When was the last time you wrote a lapsed donor letter?
Lapsed donors are a valuable group of supporters. Their past donations prove they’re committed to your cause, and their familiarity with your organization means they’re often easier to engage than brand-new supporters.
Data from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project reveals that reactivating lapsed donors is a struggle for many nonprofits. There are many opportunities to reconnect with this group of supporters—but how can you persuade a lapsed donor to give again?
A well-written letter can inspire them to renew their support. Let’s explore how to write one.
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Start by Identifying Your Lapsed Donors
Before you start reactivating your lapsed donors, you need to find them!
Use your donor management software to identify donors who haven’t donated in the last year. That group is your lapsed donor segment. Next, if your CRM allows it, create smaller lists based on details around their history with you.
For example, Neon One’s CRM users can create groups based on gift size, initial donation type (online, direct mail, or in person), their level of engagement (one-time donation versus recurring donors, for example), or the campaign that prompted their gift.
Creating these smaller, behavior-based segments allows you to write tailored messages that will feel personalized to each donor. It’s great to send an email that references a donor’s past support, but it’s even better to send an email that references a donor’s $75 gift to a specific campaign in May 2023.
The Three Key Elements of a Lapsed Donor Letter
When you connect with past donors and ask them to renew their support, your letter should achieve three goals. It should thank them for their past donation, remind them of their gift’s impact, and ask them to donate again.
Let’s take a closer look at each of those three elements and how they contribute to your overall donor retention strategy.
1. Thank the Donor for Their Past Gift
Open your lapsed donor letter with a brief thank-you message for the donor’s last gift. This will help you achieve a few ends.
First, it reminds the donor that they gave in the first place. This is especially important if you’re trying to reconnect with donors who haven’t given in more than a year. They may not even remember they donated!
Second, it makes your donor feel appreciated, which will be important if you want to re-engage them.
Think about when you have received a meaningful thank-you note. Did it say, “Thanks for the gift!” or did it mention what you gave, the occasion, and how they hope to use it in the future?
The more detailed you can be with your thank-you message, the more effective the rest of your letter will be. Try reminding them when they last donated and refer to any specific campaigns or programs they supported.
Here are two versions of what this can look like—the first is good, but the second is even better.
Good: “Since you’ve donated to the Chicago Food Bank in the past, I wanted to send you this letter to thank you for your past gift and to share a little about how your donation made a difference.
Better: “This time last year, you made a gift of $150 to the Chicago Food Bank’s Stock Up for Spring campaign. I wanted to send you this letter to thank you again for that gift and to share a little bit about how your donation made a difference.”
Adding just a few more details can make a mass email feel like it was written for an individual donor. Want some help? You might like our thank-you letter templates—they’ll get you started!
2. Share How Your Donor Made a Difference
One of the top reasons donors stop supporting a nonprofit is that they don’t understand their gift’s impact. One study found that:
- 22% of donors stopped supporting a nonprofit because they felt their money wasn’t used wisely
- 17% stopped donating because the nonprofit never shared how their money was used
- 15% ceased their support because they felt their donation didn’t matter
Emphasizing a donor’s past impact will address three of the top reasons donors stop supporting a nonprofit.
When you write your lapsed donor letter, make sure to tell your donor how their past gift impacted your cause. Focus on connecting your donor to the people they helped instead of to you, the organization.
Donors are motivated by helping other people. Sharing real-life stories and examples will reinforce the idea that their money made a tangible difference in the world.
Use storytelling elements to make this section of your lapsed donor letter as effective as possible. Tell a story about a person who benefited from your donor’s support. Feel free to use statistics to reinforce the story you share, but focus primarily on an individual.
Accompany your story with a picture that helps your donor visualize the people they supported in the past. If privacy is a concern, try creating a fictional character that represents your client base.
Good: “Since your gift, The Chicago Food Bank has served 2,143 people by distributing nearly 10,000 pounds of food and other goods.”
Better: “Shortly after you made your gift, a woman named Lanita visited the food pantry. The restaurant where she worked had recently closed, and losing her job meant she needed help getting healthy food for her two kids. Thanks to the kindness of people like you, she was able to get the groceries she needed. And Lenita wasn’t the only mother you helped feed; since your last gift, hundreds of families have received the food, resources, and support they need.”
3. Invite the Donor to Continue Making a Difference
Another top reason donors don’t make a second gift is that they aren’t asked to make one!
With 13% of donors saying they stopped donating to a nonprofit because they were never asked to donate again, simply inviting lapsed donors to make another gift might be the easiest way to reactivate them.
At this point in your letter, you’ve already shared a powerful story that helps your donors understand the impact they made in the past. Now, you can use that story to reinforce your appeal.
When crafting your appeal, be as specific as you can. How much do you want them to give? What will a gift of that size accomplish? How will their support make a difference in their community?
Also, remember to include information about the different channels where they can donate.
If you’re sending an email, include a link that takes them to your online donation form. If you’re sending your letter through the mail, try including a self-addressed, stamped envelope or a scannable QR code that will take them to your donation page.
However you choose to communicate with your donor, it’s important that they know exactly how to give again.
Good: “Demand for our services has never been higher. Please support your neighbors by donating to our food bank.”
Better: “As we close out the year, the need for food assistance and other resources remains high. Your last $100 gift provided groceries to four families; would you consider making another gift to support our neighbors? You can donate online, send a check, or scan the QR code below to donate from your phone. However you decide to give, you can know you’re providing much-needed groceries and peace of mind to families right here in Chicago.”
Bonus Tip: Make It Personal
You’ve written a letter that includes the three key elements: You’ve thanked your donor for their past gift, shared their impact, and invited them to give again. But you can make your letter even more persuasive by making it personal.
People donate when they feel an emotional connection to the cause and to a specific organization. They want to feel seen and appreciated by the nonprofits they support, and just a few extra steps can make that happen.
First, try using personalization tokens to address your donor by name. If they’ve provided a preferred nickname, consider using that instead of something more formal.
Using your donor’s name signals that you remember and value their past support and that they’re important to you. Even if a donor knows you sent that letter to other people, a personalized salutation will make them feel special.
Be thoughtful about your greeting. A personalized opening makes donors feel good, but using the wrong name can make them feel like your letter is insincere.
You may also want to try signing your letter using your name instead of using an impersonal signature or no signature at all. A letter signed by “Alice K.” will feel more personal than a letter signed by “The Chicago Foodbank Team.”
If you’re sending your letter through the mail, another way to make it feel more personal is by adding a short, simple handwritten note somewhere on the page. Writing a few words on each letter only takes a minute but adds a personal touch that can make a big impression.
This is another valuable way to make your donors feel like you’re writing to them individually, even if they know others received the same communication.
If you’re sending an exceptionally large number of letters, try recruiting board members, other staff, or volunteers to add their own notes.
Lapsed Donor Letter Example
Dear Jane,
You’ve been a faithful supporter of Combe Cares in the past, and I want to thank you for your investment in the lives of children in Combe County. In 2023, you donated $500 to our Fed Families campaign, enough to cover 30 meals!
Your generosity played a big part in allowing us to serve thousands of children and families with the essential food, emergency shelter, and supplies they need to survive and thrive.
We haven’t heard from you in a while—here’s what we’ve been up to over the past year!
In 2023…
- 804 families received grocery delivery or non-perishable food items from the Combe Cares pantry.
- 792 families enjoyed hot meals served at our facility.
- 583 children received book bags filled with school supplies.
- 429 children were provided with clean, hole-free, age-appropriate clothing.
- 18 families were placed in safe shelters to escape domestic violence and other unsafe circumstances.
All of this was made possible because of the kindness of donors like you.
But our work isn’t finished. Over 3,000 people in Combe County are currently facing poverty and homelessness—at least 1,000 of them are children.
Will you help us change that?
Receiving your support again this year would greatly impact local families and help provide the basics every human needs: food to eat, soap to clean their bodies, and a roof to cover their and their children’s heads.
Local families like Laura’s, who said: “I have the compassion of Combe Cares to thank for making sure my babies weren’t out in the cold last winter. When my partner lost his job, and we lost our electricity, this community supported us and kept our bellies full. I’m so grateful.”
Can we welcome you back to the Combe Cares family in 2024? Your previous gift enabled 30 families to eat. If you can consider making another $500 gift, together, we can make sure fewer and fewer of our neighbors are hungry. We will put your gift to great use immediately, as we have a goal to provide over 1,000 food items to families in need over the next six months.
Your generosity has already changed lives. Please, let’s keep it going! Visit us at combescares.org to make a donation today.
Many thanks,
Carl Davies
Executive Director, Combes Cares
Send Emails That Don’t Get Ignored
Building a stable base of loyal, passionate supporters starts with great communication! With Neon CRM’s email builder, creating compelling, impactful messages is as simple as drag, drop, and send.
Email Templates to Reach Lapsed Donors (and Everyone Else!)
Reactivating lapsed donors is an important strategy for any nonprofit that is focused on building connections and improving retention.
While current re-engagement rates for lapsed donors may be low, there are ample opportunities to reconnect with people who have previously donated to your organization.
Our downloadable package of fundraising email templates includes one for lapsed donors that comes with all the best practices we’ve discussed in this article built in! All you need to do is enter the right details and send.
The package also includes templates for one-time gifts, recurring donations, pledges, and more. Sound interesting? You can download it for free right now!
