Five questions every board asks about your donors (and how to answer them fast)

Board meetings have a way of turning into data hunts. A director asks a simple question, and someone spends the next week in spreadsheets. Here are the five questions boards ask most often, and what a clear answer looks like.

1. Are we keeping our donors? Answer with your retention rate: the share of last year's donors who gave again this year, compared with the year before.

2. Are we growing or shrinking? Show active donors, new donors and lapsed donors side by side. A donor waterfall (last year's donors, minus those who left, plus those who joined) tells this story in one picture.

3. Where does our money come from? Break revenue down by donor type (individuals, foundations, corporations, community groups) and by gift size. Many boards are surprised how much depends on a small number of large gifts.

4. How healthy is our monthly giving? Show monthly donors as a share of all donors, and how many stopped.

5. What are we doing about it? This is the question that matters most. Bring a short list of actions with owners and dates.

A board doesn't need more numbers. It needs the right five, explained.

HookPilot's KPI report and 90-day action plan were designed around these questions, so the answer is ready before the meeting, not after it.