Second to Third Gift Speed Curve (3 Year Look) Analysis

Second to Third Gift Speed Curve (3 Year Look)

How to use the Second to Third Gift Speed Curve (3 Year Look) analysis

This analysis helps you understand how quickly your donors are making their third gift after their second gift, focusing on those whose second gift was within the past three years. It draws on giving histories from your Gifts and Constituents data, automatically excluding deceased individuals to ensure your results reflect active donor behavior. The analysis identifies each donor s second and third gifts, calculates the number of days between them, and then groups the results into cumulative time windows: within 30, 60, 90, 180, and 360 days after the second gift. For each window, you see both the number of donors who made their third gift within that timeframe and the corresponding conversion rate as a percentage of all eligible second-gift donors.

The key metric here is the conversion rate at each time window, which shows you the proportion of your recent second-gift donors who move on to a third gift—and how quickly. This is a powerful way to reveal patterns in donor retention and momentum, highlighting how effective your engagement strategies are in turning new or renewing supporters into loyal, repeat givers. Use these insights to evaluate your stewardship efforts and tailor your follow-up communications to increase the likelihood of securing a third gift.

You can take action by having your development officers and donor relations teams review this analysis, with a particular focus on the timeframes where conversion rates drop off. Use this information to design targeted outreach for donors who have recently made a second gift, such as sending timely thank-you notes or providing tailored impact updates within the first 30-90 days. Additionally, you may want to segment your stewardship strategies based on the speed of giving revealed here, prioritizing rapid follow-up for those most likely to convert quickly. As part of your Constituent Intelligence routines, this analysis is recommended to be reviewed periodically, so you can benchmark progress and adjust tactics in real time.

To measure your success, track whether conversion rates at each time window increase over subsequent review periods, and monitor whether more donors are reaching their third gift faster. Improvements here should correlate with higher overall donor retention and lifetime value, providing clear evidence that your engagement strategies are working.