protect-donor-retention

name	protect-donor-retention
description	Read donor retention by cohort and fix the leaky bucket before pouring in acquisition, since retention is ~7x cheaper than acquisition. Reach for this on any growth question.

Skill: Protect donor retention

A leaky bucket isn't fixed by pouring faster; retention is the cheapest dollar.

Step 1 — Compute retention by cohort

Overall (~43–45%) and first-time vs repeat (first-time ~20–30%) (§3 #1).

Step 2 — Find the leak

Identify where donors lapse — after the first gift, a channel, or a giving level.

Step 3 — Fix stewardship

Tie the leak to acknowledgment and reporting-back (§3 #7).

Step 4 — Compare to acquisition cost

Frame the retention fix against the ~$1.50 acquisition cost.

Output

A retention-by-cohort read, the leak point, a stewardship fix, and the cost comparison.