Scorecard grades your fundraising program on five metrics — Retention, Acquisition, Reactivation, Upgrade, and Awareness — using a 4-star rating for each.
Use this article when
- You opened Scorecard and want to know what each metric measures.
- You need to explain the 4-star ratings to your team or board.
- You want to prioritize which area of your program needs attention.
- You see a low star rating and need context before taking action.
Applies to
All Avid plans with Scorecard access. Ratings update as new data syncs from connected sources.
What the Scorecard measures
The Scorecard evaluates fundraising health across the full donor lifecycle. All five metrics are live. Each receives an independent 4-star rating.
The 4-star rating system
| Stars | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 4 | Excellent — among the strongest performance in this area. |
| 3 | Good — above average with room to optimize. |
| 2 | Fair — clear opportunity for improvement. |
| 1 | Needs work — prioritize this metric to protect program health. |
Star ratings compare your performance to benchmarks for your organization type. For grade thresholds and formulas, see Fundraiser's Scorecard Grading System.
The five metrics
1. Retention
What it measures: Donors who gave in a prior period and gave again in the current period.
Why it matters: Retaining a donor costs less than acquiring a new one. Declining retention means donors lapse faster than you replace them.
What to do next: Build retention plays in Playbooks. Segment at-risk donors in Pathways.
2. Acquisition
What it measures: New donors your organization attracts in a period.
Why it matters: Natural attrition shrinks your base over time. Acquisition fuels long-term growth.
What to do next: Launch acquisition plays from the Play Catalog. Measure channel performance in Insights.
3. Reactivation
What it measures: Lapsed donors who return with a new gift.
Why it matters: Lapsed donors already know your mission. Reactivation often costs less than cold acquisition.
What to do next: Build lapsed-donor segments in Pathways. Run multi-touch reactivation plays in Playbooks.
4. Upgrade
What it measures: Donors who increased their gift amount compared to a prior gift.
Why it matters: Upgrading existing donors grows revenue without expanding your file.
What to do next: Target mid-level donors in Pathways. Use upgrade-focused messaging in Playbooks.
5. Awareness
What it measures: Reach and visibility across your marketing channels.
Why it matters: Awareness feeds acquisition. Without visibility, new donor growth stalls.
What to do next: Compare awareness trends in Benchmarks. Expand digital reach through connected ad platforms.
How the metrics connect
The five metrics are interdependent. Awareness supports acquisition. Acquisition feeds the base that retention, upgrade, and reactivation maintain and grow.
When one metric drops, drill into Insights for detail and act through Playbooks.
LockStep insight: Focus on one or two low-rated metrics per quarter instead of trying to fix everything at once.
Key terms
- Scorecard — the dashboard that grades fundraising health across five metrics.
- Lapsed donor — a donor who gave before but has not given in the current period.
- 4-star rating — the 1–4 scale applied to each Scorecard metric.