How to Lose a Donor in 10 days:
What Not to Do for Donor Engagement 

May 5, 2025

By Wendy Johnson

#1: Send a bland, generic thank you 

More than 80% of donor thank you letters begin with, “Thank you for your generous gift…” It's a nice thought, but it won't make you stand out. 

Boring, generic messages make donors feel like their gift doesn’t matter—a huge turn-off that’s the equivalent of saying “We should hang out sometime,” and then never following through. 

  ✅  Only 11% of first-time donors give again. However, donors say a prompt, personalized thank-you letter can change their mind.   

  ✅  23% of donors will give a more generous follow-up gift if they liked how their last gift was acknowledged.

How do you retain donors at your healthcare nonprofit?  

A personalized, heartfelt thank-you is one of the simplest but most overlooked donor retention strategies. It’s your first chance to turn a transaction into a relationship. 

• Thank them within 48 hours of receiving their gift. Use the donor’s first name and reference their specific gift:
  👉  “Maria, thank you so much for your $100 gift to support cancer care. Because of you, more patients can access the comfort items they need during hours of grueling treatment.” 

• Include a P.S. that invites them to take the next step, like watch a video, answer a short donor survey, or read an impact story.

• Segment your thank-yous by donor type: 

  • New donors: Thank them for their impact.

  • Monthly or long-time donors: Thank them for their loyalty. 

  • Share the impact: “Your donation helped stock 50 overnight kits for parents staying with their children in the pediatric ICU.” 

• Pick up the phone. Donors are 39% more likely to give again if they receive a thank-you call within 48 hours. 

• Check out this list of 20 ways to write unforgettable thank-you letters.

  #2: Ignore lapsed donors

It's five times cheaper to re-engage a lapsed donor than it is to acquire a new one, yet many healthcare foundations don’t have a clear strategy to bring them back. 

A personalized message, grounded in recognition and gratitude, is a proven donor retention strategy. According to Roger Craver's book Retention Fundraising, your odds of getting another gift depend entirely on your relationship with the donor: 

• Existing donors: 60–70% chance they’ll give again.

• Recently lapsed donor: 20–40% chance they’ll come back, but only if your outreach is timely, personal, and focused on their impact.

• New prospect: 2% chance they’ll make a first gift.

Reach out directly, with warmth and context. A story with heart can be a powerful re-entry point. Focus on what they made possible:
👉  “Last year, your support helped bring mobile health screenings to families without access to care. That ripple effect is still being felt. There's still so much good we can do, together."

• Segment by recency or giving level. Customize messaging based on how long the donor has been inactive.
  Mention their past engagement: “You helped expand access to chemotherapy for uninsured patients last year. Today, we’re asking for your help again—this time to support mobile cancer screenings for rural communities.”

#3: Make donors question their impact

A top reason why donors stop giving to nonprofits: They don’t know what their gift accomplished. In fact, 75% of donors are more likely to give again when they clearly understand their impact.

But without updates, stories, or outcomes, they lose trust and connection. And yet—64% of nonprofits still don’t provide regular impact reports.

• Show specific outcomes.
  👉  “Because of you, 12 uninsured women received the mammograms they needed. You gave them answers, peace of mind, and the chance to act early." 

• Use storytelling to help donors visualize the difference they made.
  👉  “Thanks to your kindness, our therapy dog Max comforted 8-year-old Lily as she and her family prepared for her surgery."

• Include impact in your regular communications.
  Don’t wait for the annual report. Weave impact into everything. Nothing says “I’m just not that into you” like radio silence.

#4: Blast the same fundraising appeal to everyone

Sending one-size-fits-all emails to your entire list is a fast way to kill trust. Smart donor segmentation is a marketing best practice and one of the most powerful donor engagement strategies you can deploy.

• Segment by giving history.
  👉  “Gabe, last year you helped patients like Marta get a faster diagnosis, so they can start treatment sooner and get back to their lives faster." 

• Tailor by interest area.
  Share their impact based on where they directed their donation, whether it was for cancer services, pediatrics, your mammogram mobile, or something else. 
  👉  "Your compassion helped save Eddie’s life after a massive 'widow-maker' heart attack. Every step he takes today is a tribute to the generous people like you who make world-class heart care available right here in our community."

• Celebrate donor milestones.
  👉  “This month marks your 3rd year as a supporter. Thank you for giving the gift of better health to people right here in our community.”

• Adapt by donor type.
  Major donors may expect personal outreach. Digital-first donors might prefer texts or social content. Different segments, different strategies.

Segmentation is a smart donor engagement strategy that works for large and small shops alike. If you want help segmenting your list or creating unique, personalized appeals to each segment, Nonprofit Mensa can help! 

Schedule a free 30-minute strategy session and we'll walk through how to segment your list to boost donor engagement and retention. 

#5: Chase new donors and neglect those who already gave.

Obviously, it’s important to add new donors to your network of supporters. But chasing new names while ignoring existing donors is a fatal fundraising mistake. 

Acquiring a new donor can cost 5x more than retaining an existing one. And there’s no guarantee they’ll stay. You'll only grow real profit by keeping the donors you already have, and increasing what they give.

New donors have an average donor retention rate of just 19%, compared with a 69% average donor retention rate for repeat donors.

• Invest in the relationship. Share updates, tell stories, show gratitude. Not just when you need a gift.

• Build a donor stewardship plan:
  ✅  Impact stories
  ✅  Thank-you touchpoints
  ✅  Event invitations
  ✅  Personal moments like birthdays and anniversaries

Donor retention isn’t about luck. It’s about doing the little things right to woo them, consistently. Start with these fixes to keep your donors from ghosting you before the second date.