Measuring Fundraising Success Beyond Dollars Raised

When you launch a new fundraising campaign, what do your goals look like? Chances are, your primary objective is to achieve a specific dollar amount.

While aiming for a certain number of dollars raised can motivate your team and define your campaign’s success, it’s not the only way to measure whether your campaign was worthwhile.

Think about it this way. If you launched a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign where you fell short of your fundraising goal by a few hundred dollars but gained 120 new supporters, would you consider that a failure? What if you hosted a 5K where you didn’t quite raise as much as you had expected, but 80% of donors who participated last year gave more this year?

Broadening your horizons to alternative success metrics can help you learn more about your nonprofit’s strengths and weaknesses, leaning into where your nonprofit shines and improving areas that could use a boost. In this guide, we’ll explore ways to measure fundraising success beyond dollars raised to help you unlock deeper insights about your support base.

Donor Loyalty and Retention Metrics

Donor Retention Rate

Donor retention rate refers to the percentage of donors who gave last year and contributed again this year. Or, if you’re calculating it for a specific campaign, it’s the percentage of donors who gave to your last campaign and gave again to this campaign.

Did you know that it can cost up to $1.50 to raise $1.00 from new donors, while it only costs about $0.20 to raise $1.00 from existing supporters? Keeping your donors around is not only cost-effective, but it also allows you to fortify supporter relationships and build a consistent community around your cause.

53% of nonprofits already identify donor retention as a top success metric. To join them and maximize the donors you retain, you must invest in donor stewardship. Personally thanking donors, reporting on their impact, and maintaining transparency can strengthen your donor relationships and encourage them to continue contributing.

Donor Lifetime Value (LTV)

Donor lifetime value (LTV) is the average revenue a donor will contribute to your organization over the course of their journey with your nonprofit. Instead of focusing on how much each donor gives during each transaction or campaign, this metric empowers you to think about the future and put more energy into long-term relationship-building.

To calculate your average LTV, you need these three values:

• Average gift amount (value)
• Average gifts per year per donor (frequency)
• Average donor lifespan (in years)

By multiplying these numbers, you can determine the average LTV for each donor you acquire. Then, you can work from here to create goals that help you increase this number over time.

Pipeline Growth and Acquisition Metrics

New Donor Acquisition

Finding and acquiring new donors is no easy feat. While 62% of nonprofits saw an increase in donor acquisition in 2022, and 57% did in 2023, only 53% of organizations saw new donor growth in 2024, indicating a decline in year-over-year donor acquisition.

Calculating the number of new donors you acquire each year and from each campaign can help you evaluate the effectiveness of your outreach and adjust your strategy accordingly. For instance, if you find you have low overall new donor acquisition, you may ask your board to reach out to their networks for help, invest more in prospect research, or attempt to re-engage lapsed supporters.

Donation Form Conversion Rate

Your donation page is likely one of your main fundraising hubs. If you have a low percentage of people actually filling out the entire form and following through with contributions, you’re likely missing opportunities to acquire new donors and maximize revenue.

To increase your donation form conversion rate, Bloomerang Fundraising recommends the following:

• Keeping your form as simple as possible. Donors are busy, and if they have to answer many seemingly unnecessary questions to complete their donations, they may abandon your form altogether. Focus on collecting essential information, such as contact and payment details, and using surveys to gather other data.
• Optimizing your form for mobile devices. In 2024, 53% of nonprofit website traffic came from mobile devices. Accommodate these users with a mobile-responsive donation page. Additionally, make text large enough to read and touch targets large enough to tap.
• Offering multiple payment options. While 83% of fundraisers believe offering multiple payment options improves retention, less than 3% actively prioritize digital wallets, and only 47% of organizations offer them. Meanwhile, 24% of donors prefer digital wallets for their ease and convenience. Use a donation platform that allows you to collect a wide variety of payment options, such as credit, debit, ACH, and digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

In addition to these structural elements, illustrating impact can also boost conversions. Tie specific donation amounts to real impact so potential donors understand how their contributions will make a difference and feel inspired to give. For example, a statement like “$400 funds a month of groceries for a family in need” shows donors exactly how they can spark change in the community.

Supporter Engagement and Community Metrics

Supporter Engagement Score

Think about all the ways supporters can engage with your nonprofit. In addition to donating, they may volunteer, attend an event, share a petition, or become a fundraising ambassador, just to name a few.

By calculating a supporter engagement score, you can get a comprehensive view of supporters’ involvement, identify your top supporters, and continue providing them with relevant opportunities that keep them engaged. The right nonprofit CRM will use the supporter data you have to automatically calculate supporter engagement and generosity scores and provide supporter engagement timelines that allow you to track involvement over time.

Volunteer-to-Donor Conversion Rate

A whopping 85% of volunteers donate to the nonprofits they volunteer for. However, if your nonprofit’s average volunteer-to-donor conversion rate is significantly lower than that, you might want to invest in volunteer engagement.

Volunteers are already dedicated supporters of your mission, making them standout giving prospects. To pinpoint your top potential donors among your volunteer base, consider conducting prospect research and creating a segment within your CRM for volunteers with high giving potential and affinity for your cause. Then, launch campaigns that express your appreciation for volunteers’ contributions and ask whether they’d be interested in giving monetarily.

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While this list just scratches the surface of the alternative metrics you could track, choose ones that align with your goals and evaluate them over time. For instance, if your donor retention is already in a good spot, you may focus on converting volunteers to donors or increasing your supporter engagement scores. By integrating these types of metrics into your campaigns and regular team conversations, you can redefine success and strengthen your nonprofit as a whole.