Any relationship — marketer-customer, master-servant, husband-wife — needs to be renewed from time to time. Fundraisers must keep in mind that there’s no such thing as a permanent commitment anymore. People tend to commit only for a time.

At its recent national conference, United Way of Canada/Centraide Canada endorsed a Statement of Principles of Donors’ Rights for use by all of its members. While the growing focus on accountability in the nonprofit field makes this move especially timely, the UW has been working on guidelines for the reporting of fundraising costs for some time.

Frequency refers to the number of times a donor makes contributions. It’s important to understand the patterns of donor frequency within your database because frequency is one of the great predictors of future behaviour: the more often a donor gives, the more likely they are to give again.

The more recently a donor has given to your organization in the past, the more likely they are to give the next time you ask them.

The primary objective of relationship marketing is to increase the lifetime value of your donor base by increasing both the number of times and the amount that each donor gives to your organization. RFM Analysis, on the other hand, is a powerful tool you can use to lower your costs and increase your response rate.

One of the most important concepts in direct marketing is the lifetime value of the donor, or how much an individual donates before they stop supporting your organization.

An increasing number of charities have tested monthly pledge programs and proven them effective. If the nature of your organization fits the monthly pledge program concept – and most can – there are at least seven great reasons to act immediately