How Chive Charities hit 98% donor retention

You know the math is brutal.

Industry average donor retention hovers around 40-45%. That means more than half of your donors disappear every year.

So you send more appeals. Add more urgency. Chase more new donors to replace the ones who left.

Sound familiar?

Chive Charities decided to get off the treadmill. The 10-year-old nonprofit supporting veterans, military families, first responders, and rare medical causes achieved a staggering donor retention rate of 98%, month over month. 

More than 70% of their revenue (!!!) comes from monthly giving. Here's how they did it:

The breakthrough
Chive Charities stopped treating donor communication as a series of asks and thank-yous. 

Instead, they built a culture around one idea: donors are humans first, and humans want to be seen.

Here's what changed:

The analog became a strategic touchpoint
Not generic thank-yous — personal, handwritten notes via snail mail sent at moments that matter. 

When a donor downgrades their monthly gift, they receive a card acknowledging the change. 

When they upgrade, the same thing. And even when they cancel. 

Every card includes their name, total lifetime giving, and number of causes they've supported. 

An email welcome series that builds identity
New monthly donors don't just get a receipt. They get a three-email sequence:

They fixed passive cancellations before they happened
Chive built an email automation for failed payments, reaching out to lapsed donors personally instead of letting them quietly churn.

A $200/month tier unlocked hidden capacity
For years, Chive only offered monthly giving levels from $10 to $100. In April 2020, they launched a $200+/month "Platinum" tier with new benefits and a dedicated campaign. 

Donors who'd been capped at $100 jumped to $500/month. Today, Platinum giving makes up 20% of annual revenue.

Three words opened the door to major gifts
When Chive started cultivating major donors, they kept the ask simple: "Would you consider?" 

That one phrase — in an email asking whether a donor would consider meeting to discuss how they could be "instrumental to our growth" — sparked major gift conversations with longtime sustainers.

How to apply this approach to your program
The lesson here isn't about perfection — it's about intention.

Map your donor journey and find the gaps. Where are you engaging donors right now? Where could you be more thoughtful? Are you connecting 1:1 with donors at least once a year outside of an ask?

Identify your "level-up" moments. A donor who downgrades but doesn't cancel is showing loyalty under pressure. 

A donor who quietly gives for three years straight deserves more than an auto-receipt. Find those moments and respond to them.

Audit your automated emails. What does your confirmation email actually say? 

Is your welcome series building identity and connection, or just confirming a transaction?

Stock up on cards and personal touches. Even in the world of email automations, handwritten notes still cut through. 

When a donor does something worth noticing, flag with your development team and write the card immediately. 

If snail mail is too time-consuming, consider sending a personal email to the donor.

The bottom line
Chive Charities didn't hit 98% retention with better segmentation or fancier automations. They did it by treating donor relationships like real relationships.

When you stop optimizing for the next gift and start investing in the relationship behind it, retention will follow.

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'Til next time!
Sara