Fundraising Analytics: Donor Retention, LTV, Campaign ROI & Upgrades
Analyse a charity's donor file the way fundraising analysts do: classify new, retained, lapsed and reactivated donors, read gift distributions, score donors with RFM, model donor lifetime value, compare channel ROI, track monthly donor attrition, band upgrades and downgrades and build a gain/loss report with a waterfall chart, every cell checked as you go.
The first lesson is free — no account needed.
About this course
A fundraising analytics course that analyses the donor file of one fictional charity, Brightwater Food Bank, in a spreadsheet, for fundraisers, development and database managers, nonprofit analysts and students. You classify donors as new, retained, lapsed or reactivated and calculate the donor retention rate, compare the mean and median gift and the share of dollars from the largest gift band, score donors on recency, frequency and monetary value, model five-year donor lifetime value against the cost of acquisition, compare six channels on ROI and cost per dollar raised, convert monthly donor attrition into annual retention, band upgrades and downgrades with thresholds in cells, and build a gain/loss report with a waterfall chart. Synthetic donors only, with no real personal data, so the methods carry over to a privacy-aware donor database. The first lab is free.
Lessons
- Donor Counts and Retention: New, Retained, Lapsed, ReactivatedFree
- Gift Size Distribution and the Median Gift Pro
- RFM Scoring for Donors Pro
- Donor Lifetime Value from Retention Pro
- Campaign ROI and Cost per Dollar Raised by Channel Pro
- Recurring Giving and Monthly Donor Attrition Pro
- Upgrade and Downgrade Analysis with Gift Change Bands Pro
- Gain/Loss Report: Where the Donor Dollars Went Pro