Fundraising
Donor retention rate
Formal definition
Donor retention rate is an operating term in fundraising focused on managing personal data lawfully with clear risk controls before high-impact processing begins.
What this actually means for you
For day-to-day delivery, Donor retention rate should be documented clearly and applied consistently; document lawful basis, retention, and safeguards before changing forms, profiling, or integrations.
Example: During a planned change window, teams apply Donor retention rate as follows: before enabling a new scoring model, the team completes a DPIA and logs mitigation actions with owners. They then update team templates, reporting packs, and operating checklists for the next cycle.
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