Automating lapsed donor re-engagement workflows

Purpose

1. Automate the process of identifying, contacting, and re-engaging lapsed donors for non-profit arts organizations, maximizing donor retention, improving fundraising efficiency, and sustaining ongoing support by executing automated, personalized outreach sequences across multiple channels and systematically tracking engagement outcomes.

Trigger Conditions

1. Donor no gift recorded within a specified lapsed period (e.g., 6, 12, or 24 months).

2. Lapsed donor status tag (e.g., “lapsed-donor”) added/updated in CRM.

3. Membership expiry without renewal.

4. Failed recurring gift payment attempts logged.

5. No response to previous campaign emails within set timeframe.

Platform Variants

1. Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud

• Feature/Setting: Salesforce Flow for ‘Lapsed Donor’ report, flow automates creation of campaign response tasks and personalized email automation with Email Alerts.
  

2. Mailchimp

• Feature/Setting: Automate triggers via “Segment” for lapsed donors and automating ‘Customer Journey Builder’ to send sequenced email re-engagement campaigns.
  

3. HubSpot

• Feature/Setting: List automation for donors inactive >X days, activate automated “Re-Engagement Workflow” with branching actions.
  

4. Zoho CRM

• Feature/Setting: Workflow Rule for donor inactivity, automates “Email Notification” and task assignment for follow-up.
  

5. NationBuilder

• Feature/Setting: Automate filtering / tagging lapsed supporters, trigger personalized email series using automation in Communication tab.
  

6. Blackbaud eTapestry

• Feature/Setting: Smart Reporting to flag lapsed donors, automate ‘DIY’ email series with delayed sends.
  

7. Kindful

• Feature/Setting: ‘Filters’ for lapsed donors, automated “Action Trackers” and personalized mail merge using Campaigns.
  

8. Bloomerang

• Feature/Setting: “Lapsed Donor Report” triggers automating email sequences through integrated email tools.
  

9. Keela

• Feature/Setting: Smart Lists for automating donor inactivity detection, integrated follow-up sequences.
  

10. Constant Contact

• Feature/Setting: “List Segmentation” and automated “Email Series” for lapsed contacts, set-up via Marketing Automation tools.
  

11. Twilio SMS

• Feature/Setting: Automated SMS flow via “Studio Flow” or API POST for lapsed donor encouragement texts.
  

12. SendGrid

• Feature/Setting: Triggered email automation using “Marketing Campaign Automation” and API to target lapsed addresses.
  

13. ActiveCampaign

• Feature/Setting: Automate ‘Engagement Tag’ triggers with advanced sequence builder for multi-touch re-engagement.
  

14. Slack

• Feature/Setting: Automated “Reminder” message posting in dev/fundraising channel using Incoming Webhooks or API upon lapsed donor detection.
  

15. Google Sheets

• Feature/Setting: Automated “Script” or webhook on change to list lapsed donors and log contact status.
  

16. Airtable

• Feature/Setting: Automated “Views” and “Automation” to flag lapsed donors, send personalized email or assign follow-up task.
  

17. Microsoft Power Automate

• Feature/Setting: Automates pulling CRM donor inactivity, triggers Outlook or Teams notifications for follow-up.
  

18. Asana

• Feature/Setting: Automator “Task creation” in fundraising board when donor lapsed event occurs.
  

19. Trello

• Feature/Setting: Automation Rules to add cards to ‘Re-engage’ list on donor inactivity record via webhook.
  

20. Eventbrite

• Feature/Setting: Automated discount/invite email sending to lapsed donors not attending recent events, using API event triggers.
  

21. Shopify

• Feature/Setting: Automate app or webhook to trigger retargeting and donation follow-up for lapsed art buyers/donors.
  

22. G Suite Gmail API

• Feature/Setting: Automated batch personalized emails to lapsed contacts via Apps Script.
  

23. Segment

• Feature/Setting: Automator event-based triggers for donor lapse, automatedly sync to downstream marketing.
  

24. Intercom

• Feature/Setting: Rules-based chat and automated email flows for lapsed donor audience segment.
  

Benefits

1. Automates donor reactivation by minimizing manual donor list reviews.

2. Enhances donor experience with automated, personalized, multi-channel messaging.

3. Automating multi-touchpoint tracking enables rapid data-driven decisions and segmentation.

4. Automation improves internal process consistency, transparency, and reduces staff administrative workload.

5. Automator systems increase potential re-activation by automating timely, relevant messaging precisely when donors are most likely to return.

6. Enables scalable, repeatable, automated re-engagement programs for sustained fundraising growth.