What Metrics Actually Matter for Your Fundraising

‍How to focus on the numbers that improve retention, stability, and growth.

The Data Overload Problem

If your team keeps exporting reports and your board is still asking “so what?”, you are not alone. Nonprofits collect more data than ever, beyond the financial essentials. These might be things like donor lists, registrations, email engagement, or visits to peer-to-peer pages. Most small and mid-sized organizations do not have an analyst or the budget to make sense of it all. The result is a high volume of data without clarity.

You do not necessarily need more reports. What will have the greatest impact are the few reports or even better, real-time dashboards, that show what actually moved the needle across your year. If you’re a small team or just starting out, you can measure the health of your fundraising, the loyalty of your supporters, and the best places to invest next by tracking relatively few metrics.

This guide explains why your data matters, which metrics to trust, and how to use them to make better decisions with less stress.

Start With the Why: What Nonprofit Data Is Supposed to Do

Before you pick metrics, decide what you want data to do. The best dashboards tell a story of a period or campaign: what you raised, which audiences responded, how many first-time donors became second-time donors, which campaigns performed well, and what channels saw the most success. These give you a quick overview to inform what you will do next.

Prioritize connection and sustainability over raw income. Track recurring donations, repeat participation, and whether campaigns create donors who stay.

Good metrics tell a story: where you are strong, where you are leaking donors, and where growth is possible. This in turn lets you communicate better with your board and make decisions about where to invest for future fundraising.

Core Fundraising Metrics Every Nonprofit Should Track

Every organization exists in its own context. That said, these eight metrics function like vital signs for almost any donor backed organization. Each is simple to measure, powerful to compare over time, and directly tied to relationships.

1. Total Raised and Growth Rate

What it is: Money raised in a period and the rate of change from the comparable period.
Why it matters: It shows top-line momentum at a glance.
How to use it: Compare like with like. Match this year’s spring appeal to last year’s spring appeal. Consider channel mix. A higher total that came from one gala but with a shrinking donor base is fragile growth.
Caution: Do not read a single spike as a trend. Check at least three comparable periods.

2. Total Funds by Channel

What it is: A breakdown of how much money each fundraising channel contributes to your total revenue.
Why it matters: Knowing which channels deliver the most sustainable return helps focus limited resources where they truly matter.
How to use it: Track total raised by channel alongside costs, staff hours, and retention within each segment. Watch for dependencies and use this insight to diversify your revenue mix.
Caution: Do not judge a channel by total revenue alone. Always weigh the cost and time investment behind that income. 

3. Donor Retention Rate

What it is: The share of last year’s donors who gave again this year.
Why it matters: It is the clearest sign of trust and mission connection. Many one-time donors give to support a friend in an event rather than the cause. Retention reveals who is truly connected to your mission.
How to use it: Track overall retention, then segment by first-time vs. repeat donors. Improve welcome journeys and thank-you cultivation to move first-timers into their second gift.
Caution: Do not fixate on a universal benchmark. Aim to improve your own rate quarter by quarter.

4. Average and Median Gift Size

What it is: Average gift is total dollars divided by gifts. Median gift is the middle value.
Why it matters: A few large gifts can distort the average. Median shows what a typical donor gives. Both of these point to how affluent and widespread your supporter base is. This can have an impact on how you communicate with them and which strategies are most effective.
How to use it: Track both average and median. If the average is rising but the median is flat, growth likely depends on a handful of donors. Compare low-, mid-, and high-level donors to see where growth is happening. This may reveal you need separate strategies for example: retention for major donors, re-engagement for mid-tier, and broad awareness for small givers.

5. Donor Acquisition Cost (DAC)

What it is: Total outreach spend divided by new donors gained in that period.
Why it matters: It shows how expensive it is to add supporters and how to optimize donor acquisition and outreach.
How to use it: Evaluate channels side by side and consider how DAC compares with Donor Lifetime Value. A higher cost can still be wise if those donors retain and upgrade, resulting in a higher value over time. Pair this metric with retention rates to judge sustainability.
Caution: Cutting acquisition spend can improve this month’s perceived efficiency while hurting next year’s revenue. Balance is the goal.

6. Donor Acquisition Sources

What it is: The origins of your new donors and where they first engaged with your organization.
Why it matters: Knowing how supporters find you helps identify which outreach truly works and which audiences stay loyal.
How to use it: Track the first touchpoint for each new donor and compare retention and average gift by source. Use this to refine where you invest time and budget.
Caution: Make sure data capture is consistent. Missing or mismatched source fields can blur insights and waste future analysis.

7. Donor Lifetime Value (LTV)

What it is: The projected total a donor will give over their relationship with you based on calculations from historical data.
Why it matters: It turns short-term results into a long-term picture.
How to use it: Get a clear view of LTV using average gift size, gifts per year, and average years retained. Compare lifetime value to acquisition cost. If LTV meaningfully exceeds cost, the program is on solid footing.
Caution: LTV is an estimate. Update it periodically as retention patterns shift. Also don’t forget to treat each donor as an individual, not just a metric.

8. Recurring Donation Rate

What it is: The share of total revenue or donors on a monthly or scheduled plan.
Why it matters: Recurring donors give more over time and stabilize cash flow.
How to use it: Track both the number of recurring donors and value of recurring revenue as a percent of total. Offer a clear reason to join as a recurring donor: tangible impact updates, insider notes, or small perks that create belonging.
Caution: Do not bury the monthly option. Make it a default suggestion with clear language in your donation form.

Metrics That Matter for Your Board

Boards want clarity, not complexity. Give them three views that tell the truth at a glance:

• Total revenue raised versus goal, with a note on cost to raise a dollar.
• Donor growth and retention trends over time, shown as clean lines, not dense tables.
• Campaign snapshots that link outcomes to decisions taken.
  

Ornella Cedeno, Associate Director of Fundraising at haku, recommends creating a one-page scorecard that you can use to easily communicate value to the board. This creates shared understanding and sparks focused discussion because it becomes easier to compare score cards month to month.

Beyond the Numbers: What Data Cannot Tell You

Good data earns board confidence, guides budgets, and sharpens campaigns. The metrics we suggested tracking above only give an overview of your donors, and while that will point you in the right direction, it’s not the full story. For example, they cannot explain why a person chose to give. That answer comes from listening. 

Pair metrics with stories. Ask a small sample of donors why they gave, why they stayed, and what made them feel seen. Capture notes from volunteers and event staff after each activation. Those details turn output into insight.

Ornella Cedeno gave this advice:

“Review metrics monthly to stay oriented. Reflect quarterly to ask, what surprised us? and what is changing in donor behavior?”

Building Better Data Habits

Even small teams can build strong data habits.

• Keep records clean: Standardize names and emails. Merge duplicates on a regular cadence.
  
• Handle errors proactively: Do what you can to prevent errors with smart dropdowns and real-time email format validation. This helps ensure supporters enter correct details, with instant error fixes that keep the process frustration-free.
  
• Automate simple work: Use dashboards that update regularly so staff can understand their data at a glance and focus on messages, not manual reporting.
  
• Create a rhythm: Track, reflect, act, and refine. A light monthly check and a deeper quarterly review is enough for most teams.
  

In the end, clarity beats complexity. Teams that master a few key metrics outperform teams that track everything and learn nothing.

Data as a Nonprofit Relationship Tool

Data is ultimately useful because it gives you information about your supporters. Since each donation represents trust, emotion, and belief in your mission, looking at donation data can provide insight into what you need to do in order to support your mission. 

Whatever information you track, be sure to lead with your mission in your communications. Tell supporters what their gifts made possible. Use numbers as the proof that their belief mattered.

If you’re interested in getting a better look at your nonprofit data, haku is here to help. Check out our powerful analytics capabilities or ask to see it live by requesting a demo. 

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