Open your donor database and look at the people who haven’t given in the past year.

How many names do you recognize?

Maybe there’s someone who gave faithfully for five years. Someone who supported a special project. Or someone who made one generous gift but never gave again.

These are your lapsed donors.

Your database can tell you when they last gave. What it can’t tell you is why they stopped or whether they still care about your mission.

That’s an important distinction.

A donor who hasn’t given in 18 months but still attends your events is different from someone you haven’t heard from in three years. Yet many nonprofits treat them the same way, sending another appeal and hoping they’ll return.

I think there’s a better approach.

A lapsed gift doesn’t always mean a lost relationship.

Your job isn’t simply to get another donation. It’s to understand where the relationship stands and give the donor a meaningful reason to reconnect.

In this post, I’m going to cover:

• How to define and identify lapsed donors

• Which donors to prioritize and how to segment them

• What successful reactivation campaigns can teach us

• How to coordinate email, SMS, voice, and personal follow-up

• How to measure reactivation without overwhelming supporters

What are lapsed donors?

Lapsed donors are people who previously gave to your organization but haven’t made another gift during a defined period.

The Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) defines lapsed donors as people who donated in a previous reporting period but not in the current one.

For many nonprofits, 12 months without a gift is a useful starting point. But it shouldn’t be a universal rule.

Consider three donors:

• An annual donor who gives every December shouldn’t be considered lapsed in October because they haven’t made this year’s gift.

• A monthly donor whose payment failed last week may have a billing problem, not a relationship problem.

• A loyal donor who gave every spring for five years but missed the past two springs may deserve personal follow-up.

This is why I recommend tracking two things: the donor’s giving pattern and their recent engagement.

The giving pattern tells you whether someone has missed an expected gift. Engagement tells you whether they’re still connected through event attendance, replies, conversations, or other meaningful activity.

Together, they help you choose the right next step.

Lapsing vs. lapsed donors

It’s also helpful to distinguish someone who is approaching their expected giving date from someone who has already missed it.

These are practical categories, not universal industry definitions. Set your timeframes based on how your donors actually give.

Why reconnecting with lapsed donors matters

The nonprofit sector has a donor retention problem.

According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project’s 2025 findings, charitable giving increased an estimated 5%, while the number of donors declined 3.6%. Overall donor retention was approximately 43.3%.

In other words, fundraising revenue increased even as fewer people participated.

That’s concerning.

A nonprofit can have a strong fundraising year while quietly losing relationships with everyday supporters.

And rebuilding those relationships takes work.

The answer isn’t to stop finding new donors. It’s to give retention and reactivation the same attention you give acquisition.

As we explain in our guide to donor retention strategies, keeping donors engaged requires consistent work between gifts, not simply another appeal when fundraising slows down.

Which lapsed donors should you contact first?

I wouldn’t begin by exporting everyone who hasn’t given in 24 months.

Instead, segment your donors by giving history and their current relationship with your organization.

Here’s a simple framework.

Keep donors with failed recurring payments in a separate group. They may need help updating their payment information rather than a fundraising appeal.

Before building your lists, review the date and amount of the last gift, total giving history, preferred programs, recent engagement, contact preferences, and past requests.

The goal is not to create more segments. It’s to make better decisions about whom to contact and what to say.

What successful donor reactivation looks like

One useful example comes from No Kid Hungry.

In a 2025 reactivation campaign documented by Concord Direct, the organization focused on donors who hadn’t given in at least 25 months.

Rather than sending those supporters the same appeals used for other audiences, the team developed a shorter, more direct mailing.

The message explained the growing need to address childhood hunger and gave donors a clear reason to support the work again.

According to Concord Direct’s published case study, the campaign produced:

• An average gift of $55

• A reactivation cost of just over $7 per donor who returned

These are results reported by the agency, not a benchmark every nonprofit should expect.

What interests me most isn’t the specific mailing format or even the cost.

It’s the thinking behind the campaign.

The team identified a specific group of lapsed donors, considered what those people already knew about the organization, and built a message for that audience.

They didn’t treat lapsed donors like strangers. They treated them like people who already had a connection to the mission.

That’s a lesson worth applying whether you’re using direct mail, email, phone calls, or other channels.

How to build a lapsed donor reactivation campaign

Here’s a practical approach I would recommend for a nonprofit with a small development team.

Step 1: Start with a manageable group

Suppose your organization has 2,000 lapsed donors.

Rather than contacting everyone immediately, begin with 300 to 500 people who recently missed their normal giving cycle.

Remove duplicate records, review communication preferences, identify donors assigned to individual relationship managers, and exclude anyone who has opted out.

This gives you a manageable campaign to test before expanding.

Step 2: Choose one primary goal

I would avoid creating a campaign that asks donors to give, volunteer, complete a survey, attend an event, and subscribe to a newsletter.

Choose one clear next step.

For example:

See what your past support has helped make possible, and consider renewing your gift.

You could send supporters to a short impact update with a clear opportunity to give again.

The story provides a reason to reconnect. The giving opportunity provides a next step.

Step 3: Lead with gratitude

Your first message should acknowledge the relationship without making the donor feel guilty.

Here’s an example:

Subject: A quick update from [Organization]

Hi Sarah,

I hope you’re doing well.

I wanted to thank you for supporting our work in the past. We’re grateful you’ve been part of this mission.

A lot has happened since then, and I’d love to share a short update about the people and programs your generosity has helped support.

[See the latest update]

If you’d like to support the work again, you’ll also find an opportunity to do so.

Thank you for being part of our story.

Notice what’s missing.

There’s no guilt about the donor’s absence. No assumption about why they stopped giving. And no pressure to make a decision immediately.

Step 4: Coordinate your follow-up

Email may be a good first step. But some donors may respond better to a personal call, particularly those with a longer giving history.

SMS can help deliver information a supporter has requested, provided the required consent is in place.

Here’s an example of how a 21-day campaign could work.

This is a sample workflow, not a recommended contact frequency for every donor.

The important part is what happens between the steps.

If someone gives, they leave the reactivation campaign and enter a thank-you process.

If someone requests a staff conversation, your team follows up.

If someone opts out, the campaign stops for that person.

And if someone doesn’t respond after an appropriate number of attempts, pause.

A well-designed campaign should know when to continue, when to involve a person, and when to stop.

Step 5: Give staff the conversations that matter

Some donors need more than another message.

Maybe they have questions about how the organization uses donations. Maybe they want to support a different program. Or perhaps they had a disappointing experience.

These are opportunities for real conversations.

Your staff should own those relationships.

This is where technology can help. Not by replacing the fundraiser, but by identifying which supporters are interested and giving your team more time to engage them.

How to avoid donor fatigue

One mistake nonprofits can make is treating every unanswered message as permission to send another.

More outreach isn’t automatically better outreach.

Before launching a reactivation campaign, establish a few rules:

• Coordinate fundraising appeals, newsletters, and event promotions so donors aren’t contacted repeatedly by different teams.

• Use each donor’s preferences and applicable contact permissions to determine which channels are appropriate.

• Stop the campaign after a gift, an opt-out, or another response that calls for a different next step.

• Give every message a purpose beyond reminding someone that you already contacted them.

For automated calls, AI voice, SMS, and email, review the applicable legal requirements before outreach begins.

Our guide to online consent forms and outreach permissions provides additional questions your team should review.

The goal is not to reach donors as often as possible. It’s to make the interactions you have worth their time.

How to measure lapsed donor reactivation

Calls made and emails delivered help you understand campaign activity.

But they don’t tell you whether donors are returning.

I’d recommend tracking four measures.

1. Donor reactivation rate

This measures the percentage of eligible lapsed donors who give again during a defined period.

Reactivation rate = (Lapsed donors who gave again ÷ Eligible lapsed donors in the group) × 100

For example, if you start with 500 eligible lapsed donors and 30 give again, your reactivation rate is 6%.

That’s an illustrative example, not an expected campaign result.

Define the donor group and measurement period before you begin. Also distinguish your operational win-back rate from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project’s more specific annual reactivation terminology.

2. Reactivated donor revenue

Track the actual dollars received from returning donors.

Separate completed gifts from pledges and possible future donations.

Then compare the revenue with your campaign expenses to understand the cost of reactivation.

3. Meaningful responses

Track supporters who request information, speak with staff, attend an event, or update their preferences.

These aren’t reactivated donors until they give again, but they can show whether relationships are reopening.

Also track unsubscribes and negative responses. A campaign that generates gifts while damaging trust deserves closer review.

4. Retention after reactivation

A returned gift is encouraging. But what happens afterward?

Measure how many reactivated donors give again within the following 12 months.

This helps you understand whether your campaign is rebuilding relationships or producing one-time gifts.

One more consideration: Not every donor who gives during a campaign necessarily gives because of it. When practical, compare results with a similar group that didn’t receive the additional outreach. That can help you estimate the campaign’s added effect.

How EverRaise helps with lapsed donor reactivation

Building a thoughtful reactivation campaign sounds manageable until you start doing the work.

You need to identify and segment donors, review your data, write messages, coordinate outreach, track responses, and make sure interested supporters receive personal follow-up.

For a small development team, that adds up.

This is one reason we built EverRaise.

EverRaise is an AI engagement assistant that helps relationship-driven organizations build better campaigns, reach more supporters, and follow up more consistently.

With the EverRaise Campaign Builder, your team can describe its reactivation goal and receive help building a campaign across voice, SMS, and email.

EverRaise also supports contact validation, campaign workflows, and follow-up, helping your team spend less time managing disconnected tools.

Your team still reviews the messages, selects appropriate audiences, confirms outreach permissions, and decides when personal attention is needed.

The goal is to give your fundraisers more time for the relationships that matter most.

Frequently asked questions about lapsed donors

How long before a donor is considered lapsed?

Many nonprofits use 12 months without a gift as a starting point, but the right definition depends on giving frequency. Annual donors, monthly donors, and donors who support seasonal campaigns should be evaluated according to their expected giving patterns.

What’s the difference between donor retention and reactivation?

Donor retention measures how many people continue giving over time. Donor reactivation measures how many previously inactive donors return with a new gift. Retention focuses on keeping supporters. Reactivation focuses on reconnecting with those who have stopped giving.

What should you say to a lapsed donor?

Begin by thanking the donor for their past generosity. Share a specific update about the mission and invite them to reconnect through one clear next step. Avoid guilt, pressure, and assumptions about why they stopped giving.

What is a good donor reactivation rate?

There is no single rate that applies to every nonprofit. Results depend on how long donors have been inactive, their past giving patterns, the campaign, and its timing. Establish a baseline for each donor segment and compare results over time.

Final thoughts: Rebuild the relationship, not just the revenue

Not every lapsed donor will return.

Some have different priorities. Others may not be able to give. And some may simply prefer not to hear from your organization.

You should respect those decisions.

But you shouldn’t assume every quiet relationship is a lost relationship.

Start by understanding whom you’re trying to reconnect with. Look at their history, give them a meaningful update, and offer a clear next step.

Then listen to their response.

At EverRaise, we believe something simple:

Engagement drives retention. Retention drives revenue.

The work starts with engagement.

If you’d like to see how EverRaise can help your team build and launch thoughtful donor reactivation campaigns, schedule a demo.