Reports: Donor Retention Summary Report

Introduction

The Donor Retention Summary Report provides users with a quick and effective way to evaluate donor retention performance over time. By comparing a historical giving interval against a current giving interval, the report automatically identifies retained donors, lapsed donors, retention rates, and attrition rates.

This report helps fundraising teams better understand donor engagement trends, measure donor loyalty, and identify opportunities for re-engagement campaigns. The Donor Retention Summary Report is especially useful for development teams monitoring annual fundraising performance and donor stewardship initiatives.

Users can access this report by navigating to Reports App > Fundraising > Donor Retention Summary.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Prerequisites
3. Accessing the Donor Retention Summary Report
4. Configuring Report Intervals
5. Reviewing Retention Metrics
6. Best Practices
7. Outcome
8. FAQ & Further Reading

Prerequisites

No prerequisite required.

Users must have appropriate permissions to access fundraising reports within CharityEngine.

Accessing the Donor Retention Summary Report

Instruction: Open the Report

Step 1:

Navigate to the Reports App > Fundraising > Donor Retention Summary.

Step 2:

The Donor Retention Summary Report listing screen will load and display available filtering options for interval comparison.

Configuring Report Intervals

Instruction: Select Comparison Periods

Step 1:

Select the Past Interval to represent the historical donor giving period.

Examples may include:

• Previous calendar year
• Previous quarter
• Prior campaign period

Step 2:

Select the Current Interval to represent the current donor giving period for comparison.

Examples may include:

• Current calendar year
• Current quarter
• Current campaign period

Step 3:

Click Run Report to generate the donor retention analysis.

Reviewing Retention Metrics

Instruction: Analyze Report Results

After running the report, CharityEngine automatically analyzes donor activity between the selected periods and presents retention metrics.

The report may include:

• Retained Donors — Donors who gave during both selected intervals
• Lapsed Donors — Donors who gave during the past interval but not during the current interval
• Retention Rate — Percentage of donors retained between periods
• Attrition Rate — Percentage of donors lost between periods

These metrics help organizations evaluate donor engagement and identify trends that may require stewardship or reactivation efforts.

Best Practices

• Run the report regularly to monitor donor engagement trends over time.
• Compare year-over-year giving periods for annual retention analysis.
• Use lapsed donor data to build re-engagement campaigns and automation workflows.
• Pair this report with campaign and transaction reporting for deeper fundraising analysis.
• Review retention trends after major fundraising initiatives or seasonal campaigns.

Outcome

After following the above steps, the user should be able to generate and review donor retention analytics using the Donor Retention Summary Report. The report provides visibility into retained and lapsed donor activity, helping organizations better understand fundraising performance and donor loyalty trends.

FAQ & Further Reading

Q. What is a lapsed donor?

A. A lapsed donor is a donor who contributed during the past interval but did not contribute during the selected current interval.

Q. How is donor retention calculated?

A. The report automatically calculates retention rates based on the number of donors who gave during both selected time periods.

Q. Can this report be used for year-over-year fundraising analysis?

A. Yes. Many organizations use the Donor Retention Summary Report to compare annual giving performance and monitor long-term donor engagement trends.

Q. Where can the report be accessed?

A. Navigate to the Reports App > Fundraising > Donor Retention Summary.