{
  "slug": "donor-lifetime-value",
  "title": "Donor Lifetime Value Calculator",
  "heading": "Donor Lifetime Value Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/donor-lifetime-value",
  "summary": "Estimate what an average donor is worth over their giving relationship.",
  "description": "Donor lifetime value tells you how much you can afford to spend acquiring and retaining a donor before an acquisition channel becomes unprofitable, and it's calculated from three inputs most development shops already track: average annual gift size, average donor retention rate (the percentage who give again next year), and average years the relationship lasts, which is mathematically the inverse of your attrition rate. This calculator multiplies average annual gift by the expected number of years retained (1 ÷ attrition rate) to get lifetime value, and separately shows what a single percentage point of retention improvement is worth across your donor file, since retention gains compound far more than most one-time acquisition pushes.",
  "formula": "Expected years retained = 1 ÷ (1 − retention rate); LTV = average annual gift × expected years retained.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=donor-lifetime-value",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "avgGift",
      "label": "Average annual gift",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 250,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "retentionRate",
      "label": "Donor retention rate",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 45,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 1,
      "max": 99
    },
    {
      "id": "donorCount",
      "label": "Total donors in file (for portfolio value)",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 2000,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "ltv",
      "label": "Donor lifetime value",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "expectedYears",
      "label": "Expected years retained",
      "format": "decimal",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "portfolioValue",
      "label": "Total donor file lifetime value",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "valuePerPoint",
      "label": "Value of +1 point of retention (file-wide)",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Average annual gift: 250 $",
      "Donor retention rate: 45 %",
      "Total donors in file (for portfolio value): 2000"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Donor lifetime value: $455",
      "Expected years retained: 1.8",
      "Total donor file lifetime value: $909,091",
      "Value of +1 point of retention (file-wide): $16,835"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter average annual gift ($).",
      "Enter donor retention rate (%).",
      "Enter total donors in file (for portfolio value).",
      "Read your donor lifetime value on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "avgGift": 150,
        "retentionRate": 27,
        "donorCount": 1200
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "avgGift": 250,
        "retentionRate": 45,
        "donorCount": 2000
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "avgGift": 400,
        "retentionRate": 72,
        "donorCount": 3200
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "What's a typical nonprofit donor retention rate?",
      "a": "The Fundraising Effectiveness Project has tracked overall donor retention around 40-45% industry-wide for years, with new/first-time donor retention notably worse, often 20-30%, and repeat multi-year donor retention much stronger, sometimes 60%+. Know which segment you're calculating before comparing to a benchmark."
    },
    {
      "q": "Why does a small retention improvement matter so much?",
      "a": "Because retention compounds through the exponent in expected years retained: going from 40% to 50% retention doesn't add 10% to lifetime value, it adds 67% (from 1.67 expected years to 2.5 expected years), which is why development directors chase retention gains harder than one-time gift-size increases."
    },
    {
      "q": "How does this inform acquisition spending?",
      "a": "If your calculated LTV is $550 and you're spending $400 in direct mail and digital acquisition to land a new donor, you have a viable, if thin, margin. If acquisition cost exceeds LTV, that channel is destroying value regardless of how many names it adds to your file."
    },
    {
      "q": "Should major donors be included in this average?",
      "a": "Usually no, or only in a separate calculation. A handful of five- and six-figure major donors will massively skew an average gift calculation meant to describe your broad annual fund file; segment major donors out and run LTV separately for each meaningful donor tier."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/annual-fund-growth-target",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/donor-advised-fund-payout"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Donor Lifetime Value Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/donor-lifetime-value)"
}