Every nonprofit wants to improve donor retention.
Over the years, we've learned a great deal about what helps. Welcoming and onboarding donors better. Faster thank-you letters. More relevant communications. Stellar monthly giving experiences. Thoughtful stewardship. Each of these plays an important role in helping donors build a lasting relationship with your organization.
But over the past year, as I've worked through several research projects covering millions of donor records and hundreds of organizations, another pattern has consistently emerged.
One of the strongest drivers of long-term giving isn't simply how often donors hear from you. It's how personally connected they feel to your mission. In the past we've used the word "belonging" to describe this type of deeper donor relationship.
That connection can take many forms. And the encouraging news is that every organization has opportunities to create it.
When the Mission Becomes Personal
One of the projects I recently completed looked at organizations that raise support both for their overall ministry and for individual staff members.
What immediately stood out was how remarkably well staff-supporters retained over time. Their retention looked surprisingly similar to what we often see from recurring donors.
At first glance, that makes sense. Many staff-supporters give monthly. But even after accounting for recurring gifts, the retention remained exceptionally strong.
The relationship itself was what mattered.
When donors know the person they're supporting, hear their stories, celebrate milestones, and pray for them, giving becomes more than a transaction. It becomes participation in a personal ministry.
We've seen this same principle in other fundraising models as well.
- Child sponsorship creates a connection between a donor and a child.
- Major gift fundraising intentionally builds relationships between donors and gift officers.
- Volunteer programs allow supporters to experience the mission firsthand.
- Advocates become emotionally invested because they're helping tell your story.
The specific model changes, but the underlying principle does not.
The more personally connected donors become, the more likely they are to remain engaged.
The Faith Behind the Findings
We saw something similar in the Faithful Giving Project.
One of the strongest indicators of generous, long-term giving wasn't age, income, or education. Instead, generosity consistently increased alongside deeper engagement.
- People who served.
- People who prayed.
- People who volunteered.
- People whose pastoral leaders shared the mission.
These activities didn't simply increase someone's knowledge of the organization. They aligned someone’s identity with their generosity.
You Don't Need Missionaries to Build Relationships
Most nonprofits don't have a staff-support fundraising model. But that doesn't mean this research doesn't apply.
It simply means we have to think creatively about how we help donors experience the people behind the mission.
For one organization, that may be inviting donors to volunteer. For another, it may be handwritten notes from program staff.
It could be short videos from the field, personal emails, text messages, birthday cards, or simply asking for prayer requests and responding thoughtfully.
We should not limit our communication to just fundraising tactics but, rather, expand beyond and start building relationships. Because that is what will become the foundation for generosity that lasts for years.
The Opportunity
As technology makes personalization easier than ever, organizations have an incredible opportunity. We can communicate with donors more cost-effectively for more than fundraising.
- We can celebrate with them.
- Thank them.
- Invite them behind the scenes.
- Share stories in more media across expanding channels.
- Help them see the real people whose lives are being changed.
Every one of those moments reinforces that giving isn't simply supporting a cause. The donor is joining a community.
Relationships Build Retention
For years, fundraising conversations have centered on improving retention through better communications and asks. Those improvements matter, and organizations should continue investing in them.
But the research points toward an equally important opportunity.
Create more opportunities for donors to know your mission personally.
Whether that's through volunteering, advocacy, sponsorship, staff connections, or simply more human communication, the organizations that build stronger relationships also build stronger donor loyalty.
