Historical Summary Data Analysis

Historical Summary Data

How to use the Historical Summary Data analysis

This analysis provides a year-over-year summary of your donor activity, helping you track key trends in giving, retention, and donor engagement across fiscal years. Drawing from your gifts database, it aggregates all gift transactions by constituent (donor), determines each donor's total giving per fiscal year, and applies a fiscal year definition that aligns with typical nonprofit accounting by rolling the calendar year forward by six months. The analysis then compiles essential metrics such as the total number of donors, total amount raised, and, critically, how many donors were retained, newly acquired, or recaptured from lapses. It also calculates the number of donors lost each year, as well as average and median giving per donor metrics, which provide insight into both broad trends and shifts in donor generosity.

You should use this analysis to monitor donor retention rates, which reveal how well you are engaging and retaining your supporters over time. The distinction between new, retained, and recaptured donors allows you to assess the success of both your acquisition and re-engagement strategies. The inclusion of both average and median giving per donor helps you spot changes in giving patterns-if the average is growing but the median stays flat, for example, you may be relying on a few large gifts rather than broad-based support. Consider sharing this output with your annual fund managers and major gift officers to inform their stewardship planning and campaign reviews.

For actionable steps, fundraising directors and development officers should review this analysis at the close of each fiscal year and midway through the next, as part of their Constituent Intelligence routines. Use the retention and lapsed donor counts to prioritize which segments need renewed outreach or stewardship. If you notice a decline in new donor acquisition or average giving, it's a signal to adjust your appeals or donor engagement strategies. Additionally, tracking recaptured donors can help you refine your strategies for reactivating lapsed donors and evaluate the effectiveness of past campaigns.

To measure the impact of using this analysis, you should track year-over-year improvements in retention rates, total dollars raised, and the proportion of donors who increase their giving or return after lapsing. Success is reflected in more stable or growing donor bases and increased giving per donor, which are critical for sustainable fundraising growth.