Understanding Nonprofit Fundraising Metrics: An Explainer

by Sarah Tedesco

Picture this: Isabella has been working as the development director at a nonprofit for several years. She enjoys building relationships with donors and designing and implementing fundraising campaigns. But, as the organization begins to grow and its fundraising goals get more ambitious, it becomes increasingly difficult for Isabella and her team to determine how effective their fundraising efforts are. 

Have you ever been in this boat? If so, you’ve likely needed to tap into the power of nonprofit fundraising metrics. 

Nonprofit fundraising metrics are the numbers that help you know where you’ve been and where you’re headed. They are measurable values that demonstrate how effectively your organization is achieving its fundraising goals. Tracking and interpreting your metrics is one way you can monitor your fundraising success. 

In this short guide, we’ll walk you through everything your nonprofit needs to understand nonprofit fundraising metrics, including key metrics that your nonprofit can start tracking on a regular basis and how to put your metrics into action. Let’s begin. 

5 Key Fundraising Metrics To Know

It’s important to track fundraising metrics in order to make informed, data-based decisions about your nonprofit work. Having metrics on your side can empower you to be more efficient and effective in how you fundraise as you determine what is and isn’t working and course-correct accordingly. 

But where do you start, and what should you be paying attention to? According to DonorSearch’s guide to nonprofit fundraising metrics, here are five key metrics you should know and consider keeping a pulse on: 

1. Cost Per Dollar Raised (CPDR): CPDR indicates whether you’ve raised money, lost money, or broken even with an individual campaign. To calculate it, divide total expenses by total revenue. 

2. Donor Retention Rate: This metric tells you how many donors your organization retains on a year-over-year basis. To find it, divide the total number of donors who gave this year and last year by the number of donors who gave last year. Then, multiply by 100 to yield a percentage.    

3. Average Gift Size: Your average gift size is the average donation amount for a given campaign, group, or time period. Calculate by dividing the total dollar amount of donations received by the number of gifts received. Ideally, this number should grow over time!

4. Matching Gift Rate: This metric tells you the percentage of donations matched through employer matching gift programs. To find this metric, divide the number of donors who secured a donation match by the total number of donors. Then, multiply by 100 to yield a percentage.

5. Event Conversion Rate: Event conversion rate tells you the percentage of event attendees who donate after attending an event. To find it, divide the number of event attendees who donated after the event by the total number of event attendees. Then, multiply by 100 to yield a percentage. 

In addition to fundraising metrics, you can also track metrics focusing on other aspects of your nonprofit work. For example, you may want to track metrics related to your volunteer program, marketing efforts, or the social impact of specific programs. Choose your metrics carefully based on what you need to learn to improve your nonprofit’s operations. 

How to Track Metrics Over Time

Once you’ve selected the metrics that you want to track, it’s time to set up a system for tracking and monitoring them. After all, the longer you track a specific metric, the more apparent the trends and patterns will be that can guide your decision-making. 

Here are a few tips for effectively tracking your metrics: 

• Gather data—lots of it! To calculate metrics, you’ll need a wealth of data, from budgeting information and fundraising campaign totals to your donors’ giving and engagement histories. According to NPOInfo, to make sure you have the best information possible, keep your data tidy and up-to-date. You may want to invest in data appending services to maintain proper data hygiene. 

• Rely on the right software. You can always calculate your metrics manually, but doing so will increase the possibility of human error and may lead to setbacks. Instead, use the right tools to gather data and calculate your metrics. There are even AI tools you can leverage to efficiently pull in data and determine next steps for your fundraising strategy. 

• Regularly analyze your metrics. You should review your data and calculate your metrics on a regular basis. Although it takes some time to see clear trends and patterns in your data, checking in with your metrics is important for ensuring your strategies are pointing your organization in the right direction. Plus, you may want to start tracking new metrics or adjust what you’re measuring based on new needs that arise. For example, you may want to start looking at your donor retention rate for your year-end campaign in addition to your retention rate for the whole year. Regular check-ins give you the chance to make adjustments like this and keep your metrics top of mind. 

The process of tracking and monitoring your metrics can be overwhelming, especially if your organization has an abundance of data to work with. Consider working with a fundraising consultant that can objectively assess how your current process is working and help you streamline it to be more efficient and insight-rich. 

Putting Metrics Into Action 

Getting into the habit of actively tracking your fundraising metrics is important, but without a clear plan for putting those metrics into action, they’ll simply be numbers on a screen. So make sure that you’re using them to make real improvements to your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy!

Here are a few ways you can act on the information you’re seeing from your metrics: 

• Interpret metrics using the correct context. Numbers alone won’t tell you the full story of your nonprofit’s fundraising success. Interpret your metrics within the context of what you know about your organization and your donors. For example, say you’re looking at your fundraising revenue for the past year and you see a dip in the last month. At face value, this information might be alarming, but then you dig a little deeper and discover that your donation page, your most-used donation tool, has a technical issue. You get it resolved and the next month you review your metrics to find that your revenue numbers are back to a normal state. Context can often make a big difference in the numbers you’re seeing!

• Share wins and challenges with stakeholders. Be transparent with your community of supporters when you share your metrics, highlighting the good and the not-so-good. This will help build trust and highlight your nonprofit’s needs. As you share these numbers, remember to interpret them for your audience and to pair them with stories of impact to add an emotional element to your reporting. In doing so, you’ll humanize your organization and ensure that its needs are resonating with your stakeholders. 

• Set new goals. Your metrics can help you set specific and attainable goals, as you’ll be able to make informed estimations of what your organization can accomplish in the future. For example, say you see that your mid-level donors’ average gift size has increased over the last five years. This could indicate that some of the donors in this segment are ready to contribute a major gift. So, you could set a new goal to find five new major donors within that mid-level giving group. 

No matter what your metrics indicate as you interpret them and work to put them into action, remain positive. Seeing low numbers (or high numbers, depending on the context!) can sometimes be discouraging, especially when you’re so passionate about your organization’s cause. But with time and tenacity, you can make positive changes that will correlate with better fundraising metrics, and more importantly, better outcomes for your organization and its beneficiaries!

Sarah Tedesco is the Executive Vice President of DonorSearch, a prospect research and wealth screening company that focuses on proven philanthropy. Sarah is responsible for managing the production and customer support department concerning client contract fulfillment, increasing retention rate and customer satisfaction. She collaborates with other team members on a variety of issues including sales, marketing and product development ideas.