Don’t give up on your lapsed donors. With the right strategy, you can bring them back into the fold — and it’s easier than trying to win new ones.

By Cary Castle

“A donor isn’t a donor until he makes a second gift,” says Dick Murdock, president of Murdock Associates, a Dover, Mass.-based creative and strategic consultancy. “Consider creating a special series of your best renewal appeals for your first-year renewal audience. This can boost that critical first-year renewal rate, which will mean a big increase in revenue in subsequent years.”