A UK-based annual survey into donor attrition levels is to be expanded to include charities around the world.

The Public Fundraising Regulatory Association – the self-regulatory organisation for face-to-face direct debit fundraising in the United Kingdom – carried out the F2F Donor Attrition and Retention Survey (DARS) in the UK in 2008 and 2009, analysing the cancellation – or ‘attrition’ – rates of more than a quarter of a million F2F-recruited donors going back to 2004.

The surveys have shown that, in the UK, around 50 per cent of donors will cancel their donations within 12 months and have provided pointers for charities on how best to steward their donors to improve retention.

Now the organisation has decided to make the study a global exercise.

Mick Aldridge, CEO of the PFRA, said: "I attended the International Fundraising Congress in Holland last October and from talking to delegates it was clear there was a real appetite to share knowledge and best practice about F2F fundraising, including our attrition survey.

"F2F is a global fundraising movement and charities in every country where F2F is practiced can learn something from every other country where it is also carried out. Extending DARS into a fully international survey is a first step in that direction."

DARS was co-devised and is researched by Rupert Tappin, managing director of London-based fundraising organisation Future Fundraising, and Morag Fleming, head of fundraising at Scottish social care charity Quarriers. 

Tappin and Fleming have been in touch with international F2F expert Daryl Upsall (of Madrid-based Daryl Upsall Consulting International) about securing the input of his international charity clients, while the PFRA secretariat has already received interest from charities in the USA, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand.

Tappin said: "DARS is already the most robust and complete picture of donor attrition and retention across any fundraising method in the UK. In fact, we don’t think there’s anything like this anywhere else in the world, so this is a wonderful opportunity to create an unparalleled global benchmark.

"We have benchmarks stretching back five years in the UK and it will be fascinating to discover whether attrition patterns for F2F donors are universal or vary from country to country and between cultures."

Any non-UK charity requiring more information about DARS should contact Rupert Tappin at rupertt@futurefundraising.co.uk. Data collection according to DARS criteria is taking place this month and will need to be planned by charities’ database teams in advance.

The DARS results for the UK will be announced at a special seminar following the PFRA’s annual general meeting in London in June, with the exact date and venue yet to be announced. PFRA is still considering suitable scenarios to announce the results of the international component.