Recently Lapsed Donors Analysis

Recently Lapsed Donors

How to use the Recently Lapsed Donors analysis

This analysis identifies donors who previously gave regularly but have not made a gift in the past 13 to 36 months, a group typically classified as recently lapsed.  By drawing from your Gifts and Constituents data, it highlights not only which donors have stopped giving recently, but also provides a comprehensive profile for each,  showing their total giving history, patterns of consecutive years of giving before lapse, last and first gift dates, average gift size, and time elapsed since their last contribution. This enables you to move beyond simply flagging lapsed donors; you gain actionable Constituent Intelligence to understand each donor's commitment and the potential for re-engagement.

The analysis calculates several key metrics: the number of consecutive years a donor gave before lapsing (their most recent giving streak), the number of years in which they gave at least once, lifetime value, and the average interval between gifts. This is especially useful for prioritizing outreach: a donor who gave for many years in a row before recently lapsing may be a strong candidate for targeted reactivation efforts. Details such as the donor's name, the last gift amount, the total number of gifts, and whether the donor is an individual or an organization are included to help you personalize your approach. For example, knowing the size and recency of their last gift, as well as their total giving, can help determine the right ask level or stewardship strategy.

You should use this analysis to guide segmentation for lapsed donor campaigns, prioritize call lists for development officers, and tailor messaging to reflect each donor's history and value. Fundraising directors, stewardship teams, and frontline gift officers should review the analysis together to assign outreach responsibilities and draft personalized messages using the supporting data fields. Consider setting up a workflow where lapsed donors with the longest consecutive giving streaks are prioritized for personal outreach. At the same time, those with fewer years but high gift value receive tailored communications.

As a measure of success, track the reactivation rate of donors identified in this analysis, the average size of their renewed gifts, and the improvement in overall donor retention among recently lapsed segments. This analysis is recommended to be reviewed periodically as part of your Constituent Intelligence routines to ensure timely intervention and ongoing improvement in donor engagement strategies.