ARTICLE
Why Donors Stop Giving—And How To Win Them Back For Good
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Updated - 03/18/2025
In a recent study on generational giving by Bloomerang, the most popular reasons donors cited why they stopped giving to a charity were (ranked by popularity):
- I did not trust that my donation was used wisely
- I no longer felt connected to the nonprofit
- I could no longer afford to donate
- I had a negative experience with the nonprofit
- The nonprofit asked me for a donation too frequently.
The good news? While you can’t change a donor lacking the financial resources to give, you can change EVERYTHING else. Four of these five reasons donors stop giving are 100% in your control.
What’s the solution? It’s shockingly simple – stewardship.
Only stewardship can build a donor’s trust and confidence that you used their gift wisely, make them feel connected to you, and ensure positive experiences. Stewardship also prevents donors from ever feeling like you’re asking too frequently. If you properly steward your donors, there’s no such thing as giving fatigue.
Stewardship should be viewed as a revenue center and not a cost center because it’s cheaper to keep your existing donors than to acquire new ones.
Roger Craver, author of Retention Fundraising, breaks down nonprofit donor retention rates:
- 60-70% chance of acquiring an additional gift from an existing donor.
- 20-40% chance of obtaining an additional contribution from a recently lapsed donor.
- Less than 2% chance of receiving a donation from a prospect.
How to keep donors loyal for life
If you want donors to stick to you like glue, you need to craft a stewardship plan—essentially a set of business rules for donor engagement—that outlines key actions, like thank-you phone calls, and assigns responsibility to specific staff members, such as the Development Director or Executive Director.
You can download this free stewardship template to get started.
Be careful NOT to organize your stewardship efforts by the amount of a donor’s gift. Instead, organize your stewardship around the donor’s longevity—are they a new donor, a monthly donor, or a returning lapsed donor?
The greatest gift you can give your donors is the gift of being known by you, so all your communications need to show them that you know who they are. New donors should get a new donor welcome call and a new donor thank-you that calls them out as such, for example:
Dear John,
I’m overjoyed to see such a generous first-time gift from you and am honored to welcome you into our donor family.
When it comes to new donors, you need to roll out the red carpet, as this template shows. Warmly welcome new donors and set the expectation that they’re part of something special.
New monthly donors should get a monthly donor welcome kit and an end-of-year appeal that celebrates them for being monthly donors.
Lapsed donors should get a lased donor welcome back thank-you call and thank-you letter that celebrates their return, as seen in the postcard screenshot below:
Next up? Getting to know your donors better. Make personal thank-you calls, conduct a short new donor survey, and invite them for a behind-the-scenes tour or to a donor cultivation event. Even if they don’t come, the invitation is still the cultivation!
Here’s a new donor timeline to help you understand how you might structure your stewardship plan and/or new donor journey:
How to surprise and delight donors using milestones
The anniversary of when your donor made their first gift to you is rarely something they’ll remember, but it’s a golden opportunity to stand out like the thoughtful, caring charity that you are!
Here’s a stellar example from a YMCA:
Hungry for more ideas to love on donors? Here are 23 stewardship ideas to help get you started.
Ready to reconnect with past donors and strengthen their commitment?
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