Hospital Donor Retention Rates Jump 19%
Fundraisers at nonprofit hospitals have three major priorities: major donor development, retention and upgrade of donors, and fueling growth of the donor pipeline.
Respondents to a survey of members of the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy by Digital Health Strategies said major gifts are a top revenue source for most respondents, but 50% of hospital foundations had a decline in gifts of $1,000 and more year-over-year and 75% of respondents reported that their major giving tools were not supporting their organizational goals as well as needed.
The data was included in the “2024 Digital Fundraising Benchmark Report for Hospitals.” The breakdown of survey respondents was 13% from small hospitals (fewer than 100 beds), 26% from medium-sized hospitals (100 to 499 beds), and 55% from large hospitals (at least 500 beds). The locations were 39% from urban hospitals, 33% from suburban communities and 28% from rural communities.
Nonprofit hospitals had an annualized growth in average online gift of 110% to $373 during 2023 with the average 12-month value of an online donor increasing 86% to $417 during 2023. It has more than doubled since 2022.
Nonprofit hospitals had an average retention rate of 38%, a 19% increase from the 2022. Donors to nonprofit hospitals are online, a 10% increase from 2023 and 44% increase from 2022, the collected data showed.
A digital-first approach to timely, personalized communications helps retain existing donors and increase lifetime value. More than 60% of hospital foundation fundraisers said that personalized communications based on last gift date saw increased revenue from existing donors. New donor acquisition is down, making retention a big opportunity, yet nearly 25% of respondents aren’t tailoring communications based on donor history or status.
Foundations reporting year-over-year increases in revenue were three times more likely to be sending segmented stewardship communications to share the impact of giving.
Hospital foundation fundraisers are investing in digital channels to drive new donor growth. Almost 60% of foundations with a digital grateful patient program in place reported increases in new donors. Acquisition slowed during the past 12 months, but new donor value is increasing, with 7% more respondents reporting that their average first-time gift amount had increased year-over-year.
More email correlates to more revenue, the data showed with 66% of foundations sending a higher volume of emails which resulted in an increase in new donors.
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