As we mentioned in Part 1 of the series, according to a survey of nonprofits in 2014, for every $100 in new donations these organizations lost $95 in lapsed or reduced donations. Although that is still a 5% gain, these figures are disappointing to say the least.

In recent years, many donors have taken a “one and done” approach to nonprofit giving. The idea of donor loyalty seems to be on its way out. Some organizations are fearful of this trend, when there is no real need to be! There are many things you can do to renew the spirit of donors, and here we’ve listed steps you can take to turn your “past supporters” into current supporters:

• Reconnect: When reconnecting, it’s important to maintain a sense of openness and honesty. This can be done by using a more personalized form of communication e.g. phone call. In this step, the goal should be to acquire honest feedback from the individual while also showing your willingness to understand why they’ve had a lapse in donations.
• Give an update: Let them know what you’ve been up to since their last contact with the organization. By letting them know the great things the organization is accomplishing and planning to achieve in the future, you can reacquaint them with the reasons they started donating in the first place.
• Tell them you miss them: The key to this step is sounding sincere, without showing signs of desperation. The caller must state that they miss their contributions to the organization, and should remind them of the positive impact the donor made in the past. In doing so, the donor’s spirit will be reinvigorated by remembering the great feeling they had when they contributed to your organization’s mission.
• Invite and ask: Once renewing their sense of philanthropy, seal the deal by inviting the donor back to join in the organization’s mission. After making an invitation, finish the conversation with the ask. Not necessarily a monetary ask, but something like a volunteering opportunity or an event invitation. This will allow you to renew the donor’s sense of trust, and restore your relationship for future interactions.
• The personal touch: This seems like a straightforward practice for building loyalty; but still, many organizations continue to send automatic, robotic emails. To really be loyal to an organization, donors require the attention of a real person. Especially when rekindling a relationship with a donor, it is crucial to reconnect via a personal medium such as a friendly phone call to rebuild a loyal relationship and become a trusted advisor.
• Gain their trust: Loyalty is rooted in trust, meaning that in order to rebuild loyalty with your donors you must first regain their trust. How do you do this? You must recognize their fears or any reservations they have about your organization, and address them. After having this conversation, the donor is reassured that their initial donation was worthwhile and the process of developing trust has begun. 
• Learn to listen: Listening is a component of the reconnecting process and is directly linked to donor loyalty. This is most effective via of a phone call or online chat, rather than an automated survey. These conversations can be helpful in multiple ways; they make the donor feel cared for, which in turn boosts their loyalty; their insight can be useful in developing future loyalty initiatives; and most importantly, you can learn what you did wrong, correct it, and make sure that you never do it again in the future.
• Connect the money to the mission: A cardinal rule of donation management is connecting the donor’s contribution to the organization’s mission. One thing that causes donors to become disengaged with an organization is that they forget this message. They assume that your organization does what it does, regardless of donation. You must remind these donors that someone will be helped if they give. By connecting the dots between the generous donor and the good outcomes that come from their donations, you can rekindle your relationships with your donors. 
• Customize communication: You must remember that past donors are not new donors, and that they must be treated appropriately. Just as you would with your segmentations, you must customize your communication with past supporters. Instead of using generic “thank you” and “welcome back” messages, use hard statistics, subtle persuasion, and sincerity to communicate. Through segmented and customized interactions with past donors, you can successfully initiate the rebuilding of your lagged donor relationships.

Nicola Dickinson, Founding Partner at Altus Dynamics

Nicola, who helped build Altus Dynamics, feels that the best is yet to come.   A believer in the nonprofit sector, Nicola won’t stop her drive for Altus to not only be a great place to work but an important partner to growing nonprofit organizations.

Today, you can find Nicola listening to customers, supporting the employees in their professional development and leading the sales team to break new barriers in ERP and CRM for Nonprofits. If you catch Nicola in the hallway she’ll take any opportunity to share why ‘Together for the Greater Good’ is truly Altus Dynamics’s purpose – working together as a team and with our customers all for the greater good.

Nicola, a busy mother of two, has a long history of volunteer experience from Kidney Foundation Door to Door campaigns, start up triathlons for cancer research and her latest volunteer experience in mentoring young entrepreneurs at Futurepreneur. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or Twitter.