Ops Insights #068 - 7 Data Flows to Retain Donors
June 30, 2025 | Read Time: 2 minutes | Written by Jenny Kleintop
It’s a long-standing statement that retained donors are easier and less costly to retain than it is to acquire new donors. And there are a lot of complex tools in the market and lots of talk about AI, but if you’re not doing the basics, then the more complex processes will feel impossible.
Here are 7 data flows that are simple and basic for you to implement today:
New donor welcome series via email. Set up a three-part series that will email new donors to thank them for their gift and demonstrate the impact of their contribution. This will help remind them that they made a great choice in donating to you.
Active recurring donors. Set a report that can be scheduled in email to team members to make a phone call after their sixth recurring gift payment has been made. This will show the donor appreciation for their giving plus allow you to establish a stronger relationship with the donor.
First-time donors who give a single gift of $500 or greater. Set up a process or data feed so a gift officer can do outreach to thank the donor and establish a relationship.
Planned giving prospects. Set up a data pool to identify donors who have given seven out of the last 10 years to feed into your planned giving program.
Texting is another touchpoint opportunity. Look into your online platform to see if you have texting capability. If you do set up an outreach plan to text a series of thank you texts, show impact texts, cultivate texts, and ask. Use the strategy of 3 non-asks, then ask as you don’t want to ask without showing gratitude and impact first.
Address updates for better mail outreach. Set up processes to ensure you are updating addresses from NCOA updates.
Opt-out requests. Set up processes to ensure you are marking unsubscribe to ensure you are honoring opt-out requests.
Take Action
It’s your turn. Take the following 3 steps to help retain those donors that you worked so hard to get.
1 ➡ Take stock of which of these 7 data flows you have in place today.
2 ➡ Pat yourself on the back on the ones you have in place. Then highlight the ones you need to put in place.
3 ➡ Add a timeline around the ones you want to put in place. Even add it your yearly goals plan.
You’ve got this!
👋 See you next time,
Jenny
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