Follow-up emails to lapsed donors or members

Purpose of Automated Follow-up Emails to Lapsed Donors or Members

1.1. Automate re-engagement of previous donors or members who haven’t contributed within a designated period.
1.2. Automatedly remind, persuade, and update lapsed participants on ongoing campaigns and benefits of rejoining.
1.3. Automating donor lifecycle management to increase retention for non-profit, healthcare support initiatives.
1.4. Enables data-driven personalization and segmentation in automatable email campaigns.
1.5. Improves fundraising outcomes by automating cross-channel recovery and minimizing manual outreach.

Trigger Conditions

2.1. Last donation or membership renewal date exceeds a set timespan (e.g., 6 or 12 months).
2.2. No recorded engagement or donation activity in recent automator monitoring.
2.3. Detected "inactive" status in CRM database, automatable via automated queries and segment filters.
2.4. Campaign-driven trigger—special events, end-of-year appeals, or loss prevention automation sequences.
2.5. Manual flag or external spreadsheet import marking contacts as ‘lapsed’ for automation.

Platform Variants for Automated Email Follow-ups

3.1. Mailchimp
- Feature/Setting: Automate journeys, use “Customer Journey Builder” with trigger set to “Tag Added: Lapsed Donor.”
3.2. Salesforce Marketing Cloud
- Feature/Setting: Automation Studio flow using “Data Extension filter: Lapsed Members,” scheduled to send journey emails.
3.3. HubSpot
- Feature/Setting: Workflow automation using a “Last Donation Date” property and “Send Email” action for lapsed contact reactivation.
3.4. ActiveCampaign
- Feature/Setting: Use “Automations” with If/Else for Inactivity, automates targeted email sequences.
3.5. Zoho Campaigns
- Feature/Setting: Use “Autoresponder” based on custom field “Status = Lapsed.”
3.6. SendGrid
- Feature/Setting: API v3 “Mail Send” endpoint combined with “List Segmentation” for lapsed members automation.
3.7. Microsoft Dynamics 365
- Feature/Setting: “Customer Insights – Segments,” triggers automated campaign when donation status is inactive.
3.8. Constant Contact
- Feature/Setting: “Automated Email Series” using Activity Date Filters for automating follow-ups.
3.9. Klaviyo
- Feature/Setting: Flow automation using custom segments for “Lapsed Donors,” automatedly sending reminders.
3.10. Drip
- Feature/Setting: Workflow “Rules” with inactive tag, automates multi-step email follow-ups.
3.11. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
- Feature/Setting: “Marketing Automation” with conditions on last donation date for automatic email dispatch.
3.12. Pipedrive
- Feature/Setting: Use “Automations” in conjunction with donor inactivity, automating personalized follow-up messages.
3.13. Keap (InfusionSoft)
- Feature/Setting: Campaign Builder with “Field Timer” set on last donation field, triggers automatable sequence.
3.14. Google Workspace (Gmail + Apps Script)
- Feature/Setting: Apps Script automation to scan Sheets, trigger batch emails to lapsed donors via Gmail API.
3.15. AWS SES (Simple Email Service)
- Feature/Setting: SES API for sending emails, combined with Lambda function for automated donor segmentation.
3.16. MailerLite
- Feature/Setting: Automation with “Last Activity” filter and automated email reminders.
3.17. Emma
- Feature/Setting: “Automated Workflows” using audience segmentation for lapsed members.
3.18. Omnisend
- Feature/Setting: “Segmentation + Automation” triggers, sends emails based on donation lapse status.
3.19. VerticalResponse
- Feature/Setting: Autoresponder enabled for date-driven triggers (last donation date expired).
3.20. Gmass
- Feature/Setting: Google Sheets integration, automates personalized campaign to lapsed donors with mail merge function.

Benefits

4.1. Automates repetitive retention efforts, freeing staff for higher-value activities.
4.2. Data-driven automation increases donor/member retention rates with targeted, timely engagement.
4.3. Improves fundraising results by automating the nurturing of at-risk donors.
4.4. Reduces manual error by automating segmentation and personalized outreach.
4.5. Scales non-profit patient support operations through repeatable automator workflows.
4.6. Enhances reporting and ROI tracking by using automation logs to analyze campaign effectiveness.
4.7. Ensures compliance by automating consent and opting processes in every automated campaign.
4.8. Supports omnichannel retention with cross-platform automation—email, SMS, and CRM triggers.
4.9. Enables A/B testing of email content and timing for optimizing automated engagement.
4.10. Automating outreach reduces donor churn and automates opportunities for re-engagement at scale.