For too long, nonprofit email programs have been judged by the wrong numbers.
Open rates, click-through rates, and total donor counts may be easy to measure—but they don’t tell the full story.
If you're aiming to build long-term relationships, deepen supporter trust, and increase impact, it's time to let go of vanity metrics and focus on what really matters: engagement and retention.
Why Vanity Metrics Fall Short
Let’s be honest, it can be easier to focus on big numbers rather than smaller details.
But the truth is, having a large list and good open rates is not enough to ensure that your email program is having an impact.
Open rates are incredibly unreliable now, especially after Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection update and the latest iOS 18 update.
And even before that, engagement rates like click-throughs, action, and donation rates have always been a stronger metric for impact.
Too much focus on overall email list size could lead to digital staff padding the list by leaving inactive emails in the mix, impacting deliverability. Not segmenting and then purging inactive emails from your list will result in your messages ending up in spam folders or not delivered at all.
Similarly, the total number of donors or new donors might sound impressive, but if donors only give once, you’re spending resources chasing quantity over quality.
Monthly and repeat giving are more sustainable metrics, and you can help leadership focus on those.
Share The Metrics That Matter
Board members are focused on the big picture, so it’s important to highlight longer term data points, like repeat donors, repeat action-takers, retention rates, and engagement rates. Here are ways you can break numbers down for them.
Lifetime Value (LTV): Rather than focusing on how much someone gives in a single moment, measure how much they give over their entire relationship with your organization.
Engagement Rate: Track how often subscribers interact with your emails over time. Are they clicking through and taking action consistently?
Retention Rate: Are first-time donors giving again? Are subscribers staying on your list for a year or more? These are signs of trust and loyalty.
Making the Case Internally
Shifting focus away from vanity metrics can feel risky, especially if your board or leadership is used to seeing big numbers. Here’s how to bring them along:
Educate with context: Explain why open rates have become unreliable and how focusing on deeper metrics leads to better decision-making and stronger results. Also spell out the dangers of deliverability problems. Share stats from reports like M+R Benchmarks to show how your organization compares.
Tell an impact story: Share examples like where cheap acquisition looked good initially, but then those emails underperformed for action and donation rates. Go beyond the numbers to share what the impact of low action rates could look like, maybe low event turnout, or few calls to legislators on an urgent amendment.
Redefine success: Create new dashboards or reports that elevate the metrics that matter, and describe how these tie directly to fulfilling the organization’s mission. If you want the board to care about depth and breadth, you should also share more than numbers by giving examples of messages you’ve received from members, or share about your organization’s 10 most engaged members.
Moving away from vanity metrics isn’t just a numbers game—it’s a mindset shift.
It means valuing impact and depth over breadth and relationships over reach.
And in a crowded inbox and a competitive fundraising landscape, that’s what sets successful programs apart.