Last month, I shared thoughts on re-engaging with supporters who have not yet given this year. I hope that the tips on personalized communication helped to build momentum and revive relationships. This is the hard work of nonprofit fundraising, but reconnecting donors with the inspiring work of your mission is heartening and helps you power through this busy time.
But what do we do about lapsed donors? First, a brief definition: in this post, I’ll be discussing donors who have not given in at least 12 months. Depending on the nature of your organization, the time period that marks a donor as lapsed may vary. Donors who have been disengaged for this amount of time will require more effort to bring back to your cause.
If your lapsed donor numbers and retention rate are not where you want them to be, you’re definitely not alone. Recent data from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project shows that many nonprofits are struggling. In 2022 and early 2023, organizations experienced a decline in both overall donor numbers and retention. This problem is especially acute with new donors: the data showed that 81% of total donor decline was from new and newly retained donors. The overall donor retention rate in 2022, just over 42%, was the lowest on record.
While this recent data is challenging, it also points to potential solutions. Since so much of donor decline comes from newer donors, what steps can we take to stop them from leaving? I’d like to examine a few of the top reasons donors lapse and simple ways that we might build systems to counter this trend.
There are hurdles to giving
I’m starting here because this is perhaps the easiest issue to tackle: ensure that your website and other giving systems function seamlessly. Even the slightest amount of friction can stop donors from making a gift. Make sure that you’re regularly going through your online system to test for glitches and bugs, and check that giving has a prominent and immediately noticeable place on your website’s home page.
While online donations are growing rapidly as a portion of overall giving, there are still a significant number of donors who give by mail. Make sure mailing information is easy to find on your website, along with the contact information of a staff member for queries.
The donor was not properly thanked
This is a theme that I often come back to; thanking donors meaningfully is one of the most high-value ways to spend your time. The absence of a meaningful thank you, especially for a first-time gift, makes it less likely that the donor will give again.
With a few adjustments, you can tailor solutions to best fit your workload. If you have time, a short phone call to new donors can be very impactful. The same can be true for a personal email. I recently had an excellent experience after making a first-time gift. I made a donation online and received the automatic receipt, and that’s where it ends for most organizations. However, the development head subsequently sent me a short personal email thanking me for joining their community, sharing the gift’s impact, and letting me know that she is eager to connect with supporters if I have questions or concerns. It was only a few sentences, but it stood out, and this point of connection was the first step in building a relationship.
The donor was not asked to give again
It may be stating the obvious, but our supporters will not continue to give unless we ask them. How are you asking? Are your appeals segmented for different audiences and levels of giving? It may be wise to conduct a communications audit to see if there are particular groups that are disengaged and alter your approach. In an earlier post on donor retention, I shared some ideas on segmentation and how to set up a simple system.
Another recent phenomenon that could be contributing to the overall decline in donor numbers is large waves of people making donations to organizations around specific events, but failing to move beyond a one-time gift. This can be true for donations following a natural disaster, but we also see it in response to political events, such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade and racial justice protests and reckonings. Many organizations were hit with a flood of donations, but that flood has not translated into ongoing support. If this is relevant to your work, consider how to tailor messages to the highly motivated people who made initial gifts—can you deepen their engagement and put them on the path to monthly giving? Do your communications accurately convey the urgency of what you’re trying to accomplish, and why sustained support is necessary?
These first three issues only scratch the surface on reconnecting with lapsed donors. Have you discovered ways to rekindle these important relationships?