Why Donors Leave (And How to Keep Them) · Class 5 of 7
Why donors left
Sort the donors who left by what their gift history shows, and choose which few to contact first.
Your records hold clues to why donors stopped giving, even without a survey. This class sorts lapsed donors into a few groups, shows which ones never really left, and explains how to ask back the few who matter most.
Key takeaways
- Your records hold clues to why. Gift history sorts people into a few groups: gave once, gave at an event or in memory of someone, a monthly gift that stopped, moved or died, and long-time donors who stopped.
- Some never really left. An expired card or an old address is a records problem, not a relationship problem. Fix those first.
- Ask back the few who matter, and ask why. Start with long-time donors, by phone or a handwritten note, with a real question about how you did.
Your homework
About 20 minutes.
- Pull donors who gave the year before last but not last year. Most donor systems have a ready-made report for this.
- Sort by total lifetime giving and take the top 20.
- Give each one a label: one gift, event or memorial, monthly gift stopped, moved or died, or long-time stopped.
- Pick five to contact this month, starting with stopped monthly gifts and long-time donors.
The free file check shows last year's full-year retention rate, but not who lapsed or why. This one is done in your donor system.
Get the Class 5 worksheet
A printable page with the steps, a table to fill in and a worked example. Tell us where to send it.
Sources
- Fundraising Effectiveness Project, Q4 2025 report