Sustainer Retention & Planned-Gift Pipeline Metrics Workbook
The 'measure what you keep' workbook: tracks monthly-sustainer retention, churn composition, and lifetime value, and layers in a planned-gift/bequest expectancy pipeline so leadership sees durable future value, not just this month's revenue.
Draft: pending review
This starter document is signed off by Nonprofit counsel + CFRE + planned-giving specialist before it ships. The guardrails below define that review.
What’s inside
- Monthly cohort retention grid (1/3/6/13-month) with decay curves
- Churn-decomposition tab separating involuntary (card-failure) from voluntary churn, with recovery rates
- Sustainer lifetime-value and acquisition-payback calculators by channel and offer
- Planned-gift expectancy pipeline tab (stage, range, revocable flag) kept separate from booked revenue
Legal & ethical guardrails
The sector-specific compliance points this document must honor.
- Keep the planned-gift pipeline clearly labeled as revocable expectancies, not pledges or recognized revenue; pipeline tracking is not gift administration
- Donor data is sensitive; restrict access, avoid storing payment card numbers, and follow data-retention/privacy rules
- Overhead-honesty: cost and payback figures must use consistent functional-expense definitions so retention ROI is not overstated
- Any outcome figures on a board dashboard should trace to the substantiated live-release methodology, not ad-hoc counts
Held for professional review.
The native XLSX and full working text ship only after sign-off by Nonprofit counsel + CFRE + planned-giving specialist on this exact version. The summary and review requirements remain visible in the meantime.
Not legal advice. Not legal, tax, or accounting advice. The Fundraising Co. provides educational fundraising materials and is not a law firm; nothing here creates an attorney–client relationship or substitutes for advice from professionals licensed in your jurisdiction. Laws and IRS rules vary by state and change over time. Review every document with qualified counsel before use.