Revenue Per Donor
Revenue per donor is a powerful metric that helps you measure and compare the average revenue generated by each donor throughout the calendar year. By tracking revenue per donor, you gain insight into giving patterns and donor value — critical indicators of fundraising effectiveness.
This metric, displayed on the Revenue per donor tile on the Home page, is updated weekly to keep you informed of trends and empower timely action. Monitoring revenue per donor allows you to identify opportunities to strengthen donor relationships and optimize your fundraising strategy.
Note: Don’t see this yet? The Revenue per donor Home page tile is currently in Limited Availability (LA).
Tip: The information shown during the first two months of the calendar year may not provide actionable insights due to limited data. More meaningful year-to-date insights will be available starting in March. You can still review data from previous calendar years at any time.
In short, revenue per donor answers a key question: How much does each donor contribute on average this year? Use this data to make informed decisions that drive growth and maximize impact.
Act on Trends and Unlock Growth
If your Revenue per donor is trending downward or falling behind peer benchmarks, it may signal missed opportunities in donor engagement or gift solicitation strategy. Use the benchmark gauge and tailored recommendations to identify strategies for improvement, such as:
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Adjust ask amounts to match donor capacity
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Target undergiving donors for personalized outreach
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Add solicitations and opportunities for upgrade
Even if your trend is positive, benchmarking can reveal areas for further growth. For example, reviewing the Undergiving queue in Prospect Insights can help identify donors with capacity to give more. Smart, tailored strategies — like adjusting ask amounts or engaging untapped candidates — are the fastest path to improving fundraising outcomes.
Gauge Visualization at a Glance
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Half-filled gauge = median performance
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Trend arrows = direction of change over time against your benchmark
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Weekly updates = real-time progress tracking
By combining trend analysis with actionable insights, you can strengthen donor relationships, optimize giving strategies, and maximize revenue potential.
Tip: Data on this tile updates weekly.
Turn Benchmarks into Action with AI Guidance
The Revenue Per Donor benchmarking tile now integrates with Chat for Blackbaud AI , giving you real-time, personalized guidance to improve your fundraising performance. With this feature, you can:
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Understand how your Revenue Per Donor (RPD) is trending over time
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Interpret benchmark scores with contextual insights
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Receive tailored recommendations based on your organization’s data and peer benchmarks
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Trigger actions directly from the tile, such as launching targeted campaigns or adjusting gift asks
For example, if your RPD falls below the 30th percentile, Chat for Blackbaud AI might suggest segmenting high-capacity donors for upgraded asks, enhancing stewardship for mid-level donors, or running A/B tests on appeal messaging. These recommendations are curated for your benchmark cohort, making them highly relevant and actionable.
Select Suggest actions to see your next best move.
Revenue Per Donor Benchmarking
Revenue per donor is more than just a metric — it’s a key indicator of fundraising health, donor engagement, and strategy effectiveness. A higher revenue per donor often reflects strong donor relationships, effective stewardship, and optimized ask strategies. Conversely, a lower revenue per donor may point to undergiving or missed upgrade opportunities.
How to Use the Benchmarking Tile
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Track Your Position: The gauge on the Home page shows where you stand compared to peers. A half-filled gauge means you’re at the median.
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Monitor Trends: Check whether your revenue per donor is rising, falling, or holding steady.
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Act on Insights: Use tailored recommendations to target undergiving donors, improve retention, and adjust ask amounts.
Tips for Improvement
If retention is lower than acquisition, prioritize retention strategies for better ROI.
Don’t expect your overall benchmark score to change immediately — watch weekly trends to confirm progress over time.
Benchmarking helps you move beyond arbitrary goals by providing real-world context and actionable strategies. Use these insights to strengthen donor relationships and maximize fundraising outcomes.
What is benchmarking?
Benchmarking helps you understand how your organization’s fundraising performance compares to similar organizations. Unlike arbitrary goals, peer-based benchmarks are grounded in real-world data, making them more relevant and motivating.
Why Benchmarking Matters
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Accounts for sector-specific dynamics and donor behavior
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Normalizes for organizational scale
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Reveals actionable gaps and strengths
Raiser’s Edge NXT uses the Blackbaud Philanthropic dataset — the largest of its kind — to derive benchmarks from billions of dollars in giving across thousands of organizations.
How It Works
Your organization is grouped with peers based on:
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Country (U.S. or Canada)
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Industry/Sector (e.g., Higher Education, Healthcare)
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Annual Revenue Size (Small: <$1M, Medium: $1M–<$10M, Large: ≥$10M)
Benchmark scores are calculated at various percentile ranges (i.e., 10th, 50th, 90th, etc). using all organizations in a peer group and weighted to reflect the nonprofit landscape. Your performance is compared separately to industry and revenue size benchmarks, then averaged into a combined integer score from 0 to 10.
By comparing your results to similar organizations, benchmarking highlights where you excel and where improvement is needed—helping you set realistic goals and adopt strategies that drive growth.
For consistent comparison across organizations, benchmarks include: