Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
Donor lifetime value
$455
Expected years retained
1.8
Total donor file lifetime value
$909,091
Value of +1 point of retention (file-wide)
$16,835
Psst — share this and help Rex grow
One click, a permanent link with your numbers baked in.
How to use this
- 1Enter average annual gift ($).
- 2Enter donor retention rate (%).
- 3Enter total donors in file (for portfolio value).
- 4Read your donor lifetime value on the right — it updates as you type.
- 5Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
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.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Average annual gift: 250 $
- Donor retention rate: 45 %
- Total donors in file (for portfolio value): 2000
Results
- Donor lifetime value: $455
- Expected years retained: 1.8
- Total donor file lifetime value: $909,091
- Value of +1 point of retention (file-wide): $16,835
What each field means
Inputs
- Average annual gift ($)
- The average annual gift used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 250 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Donor retention rate (%)
- The donor retention rate used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 45 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 1–99 %.
- Total donors in file (for portfolio value)
- The total donors in file (for portfolio value) used in the calculation. Starts at 2000 so you have a working example on load.
Results
- Donor lifetime value
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Expected years retained
- Returned as a decimal number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Total donor file lifetime value
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Value of +1 point of retention (file-wide)
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
What's a typical nonprofit donor retention rate?
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.
Why does a small retention improvement matter so much?
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.
How does this inform acquisition spending?
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.
Should major donors be included in this average?
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.
Accuracy and 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.
Related tools
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Donor Lifetime Value Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/donor-lifetime-value
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/donor-lifetime-value" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Donor Lifetime Value Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Donor Lifetime Value Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/donor-lifetime-value) (2026).