Reports > Donor Retention from the main menu.

Then select the tab for the report you'd like to explore:

• Retention Metrics: Examine the percentage of donors who give from one year to the next, and the amount given. A high donor retention rate means you're doing a great job stewarding these important relationships. 
• Monthly Gifts: See which supporters have committed to a recurring monthly donation.
• Annual Gifts: See which supporters have committed to a recurring annual donation.
• First-Time Donors: Keep tabs on new donors supporting your cause for the first time and reach out to cultivate these new relationships.
• Lapsed donor reports: LYBUNT (Last Year But Unfortunately Not This year)/ SYBUNT (Some Year But Unfortunately Not This year): Find your lapsed donors and connect with them before you lose them!

Each report is described in detail below.

Exploring Retention Metrics

The Retention Metrics report gives you a high-level view of how well your organization is holding onto its donors over time, comparing your current period's performance to a baseline period.

Setting up your report

Use the filters at the top of the page to define the time period you'd like to evaluate. You can specify a custom date range, or choose Past 12 Months or Fiscal YTD.

You can also narrow results by relationship type (individuals, foundations, government entities, and so on) using the relationship type filters.

The Retention Metrics report will then display the donor engagement details for that time period and the chosen relationship types. The totals include all donations, pledges, and grant.

How do I interpret the retention metrics?

The Retention Metrics report includes  a number of insights into your donors' engagement with your organization.

Baseline: The "Baseline" section shows the number of unique donors and the total amount raised for the matching time period prior to the range you selected. This is your benchmark for comparison to see if retention has improved or not.

Retention: The "Retention" section includes the complete set of metrics for donors from the selected time period, broken out as follows:

• Donors Retained: Donors who gave at least once during both the selected time period and the baseline period.
• % Retained: Retained donors as a percentage of unique donors from the baseline period. (# (Donors Retained / # Unique donors)
• Raised from Retained Donors: The total received during the selected period from retained donors (ie. they also donated during the prior baseline period).
• Re-engaged Donors: Donors who gave before the baseline period and again during the selected period, but not during the baseline period itself. These donors lapsed for an entire period but have resumed donations.
• Donations from Re-engaged Donors: Total received during the selected date range by existing donors who did not give during the prior (baseline) period.
• First-Time Donors: Supporters who gave for the first time during the selected period.
• Donations from First-Time Donors: Total received during the selected period by first-time donors.

Want to take a deep dive into the details behind the summary numbers? Just click the corresponding Download link, and choose what additional information you would like included the generated spreadsheet.

Monthly Gifts report

Monthly donors are a special category of supporters who show an ongoing, reliable commitment to your organization. When a support donates through your fundraising page or donation embed and sets up a recurring monthly gift (or you manually record a donation as a recurring monthly gift), those gifts will appear here in the Monthly Gifts report.

The Monthly Gifts tab displays all scheduled monthly gifts, including their status, donation amount, and the date of their first and most recent donations. The "Total" column displays the total amount given for each recurring gift.

Configuring the Monthly Gifts report

Use the Report Settings to filter by their giving status ("Active", "Ended" or either). You can also filter by donor last name, organization name, or email. Select the + icon next to a filter to expand it and make your choices. Select the - icon next to a configured filter to clear those selections.

The Results Summary section updates to show you the monthly total and number of recurring gifts based on your selected filters.  

Use the Show/Hide Columns checkboxes to customize which details are displayed, including gift status, donor name, recurring amount, first and most recent gift dates, and the total given for that recurring donation.

If you'd like to export a report of the monthly gift data, select the Download button displayed above the list. You'll have the option to select additional relationship details (such as address, custom attributes, or other giving totals) in the export.

Annual Gifts report

The Annual Gifts report works just like the Monthly Gifts report described above, but displays donations that are set up as annually recurring gifts. Select the Annual Gifts tab to see a list of these gifts, and refer to the Monthly Gifts section above for details on configuring your view, filtering results, and exporting data.

The Results Summary updates based on your filters to show the annual total and number of recurring gifts based.  

First-Time Donors report

First-time donors are at the very beginning of their relationship with your organization. A warm welcome and genuine acknowledgment of their gift can turn a one-time contribution into a long-term partnership. The First-Time Donors report helps you identify these new supporters so you can reach out while the connection is fresh.

The First-Time Donors report shows donors who made their first ever gift during the specified time period. Gifts include donations, pledges, and grants.

Configuring the First-Time Donors report

Use the Report Settings to filter by donor type (for example, just individuals or just foundations) and to specify a start and/or end date.  Select the + icon next to a filter to expand it and make your choices. Select the - icon next to a configured filter to clear those selections.

The Results Summary displays the number of first time donors and the total of their first gifts, based on the filters selected in the report settings.

Use Show/Hide Columns to customize the data displayed, including donor name, gift date, gift amount, and transaction details.

Working with the First-Time Donor report results

Let's say you've filtered the report to show all new individual donors who gave in the last three months. Now what? This is your opportunity to reach out and nurture those new relationships. The bulk action buttons at the top of the report provide a number of options for you. You can:

• Export the list to a spreadsheet, including additional relationship data like mailing addresses or custom attributes.
• Subscribe them to a mailing list
• Record a bulk interaction, such as noting that they've been sent a postcard or received a phone call.
• Add them to a pipeline for relationship cultivation and moves management.
• Assign a role to them all
• Add them as campaign prospects for Campaign Tracker users)

Lapsed donors: LYBUNT / SYBUNT

The LYBUNT and SYBUNT tabs help you identify donors who have stopped giving before it's too late to win them back. These are two of the most widely used metrics in the nonprofit fundraising world as they can be incredibly valuable for segmenting your donors and developing targeted retention and engagement strategies.

• LYBUNT ("Last Year But Unfortunately Not This Year"):  Lists donors who gave during the prior fiscal year but haven't yet contributed during the current fiscal year. Because these donors gave relatively recently, they're often the most receptive to outreach. This is a great group to prioritize when working to improve your retention numbers.
• SYBUNT ("Some Year But Unfortunately Not This Year"): Lists donors who gave before the prior fiscal year but didn't contribute last year and haven't given during the current fiscal year. These donors have lapsed longer, so re-engagement may take a bit more relationship-building, but they already have a connection to your mission, which is a great starting point.

Both reports can be filtered by relationship type using the checkboxes at the top of the page. Archived or deceased supporters are excluded by default, but you can choose to include them.

Reengaging lapsed donors

Once you have your list of lapsed donors you should consider reengaging them before asking for another donation, particularly if they haven't donated for a few years. A personal note, an impact update about a program they cared about, or a simple thank-you for their past support can go a long way.

The bulk action buttons at the top of these reports let you:

• Export the list to a spreadsheet, including additional relationship data like mailing addresses or custom attributes.
• Subscribe them to a mailing list
• Record a bulk interaction, such as noting that they've been sent a postcard or received a phone call.
• Add them to a pipeline for relationship cultivation and moves management.
• Assign a role to them all
• Add them as campaign prospects for Campaign Tracker users)

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I improve my organization's donor retention?

Improving your donor retention is a smart and cost-effective way to boost your fundraising. Send a survey to lapsed donors to ask about their interests and why they donated in the past. Or send an impact update about a specific program or campaign that resonated with them. Or thank them for their previous donation and inform them about the latest news of your mission. You could even add your lapsed donors to a pipeline for moves management and tracking.

Can I add any of this information to my Dashboard to make it easier to monitor?

Absolutely! Dashboard widgets are available for Donor Retention, Monthly Donor Summary and First-Time Donors reports. Each one links directly to the related report. See How to Customize Your Dashboard for details.

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