The sector says donors “lapse,” as if generosity expires on its own, like milk. It does not.
Donors stop giving because nobody thanked them properly, nobody told them what their gift did, and nobody treated them as anything more than a renewal date.
Donors lapse because they are forgotten.
“Lapsed donor” is fundraising jargon for neglected friend. The label blames them. The cause is us.
Somewhere in your file is a person who gave last year and has heard nothing since. Reach them before the silence becomes permanent.
They did not leave you. They are waiting to find out whether you ever noticed they arrived.
