Donor Retention Rate (DRR)

Percentage of donors giving again in consecutive years

Finance Customer Success NonprofitPercentageAnnual

FORMULA

DRR = (Donors Contributing in Year 2 / Donors Contributing in Year 1) × 100

Alternate Calculations

Multi-YearDonors Active in Consecutive Years / Total Donor Base

What is Donor Retention Rate?

Donor Retention Rate measures the percentage of donors who contribute in the current year after having donated in the previous year. Critical metric for nonprofit fundraising sustainability and program continuity. Higher retention indicates stronger donor relationships and predictable revenue. Nonprofits typically benchmark 40-50% retention. Cost of acquiring new donors is 5-7x higher than retaining existing donors.

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Sample Data

year	year1	year2	retention	avg_gift
2020	850	425	50	250
2021	920	475	51.6	265
2022	1,050	557	53	280
2023	1,180	649	55	295

Required Data Columns

year1_donorsyear2_donorsretention_rate