Donors lapse. It happens. No matter how optimized our appeals and communication strategies are, donors will still lapse.
In order to reactivate them, we sometimes need to think a little outside of the box to get their attention. They don’t open our standard solicitations, but they still care. Many times, they don’t even realize that they’ve lapsed.
This lapsed donor reactivation letter is designed to do just that … get their attention by being a bit different. Let’s take a look …
Yes, that’s actually it. It really is that simple. A few key things to note:
- It’s not on the organization’s letterhead. It’s on plain white office printer paper.
- Their last donation information is written in RED PEN.
- It is hand-signed.
- There’s a quick little note.
It looks very different from our normal correspondence, which gets their attention. And there’s something about the red ink that seems to take folks back to grade school and spurns action.
And just as importantly, what do you send it in?
Yep … a plain white, hand-addressed envelope with a crooked first-class stamp on it. It looks like personal correspondence (and it is; you hand-signed it), and most people will open this.
But does it work? YES! In initial testing with some of my coaching clients, I’ve seen lapsed donor reactivation rates ranging from 7 to 22 percent! That’s huge and completely trounces the industry average 4 percent reactivation rate. So get your red pen ready and give it a try at your shop today!