CBA: Lapsed donors or members?

Lapsed donors or members? There's no such thing.

By Carl Bloom


	Click image above for larger view and description.

We’ve seen nonprofit and membership organizations send out letters that say “This is the last letter we can afford to send you.” Not a good technique. It would be a terrible (and costly) mistake to stop mailing to donors or members.

Even if a prior member hasn’t made a contribution in three or more years, you shouldn’t give up on them. They’re still your very best prospects – no, actually they’re better than prospects, because they have demonstrated a loyalty that you can't predict in an unknown prospect. After all, you know for a fact that they cared about your cause and probably still do. In fact, many of them probably still consider themselves members of your organization.

With that in mind, we have developed an effective technique for maximizing results from so-called lapsed donor files. With the two efforts pictured above we have generated contributions or reinstated membership for our clients from donors who lapsed as long as seven years ago.

By informing these former donors that their memberships have been extended or reinstated subject to receiving their gift or renewal, we are confirming their belief that they are still considered a member in good standing. Of course, they are not obligated to accept the renewed membership or confirm it with a gift, but a large percentage of “former” donors do confirm their renewal as a result of the courtesy we have given them. You’d be surprised how many do just that.

Results can be maximized by using an enhanced overlay to predict the most likely donors. You can segment your lapsed list by prior history, gift size, date of last gift, giving frequency, etc, and there are formulas for targeting donors with the greatest potential for responding, such as the “tagging” service provided by Target Analysis of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Of course, be sure to take steps to obtain current addresses for these old names.

So don’t stop mailing to your lapsed donors or members in fact, step it up. Keep testing It’s just a matter of finding the right way to encourage them to return -- especially if you can make them feel like they never left. Remember, it costs a lot more to acquire a new member than to keep mailing to past members who are are more likely to respond.

Learn more about Carl and the staff at CBA.

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