Have you ever found yourself not hitting donor or support goals, even though you feel like you’re doing everything right? It can be frustrating and demoralizing.

In our work with nonprofits over the years, we’ve found that while most organizations do the big things well—annual reports, big donor events, and year-end campaigns—they struggle with some of the smaller things that fly under the radar.

Today we’re pulling back the curtain on 9 unexpected issues or problems that may be negatively affecting your nonprofit’s donor retention. Read on to see if one (or more!) of these surprising things is holding you back.

Are these website issues hurting your donor retention?

Your nonprofit’s website can either elevate the donor experience or tank it.

Here are some things you want to look out for:

1. Confusing website experience

While it may feel like you’re doing visitors a service by giving them ALL the information they may need, putting too much text on your website – especially at the top of your homepage – is a huge deterrent. You may also be losing donors who land on your website and can’t clearly and quickly find a way to donate. If your website isn’t specifically designed for mobile use, you’ll also find yourself losing support as more and more donors are using their phones to navigate websites.

2. Poorly designed donation experience

The donation page or portal goes hand-in-hand with your website. If potential donors can’t immediately see how to donate, they may leave without contributing. You want to make sure there is a large “DONATE” button or link that is easy to find within a second or two of opening the landing page. It’s also important to limit the number of steps someone is required to complete in order to donate. Scale back the information you ask for to the bare minimum to increase donor follow-through.

Issues With Branding and Messaging

Your organization’s brand and message should amplify your mission and vision and help you make a bigger impact. If you have brand or messaging issues – you’re losing donors.

These are some of the most common problems we see when it comes to branding and messaging:‍

3. Inconsistent branding and messaging

When the visuals and voice on your website are different from those on your social media and even more different from what’s included on your printed marketing assets, it creates confusion and distrust. Using different colors, fonts, logos, and other visual assets makes your organization look unprofessional and will cost you donor support.

4. Lack of personalization

If someone is going to give you their hard-earned time or money, they want to feel noticed and appreciated. If you’re sending mass emails to everyone on your email list without segmenting based on past donations or acknowledging different-size gifts, you could turn off current or former donors from future support.

5. Too much marketing

We love marketing, but you can have too much of a good thing. If you’re constantly inundating your email list with donation requests or hosting multiple large-scale donation events within a short time frame, you will turn off potential and current donors and lose support from key stakeholders.

6. Being too negative

There’s a big difference between communicating the urgent need for support and guilt-tripping donors with desperate dooms-day messaging. To avoid losing donors, make sure your messaging is fueled by the positive impact and value of your mission and vision.

Failing in These Areas May Impact Your Donor Retention

In addition to issues with your website, brand, and messaging, there are a few other key areas where you can lose donors.

7. Lack of transparency

If you’re not forthcoming with how donations are used or willing to clearly communicate your organization’s financial records, you will lose donors. People want to support organizations they can trust to use their support and resources efficiently and effectively.

8. Not saying thank you

How do you follow up a donation? Your donors – regardless of the size of their gift – should always feel like their donation was seen and appreciated. The worst thank you is no thank you, so make sure you have something in place to acknowledge support when it’s given!

9. Not using social proof

Do you regularly share updated, relatable testimonials and success stories? Donors want to see how and why others are supporting the cause. Social proof is one of the best ways to influence others to take action, so make sure you take advantage of all the positive feedback you’ve received by sharing it far and wide! ‍

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