Cost per New Donor
Average cost incurred to acquire one new donor through fundraising campaigns
What is Cost per New Donor?
Cost per new donor is the average spend needed to win one new donor. It shows how expensive donor acquisition is.
Charities often spend more to acquire a donor than the first gift brings in, expecting to recover the cost over the donor's lifetime, so this figure is best read with donor lifetime value.
How this KPI is measured
- Function
- Fundraising & Income
- Sub-function
- Donor Acquisition
- Industry
- Not-for-Profit / Charity
- Type
- Lagging
- Impact
- Financial control
- Unit
- $
- Measurement frequency
- Monthly / Quarterly
- Formula
- Total donor acquisition spend / Number of new donors acquired
How to calculate it
Divide total donor acquisition spend by the number of new donors acquired.
For example, if a charity spent 150,000 on acquisition and won 3,000 new donors, the cost per new donor is 50.
Calculate by channel, such as digital, face-to-face and direct mail, since costs and donor quality differ.
Where it is used
Comparing acquisition channels
Find the cost-effective ones.
Planning acquisition budgets
Estimate cost of growth.
Setting payback expectations
Compare with lifetime value.
How to improve it
Tips and common mistakes
- Cheap donors who lapse quickly are not good value.
- Include all acquisition costs.
- Follow fundraising regulation and consent rules.
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