We’ve been on both sides of the campaigns—the receiving and the sending.

My mailbox is full of emails that start to arrive within hours or minutes after a crisis, asking for help and monetary donations. As the CEO of an “American Friends of” organization who always has fundraising at the forefront of my strategic priorities, I force myself to take a step back and think if this is the right time for me to be reaching out, too.

It’s at these times that I try to separate the emotional desire to jump into action with a new fundraising campaign from the need to stop and look at the data. Emotions are hard to rein in, especially when your entire career is focused on helping those in need and creating a sense of community for supporters. Experience, data, and history help focus my strategy.

The Retention Reality

First, let’s look at the data. Data from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project shows that just over 1 in 5 micro-donors ($1-$100) are retained year-over-year. That’s the lowest retention rate across gift amounts. As an example, only 14% of new donors from the first half of 2024 had been retained year-over-year.

We know that a crisis, more often than not, will trigger a successful wave of emotional, one-time donations. People are reacting to what they see on social media, texts from loved ones, and a........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)