Among all of the varied types of donors that your organization engages with, first-time donors are at the highest risk of lapsing. According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, the average retention rate among donors who have only given one — their first — gift to a nonprofit is around 20%. That means that 8 out of 10 first-time donors never give again. But, if you can get a second gift or a monthly commitment, those retention rates triple or quadruple in some cases.
So how do you get that next gift from first-time donors? Pretty much every research study into donor loyalty suggests that the best thing you can do for donors, especially new donors, is to thank them quickly and personally. In today’s impersonal, digital age, no method of communication will stand out more than a phone call.
McConkey International UK found that first-time donors who get a personal thank you within 48 hours are four times more likely to give a second gift. Penelope Burk, author of Donor-Centered Fundraising, and Donor-Centered Leadership, says that a thank-you call from a board member to a new donor within 24 hours of their gift will increase their next gift by 39%. It isn’t always possible to call all first-time donors, so how can you prioritize who to call?
The First-Time Donor Calls list displays the top 5 first-time donors you should prioritize calling. This list takes the guesswork and effort away from identifying who to call, so you can focus on building a relationship with these donors.
In this article:
Who and What is Included
Your top five first-time donors are prioritized based on:
Donation attributes, like date, type, projected revenue, and others
Prior volunteer activity
In addition, the first-time donor call list does not include constituents:
Who are inactive or deceased.
Where another member of their household has a gift on their timeline.
Without phone numbers, or have a “Do Not Call” communication restriction.
Who have a follow-up interaction for the first gift.
Who have a task due within 7 weekdays of the first gift.
Bloomerang CRM factors in donations, pledges, and recurring donation schedules when determining first-time gifts. The following are excluded:
Transactions and soft credits excluded by the custom Donor Retention settings at the time the first gift is made.
Transactions over 7 weekdays old.
Transactions that have been refunded.
Pledges that have been fully written off.
View Donor Information
You may click the row to display more information about the gift. The call list displays:
Constituent Name. The name of the individual or organization.
Gift Details
Amount and Type of gift. The full amount, and whether the first gift is a donation, pledge, recurring, soft credit, or split payment.
Transaction Date. The date entered on the gift.
If another user clicks on a constituent on the list, their username is displayed as following up on a donor, and follow-up actions for that donor are locked.
To enter a phone interaction for this constituent, click Enter a Call.
To see a list of all first-time donors who do not have a First-time Donor interaction yet, click See full report.
To display more information about the gift, click the row. Additional information includes:
Name. The donor’s full name
Amount. The full amount of the gift.
Type. Whether the gift is a Donation, Pledge, Recurring Donation, Soft Credit or Split Payment.
Date. The transaction date.
Household. If the donor is in a household, this displays the Household Name.
Contact. If the donor is an organization, this displays the primary contact, if any.
Fund. The designated fund, or the number of funds the gift is designated among.
Campaign. The designated campaign, or the number of campaigns the gift is designated among.
Appeal. The designated appeal, or the number of appeals the gift is designated among.
Soft Credit. The soft credit name, or the number of soft credits.
Donor Name. The name of the donor, if the first-time gift is a soft credit.
Last Interaction. The Date and Subject of the last interaction for the household prior to the first gift.
Tribute. The tribute type and tribute name, or the number of tributes on the gift.
Note. The transaction note, or number of notes on split payments.
Take Action
When viewing details, more options for action are available. Click through the list to take action on each donor:
To create a first-time donor phone call interaction, click Enter a Call.
To create a task for the first-time donor phone call, click Assign a Task.
To remove the constituent from the First-Time Donor Calls list, click Remove from list.
Once a first-time donor interaction or task has been saved, the donor is removed from the list and the next first-time donor is prioritized within the list.