Your nonprofit has been trying to improve its fundraising. Someone suggests focusing on donor cultivation, another says stewardship needs work, and somebody else thinks retention should be the priority.
Okay, but aren't we all talking about getting people to support the organization and hopefully come back?
Well, yes, but knowing what each term means helps you figure out what your nonprofit should actually be doing. Because if 200 people donated last year and only 50 returned this year, you probably want to understand what happened before spending money trying to attract another 200 donors.
Were people properly thanked? Did anyone hear about the program they supported? Did your organization ever contact them again, apart from asking for another contribution?
These are questions about different parts of the donor relationship, which is why fundraising teams use terms such as acquisition, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship, retention, and reactivation.
What Is the Difference Between These Six Fundraising Terms?
Term | What It Means | Example |
|---|---|---|
Donor Acquisition | Attracting and securing first-time donors | Someone discovers your nonprofit and makes their first $50 contribution |
Donor Cultivation | Building relationships and developing interest in supporting your organization | Sharing program information with a prospective donor and learning about their interests |
Donor Solicitation | Making a specific request for a charitable contribution | Asking someone to contribute $100 toward a literacy program |
Donor Stewardship | Acknowledging gifts, respecting donor intentions, and maintaining relationships after contributions | Thanking a donor and updating them on the program they supported |
Donor Retention | Encouraging existing donors to continue giving over time | A person who donated in 2024 contributes again in 2025 |
Donor Reactivation | Reengaging previous donors who have stopped contributing | Reconnecting with a supporter who hasn't donated in two years |
Although these terms are connected, they aren't six mandatory steps that every donor must complete in order. Some people make their first contribution immediately after discovering a nonprofit, while others spend months attending events and learning about its programs before they're ready to give.
And the work doesn't stop when somebody becomes a donor. Cultivation can continue with existing supporters, stewardship follows their contributions, and retention tells you whether your efforts are helping sustain giving over time.
How Do Donor Acquisition, Cultivation, and Solicitation Work Together?
Let's say Andrea attends a community event hosted by your literacy nonprofit. She enjoys the presentation and asks a few questions about your reading program, particularly how children from low-income families receive learning materials.
She's interested, but she hasn't donated.
Your team follows up with information about the program and invites her to a community reading session. She attends, meets the volunteers, and learns more about the organization's plans.
This is donor cultivation, where you develop a relationship with someone who may be interested in supporting your work. You're learning about their interests while giving them an opportunity to understand the organization.
Cultivation doesn't always involve meetings or personal invitations, though. A potential major donor might need several conversations before considering a substantial contribution, while someone interested in making a smaller gift may simply want to read your program updates or understand how donations are used.
A few weeks later, you ask Andrea whether she'd consider contributing $100 toward purchasing books for the next reading session. You've explained what the program needs, how the contribution would be used, and why you thought she'd be interested.
That's donor solicitation, which is the act of asking for a contribution. The request could happen through a personal conversation, fundraising letter, email campaign, or donation page.
Andrea agrees and contributes $100. Since this is her first recorded donation to your organization, she also becomes a newly acquired donor.
Donor acquisition covers the work involved in attracting and securing new contributors. You might acquire donors through community events, referrals, online campaigns, corporate partnerships, or peer-to-peer fundraising. A useful acquisition report should tell you how many first-time donors you gained, where they came from, and how much your organization spent attracting them.
These activities overlap, but they're measured differently. Cultivation concerns the relationship you're developing, solicitation concerns the request you're making, and acquisition concerns successfully bringing someone into your donor base for the first time.
And if Andrea had declined your request? You could still maintain the relationship if she wanted to remain involved. Somebody can support your mission without being ready to contribute financially.
Donor Stewardship: What Happens After Someone Donates?
Andrea has contributed $100. Your nonprofit records the donation and sends an acknowledgment.
Now, what happens during the next three months?
Does she hear anything about the literacy program? Does someone explain whether the books were purchased or how the reading sessions are progressing? Or does your organization go completely quiet until the next fundraising campaign?
Donor stewardship involves looking after the relationship after a contribution has been made. This includes acknowledging the gift, honoring any restrictions attached to it, providing appropriate recognition, and keeping donors informed about the work they've supported.
According to the Association of Fundraising Professionals' Code of Ethical Standards, fundraisers are expected to honor donor intent and restrictions and provide timely reporting on how contributions are used and managed.
Suppose your literacy program distributes 120 reading kits during the quarter. You could send Andrea an update explaining the program's progress, the number of children reached, and how contributions helped support those activities.
Just be accurate about the results. If several donors collectively funded those reading kits, don't suggest Andrea's $100 alone paid for all of them.
Stewardship can be fairly simple for a small nonprofit. A proper acknowledgment, occasional program updates, and genuine communication about the organization's progress can help donors understand what's happening after they contribute.
A receipt confirms that the organization received their money. Your subsequent communication gives them a reason to remain interested in what happens next.
Donor Retention: Are Your Existing Donors Giving Again?
Suppose Andrea made her first donation in 2024 and contributed again in 2025. She would count as a retained donor when you're comparing those two years.
Donor retention concerns keeping existing donors engaged and encouraging continued giving. Nonprofits commonly measure this through a donor retention rate, which tells you how many of your previous donors returned to make another contribution.
So, how do you calculate it? Let's say your nonprofit had 200 donors in 2024, and 80 of those same donors contributed again in 2025. Divide the number of returning donors (80) by the total number of donors from the previous year (200), then multiply by 100.
80 ÷ 200 × 100 = 40% donor retention rate.
This means 40% of your 2024 donors returned in 2025, while the remaining 60% didn't make another recorded contribution during that year.
Remember to count individual donors rather than transactions. Someone who contributed five times during 2025 still counts as one retained donor. And if your nonprofit acquired 50 brand-new donors in 2025, those people aren't included in this calculation because they weren't part of your original 2024 donor group.
Now, what should you do with that 40%? I'd start by examining the donors who didn't return. Were they mostly first-time contributors? Did they support a one-time emergency appeal? Did your organization communicate with them afterward, and were those communications relevant to what originally interested them?
A retention rate tells you how many donors returned, but you'll need to examine their giving history and communication records to understand what may have influenced that result.
And remember that some donors only intend to support a particular campaign. Someone who contributes to disaster relief may have fulfilled exactly the commitment they wanted to make. Their absence the following year doesn't automatically mean your nonprofit handled the relationship poorly.
Donor Reactivation: What About People Who Haven't Donated in a While?
Now suppose Andrea contributed in 2023 but hasn't made another donation since.
Your nonprofit may consider her a lapsed donor, depending on how you've defined inactivity in your fundraising records.
Donor reactivation involves reconnecting with previous supporters who have stopped giving, with the possibility of encouraging them to contribute again.
Before contacting Andrea, review her history. What program did she support? When did you last communicate? Did she request fewer messages or indicate that she wasn't interested in making another gift?
If her previous contribution supported literacy activities, you might share an update about that program and invite her to hear about its current needs. A personalized message acknowledging her past involvement would probably make more sense than an automated email treating her as someone who has never heard of your nonprofit.
You should also establish what your organization means by lapsed. Some teams use a 12-month period without a contribution, while others use calendar-year comparisons. More detailed fundraising reporting frameworks may separate recently inactive donors from those who haven't contributed for several years.
Use consistent criteria so your reports are comparable, and make sure your team respects donors who have opted out of fundraising communications.
Which Fundraising Activity Should Your Nonprofit Focus On?
Before planning another fundraising campaign, look at what your current donor records can tell you.
What You're Experiencing | What to Examine |
|---|---|
Few people make their first donation | Acquisition: Are you reaching potential supporters, and are your appeals converting? |
Interested prospects rarely become donors | Cultivation and solicitation: Are you developing relationships and making relevant requests? |
Donors receive little communication after giving | Stewardship: Are gifts acknowledged and program updates provided? |
Fewer previous donors are returning each year | Retention: Which donor groups are declining, and what happened between their contributions? |
Many previous donors haven't contributed recently | Reactivation: Can you reconnect appropriately with supporters who have become inactive? |
You don't need separate departments for all six activities. A small nonprofit can begin with a reliable donor database and a straightforward process for tracking contributions, relationships, and follow-ups.
At minimum, your records should help you identify each donor's first gift, most recent contribution, giving history, areas of interest, communication preferences, and the next action your team has agreed to take. Someone should also be responsible for completing that action, whether it's following up after a program visit, sending an acknowledgment, or preparing an update for previous supporters.
The more useful question is whether your organization knows what's happening to its donors after their first contribution.
If 200 people donated last year and only 50 returned, that's a retention rate of 25%. Before deciding to send everyone another appeal, review who those donors were, what they supported, and how your organization communicated with them afterward. You may find that some need better stewardship, others would welcome a relevant invitation to give again, and some were simply supporting a one-time cause.
Those findings give your fundraising team something specific to work on, rather than assuming every donor relationship can be improved by asking for more money.