Recurring Donor Benchmarks: How Many Times Do People Give? | Zeffy

Recurring Donor Benchmarks: How Many Times Do People Give?

We analyzed data from thousands of nonprofits to uncover how donor retention really varies by cause—and what one extra donation per person could mean for your bottom line.

Picture this: You’ve finally convinced a supporter to set up a recurring donation. You celebrate, maybe breathe a sigh of relief. But months later, their gift quietly stops. What happened? Was it your last newsletter? A missed thank you? Or is this just how donor relationships work?

If you’ve ever wondered if your donor journey is “normal,” you’re not alone. Every nonprofit leader wants to know how long recurring donors typically stay engaged. And until now, it’s been tricky to get a clear, apples-to-apples view of what’s typical for your cause.

Note: These benchmarks are based on anonymized recurring donation data from thousands of nonprofits using Zeffy. Every organization is different—use this data as a reference, not a final grade.

Unsure of your donor retention rate? See this article for an easy calculation!

The Big Picture: What We Found

The chart above shows the average number of donations made by recurring donors across different nonprofit causes.

Here’s the reality: Most recurring donors don’t stick around forever, but some causes hold on to them longer than others. Understanding these patterns can help you set realistic expectations and focus your retention efforts where they’ll make the biggest impact.

Breaking Down the Numbers: Who Gives the Most Often

Looking closer at these donation patterns, we see three distinct tiers:

Top Tier (9-13 donations per donor)

  • Religious organizations (13) maintain the longest relationships, likely due to strong community ties and regular engagement through services and events.
  • Social Service and Humanitarian causes (11) follow closely behind, suggesting donors feel a lasting connection to these missions.
  • Animal Welfare and Political organizations (9) round out the top performers, with donors making nearly twice as many gifts as the lowest tier.

Middle Tier (5-7 donations per donor)

  • Health and Education organizations (7) show steady engagement, with donors likely supporting specific programs or ongoing needs.
  • Community Service, Student Groups, and Other causes (6) follow closely behind, reflecting a mix of mission-driven support and shorter-term involvement.

Lower Tier (4 donations per donor)

  • Veterans, Environment, and Sports & Leisure organizations (4) tend to have shorter relationships, possibly because these causes may attract more event-driven or campaign-specific support.

The difference is big: Religious organizations receive over three times as many donations per recurring donor compared to Veterans, Environment, and Sports & Leisure causes.

How Much More Could You Raise?

Let’s break it down. Imagine you have 100 recurring donors giving $25 per donation:

  • Religious organization (13 gifts per year): 1,300 total donations = $32,500
  • Social Service nonprofit (11 gifts per year): 1,100 donations = $27,500
  • Environmental organization (4 gifts per year): 400 donations = $10,000

That’s a massive difference — driven entirely by how many times donors give, not how many donors you have.
If you’re an environmental org with 1,000 recurring donors, getting each person to give just one more time per year would bring in an extra $25,000 — the same as acquiring 1,000 new $25 donors, without spending a dollar on acquisition.

The Growing Importance of Recurring Giving

GivingTuesday reports that the share of donors giving monthly has nearly doubled over the past five years, from 3.76% in 2019 to 6.23% in 2024. But the percentage of new donors who start as recurring givers has stayed mostly flat at just under 2%.

That gap matters. According to GivingTuesday, nonprofits could unlock $10–20 billion more in giving annually if even a small portion of new donors began as recurring givers.

This adds important context to what we're seeing in Zeffy's data: the average number of donations varies significantly by cause, but every additional donation represents more stable support for your mission. Even small improvements in donor retention can have a big impact on your organization's financial sustainability.

And if you can figure out a way to improve donor retention rates and increase your average number of donations per donor? That's the million-dollar question.

Recurring giving doesn't work for everyone, but when it does, it can be a powerful way to build lasting relationships. Even small shifts in how new donors engage could have a big impact sector-wide.

What This Means for Your Nonprofit

Every organization is different, but these benchmarks can help you:

  • Set realistic expectations: If you're an Education nonprofit averaging 7 donations per recurring donor, you're at the average for your cause.
  • Understand the financial impact: When you know recurring donors give 4–13 times, you can plan and forecast more effectively.
  • Focus on extending relationships: Even one more donation per donor makes a difference.
  • Start conversations that matter: Where do you stand—and what might help you move closer to the top tier?
  • Use this as a benchmark, not a scorecard: Show your board or team how you compare to similar organizations. "Here's what's typical for organizations like ours.”

How Zeffy Helps with Donor Retention

Zeffy is built to help you hold onto donors longer, without creating more work. Here’s how:

Always Say Thanks
Every donor gets an automatic, branded thank-you email the moment they give. It’s fast, personal, and completely hands-off.

Smarter Follow-Ups
Your Zeffy dashboard stores each donor’s full history so you can see how often they give, what they care about, and when to reach out. Smarter timing = stronger relationships.

Keep Giving Seamless
Recurring donations are easy to set up and even easier to keep going. With optional auto-renewals and digital wallets like Apple Pay, giving stays frictionless.

Know What Works
See donation patterns, spot drop-offs, and understand who’s sticking around with Zeffy’s reporting tools—then double down on what’s working.

Zeffy helps you build loyalty, reduce admin work, and keep the support flowing, all 100% fee-free.

How We Got These Numbers

Our analysis covers all recurring donor transactions up to September 13, 2024. We only looked at donors with automatic, repeating gifts—these numbers don't include one-time donors.

We calculated the average number of donations made by recurring donors across different organization causes. This helps us compare all kinds of nonprofits, no matter how often their donors give.

We count unique donor transactions, so each donor (or each recurring donation series) is only counted once.

The data is summarized by organization cause (like Health, Education, etc.), but we don't split by specific donor ages, gift sizes, or organization sizes. This means the patterns you see represent averages across many organizations of different sizes and donor demographics.

Disclaimer:

The benchmark data presented reflects aggregated industry averages and is intended for general informational purposes only. Individual organization performance may vary due to numerous factors, including but not limited to mission focus, donor demographics, fundraising strategies, and external market conditions. Deviations from these benchmarks should not be interpreted as indicative of Zeffy’s platform performance or efficacy.

Picture this: You’ve finally convinced a supporter to set up a recurring donation. You celebrate, maybe breathe a sigh of relief. But months later, their gift quietly stops. What happened? Was it your last newsletter? A missed thank you? Or is this just how donor relationships work?

If you’ve ever wondered if your donor journey is “normal,” you’re not alone. Every nonprofit leader wants to know how long recurring donors typically stay engaged. And until now, it’s been tricky to get a clear, apples-to-apples view of what’s typical for your cause.

Note: These benchmarks are based on anonymized recurring donation data from thousands of nonprofits using Zeffy. Every organization is different—use this data as a reference, not a final grade.

Unsure of your donor retention rate? See this article for an easy calculation!

The Big Picture: What We Found

The chart above shows the average number of donations made by recurring donors across different nonprofit causes.

Here’s the reality: Most recurring donors don’t stick around forever, but some causes hold on to them longer than others. Understanding these patterns can help you set realistic expectations and focus your retention efforts where they’ll make the biggest impact.

Breaking Down the Numbers: Who Gives the Most Often

Looking closer at these donation patterns, we see three distinct tiers:

Top Tier (9-13 donations per donor)

  • Religious organizations (13) maintain the longest relationships, likely due to strong community ties and regular engagement through services and events.
  • Social Service and Humanitarian causes (11) follow closely behind, suggesting donors feel a lasting connection to these missions.
  • Animal Welfare and Political organizations (9) round out the top performers, with donors making nearly twice as many gifts as the lowest tier.

Middle Tier (5-7 donations per donor)

  • Health and Education organizations (7) show steady engagement, with donors likely supporting specific programs or ongoing needs.
  • Community Service, Student Groups, and Other causes (6) follow closely behind, reflecting a mix of mission-driven support and shorter-term involvement.

Lower Tier (4 donations per donor)

  • Veterans, Environment, and Sports & Leisure organizations (4) tend to have shorter relationships, possibly because these causes may attract more event-driven or campaign-specific support.

The difference is big: Religious organizations receive over three times as many donations per recurring donor compared to Veterans, Environment, and Sports & Leisure causes.

How Much More Could You Raise?

Let’s break it down. Imagine you have 100 recurring donors giving $25 per donation:

  • Religious organization (13 gifts per year): 1,300 total donations = $32,500
  • Social Service nonprofit (11 gifts per year): 1,100 donations = $27,500
  • Environmental organization (4 gifts per year): 400 donations = $10,000

That’s a massive difference — driven entirely by how many times donors give, not how many donors you have.
If you’re an environmental org with 1,000 recurring donors, getting each person to give just one more time per year would bring in an extra $25,000 — the same as acquiring 1,000 new $25 donors, without spending a dollar on acquisition.

The Growing Importance of Recurring Giving

GivingTuesday reports that the share of donors giving monthly has nearly doubled over the past five years, from 3.76% in 2019 to 6.23% in 2024. But the percentage of new donors who start as recurring givers has stayed mostly flat at just under 2%.

That gap matters. According to GivingTuesday, nonprofits could unlock $10–20 billion more in giving annually if even a small portion of new donors began as recurring givers.

This adds important context to what we're seeing in Zeffy's data: the average number of donations varies significantly by cause, but every additional donation represents more stable support for your mission. Even small improvements in donor retention can have a big impact on your organization's financial sustainability.

And if you can figure out a way to improve donor retention rates and increase your average number of donations per donor? That's the million-dollar question.

Recurring giving doesn't work for everyone, but when it does, it can be a powerful way to build lasting relationships. Even small shifts in how new donors engage could have a big impact sector-wide.

What This Means for Your Nonprofit

Every organization is different, but these benchmarks can help you:

  • Set realistic expectations: If you're an Education nonprofit averaging 7 donations per recurring donor, you're at the average for your cause.
  • Understand the financial impact: When you know recurring donors give 4–13 times, you can plan and forecast more effectively.
  • Focus on extending relationships: Even one more donation per donor makes a difference.
  • Start conversations that matter: Where do you stand—and what might help you move closer to the top tier?
  • Use this as a benchmark, not a scorecard: Show your board or team how you compare to similar organizations. "Here's what's typical for organizations like ours.”

How Zeffy Helps with Donor Retention

Zeffy is built to help you hold onto donors longer, without creating more work. Here’s how:

Always Say Thanks
Every donor gets an automatic, branded thank-you email the moment they give. It’s fast, personal, and completely hands-off.

Smarter Follow-Ups
Your Zeffy dashboard stores each donor’s full history so you can see how often they give, what they care about, and when to reach out. Smarter timing = stronger relationships.

Keep Giving Seamless
Recurring donations are easy to set up and even easier to keep going. With optional auto-renewals and digital wallets like Apple Pay, giving stays frictionless.

Know What Works
See donation patterns, spot drop-offs, and understand who’s sticking around with Zeffy’s reporting tools—then double down on what’s working.

Zeffy helps you build loyalty, reduce admin work, and keep the support flowing, all 100% fee-free.

How We Got These Numbers

Our analysis covers all recurring donor transactions up to September 13, 2024. We only looked at donors with automatic, repeating gifts—these numbers don't include one-time donors.

We calculated the average number of donations made by recurring donors across different organization causes. This helps us compare all kinds of nonprofits, no matter how often their donors give.

We count unique donor transactions, so each donor (or each recurring donation series) is only counted once.

The data is summarized by organization cause (like Health, Education, etc.), but we don't split by specific donor ages, gift sizes, or organization sizes. This means the patterns you see represent averages across many organizations of different sizes and donor demographics.

Disclaimer:

The benchmark data presented reflects aggregated industry averages and is intended for general informational purposes only. Individual organization performance may vary due to numerous factors, including but not limited to mission focus, donor demographics, fundraising strategies, and external market conditions. Deviations from these benchmarks should not be interpreted as indicative of Zeffy’s platform performance or efficacy.

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