How to run LYBUNT and SYBUNT reports

Regaining lapsed donors is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones—meaning reconnecting with even one-time givers can be more than trying to find new donors.

Reconnecting with lapsed donors is a big part of donor retention. In this article, we will explain what LYBUNT and SYBUNT are, why they matter, how to track them, and the tools you need to gain insights into your supporter base and draft the perfect lapsed donor appeal letter.

What does LYBUNT AND SYBUNT mean?

• LYBUNT meaning (pronounced lie-bunt): LYBUNT stands for “Last year but unfortunately not this year,” and tracks donors who gave the previous year but did not give this fiscal year.
• SYBUNT meaning (pronounced sigh-bunt): SYBUNT stands for “Some year but unfortunately not this year,” and refers to audience members who donated at some point in the past but have not made a contribution this year.

Even though SYBUNT vs LYBUNT donors are slightly different, tracking both groups can help you better predict yearly donations and get closer to your annual fundraising goal.

Why do LYBUNT and SYBUNT matter, anyway?

Put simply, running LYBUNT and SYBUNT reports allows you to identify and target donors who have lapsed but are most likely to give again.

Visualize potential donors within a funnel. At the top of the funnel are those members who are just becoming familiar with your organization and mission. As you develop a deeper relationship with potential donors, they move down the funnel until you reach the point of conversion (donating to your cause).

Individuals within your LYBUNT and SYBUNT reports list are at the bottom of your funnel. Both groups have expressed interest and completed their first-time donation. Therefore, they likely still care about your mission. You just need to figure out why they stopped giving and determine the best outreach strategy to reconnect them to your cause.

The pros and cons of reconnecting with lapsed donors 

Like any worthwhile pursuit in the nonprofit world, reconnecting with lapsed donors comes with some great opportunities to progress your mission—but some challenges, too. 

Before tackling this part of donor retention, it’s important to understand the opportunities and challenges so you can approach it strategically. 

Lapsed donors challenges

❌ Identifying why a donor lapsed: Understanding the reasons behind donor lapses is critical. Did they lose interest, or did they feel underappreciated? Maybe they just forgot! Whatever the case may be, finding out this information can take lots of time and effort.

❌ Costs: Reactivating lapsed donors can be expensive. To successfully reengage one-time donors, you'll need to develop a strategy, use the right tools, craft an effective message, and maybe even offer additional incentives.

❌ Organization: Keeping your donor database up to date is essential for any donor retention strategy. But without the right tools, managing this information—activity history, contact information, communication preferences, and more—can quickly become burdensome.

❌ Personalization: Donors don’t want generic messages—especially lapsed ones. Personalizing each communication takes time and effort, too, which can be challenging for busy nonprofits.

Lapsed donor opportunities

✅  Improved donor retention and revenue: Reconnecting with lapsed donors can encourage them to become recurring donors, who typically have retention rates of more than 80% after the first year and over 95% after year five. Meaning, getting lapsed donors back on board with your mission can lead to long-term loyalty.

✅ Feedback: Reaching out to lapsed donors can provide insights into why they stopped giving—whether they became disinterested, received too many appeals (or not enough), or simply forgot about your mission—helping you improve future donor retention strategies.

✅ Campaign upgrades: Information from LYBUNT and SYBUNT reports can help nonprofits create targeted campaigns that speak directly to these donors’ past engagement and interests.It’s a great opportunity to refresh appeals and outreach.

✅ Better data: Re-engaging lapsed donors helps you update your donor database with current contact information and preferences. This up-to-date data can enhance your analytics and reporting, providing deeper insights into donor behavior and trends.

6 tools you need to run SYBUNT and LYBUNT reports

As previously stated, to understand your SYBUNT and LYBUNT segments and engage lapsed donors, you’ll need a donor database or CRM system. Fortunately, Givebutter offers robust donor management tools and the world’s first free nonprofit CRM to help you better understand, track, and communicate with your audience.

To leverage Givebutter’s built-in CRM to push your LYBUNT and SYBUNT groups over the finish line, be sure to take advantage of these features:

1. Donor segments 🔎

To run a LYBUNT report, filter donor giving history by "last year." Then, compare those who gave last year to those who didn't give this year to create a LYBUNT segment. Your SYBUNT segment will include past donors who did not give this year or last year.

Givebutter's CRM comes with robust donor segmentation features and even includes LYBUNT and SYBUNT as preset donor segments. You can identify (and re-engage!) these groups with just the click of a button.

2. Advanced filtering 🔎

While Givebutter's reporting function includes LYBUNT and SYBUNT segments, you can create your own saved segments using advanced filtering to target donors even more precisely.

Organize donors into customized groups based on their contribution history, event attendance, contact tags, custom fields, or other contact details. You can then use these segments to generate donor reports, send targeted messages, and improve overall engagement and donor stewardship.

3. Targeted messages 📪

After saving your LYBUNT and SYBUNT segments, you can steward them through targeted messaging. Givebutter's built-in marketing automation tools allow you to re-engage lapsed donors and inspire them to make another gift to your organization.

You can send your audience free SMS messages, emails, or invitations to upcoming fundraising events to help move them further down the pipeline.

4. Automated thank yous 📩

One of the easiest ways to transform one-time supporters into recurring donors is by thanking them for their contribution.

Givebutter makes it easy to boost your donor retention rate by automatically sending donation receipts after every transaction, which can be customized with a quick “thank you” message and your organization’s branding.

⭐ Pro tip: Want an innovative way to express your gratitude? Leverage Givebutter’s integration with ThankView to create a thank-you video for new and recurring supporters.

5. DonorSearch 💪

Want to learn even more about the giving capacity of lapsed donors? Givebutter’s integration with DonorSearch allows you to uncover valuable wealth screening metrics about your audience.

That way, you can uncover potential major donors in your audience and tailor your SYBUNT or LYBUNT messaging strategy based on a donor’s giving capacity.

6. End-of-year reports 📆

Providing donors with a clear view of the impact of their previous donations can increase the likelihood of future donations. A SYBUNT or LYBUNT report is particularly useful for sharing this information with lapsed donors and influencing next year’s fundraising strategy.

Fortunately, Givebutter offers an easy way to generate end-of-year reports to share with your donors. You can run individual or household giving reports directly from your dashboard, share reports via PDF or a unique link, and even customize reports with your organization’s logo.

Free LYBUNT letter template

Once you’ve run your reports, it’s time to reach out to lapsed donors with some tailored messaging.

Need some help getting started? Download our free lapsed donor letter template and fill in all the blanks with your nonprofit’s and donor’s info.

Freebie alert!

Download a customizable lapsed donor letter template ->

Best practices for reengaging lapsed donors 

Reaching out to lapsed donors requires thoughtful effort and strategy. To make your outreach as successful as possible, your organization should follow a few best practices. 

• Encourage honest feedback 💛 Reconnecting with lapsed donors is a great opportunity to gather important insights into how donors view your organization. Consider sending a short survey to understand why they stopped giving and what might encourage them to return. Or, invite them to share their thoughts via email or a phone call.
• Offer re-engagement options 💸 Put donors in control by giving them lots of options for engagement—whether they want to set up a recurring gift, make a small donation, or even volunteer.
• Use peer influences 👥 One of the best ways to re-engage donors is to tap into your current support network. Encourage current donors, board members, or even volunteers to reach out to lapsed donors within their networks.‍
• Follow up consistently 🔄 Reconnecting with lapsed donors can take time. Be sure to send periodic updates without including a fundraising appeal. Plus, be sure to acknowledge the anniversary of their last gift with a special note or update.

Take your donor relationships to new heights

Ready to take your donor retention strategies up a notch? Check out these additional resources to make reconnecting with donors as smooth as butter.

• Donor stewardship: Top ways to increase donor loyalty
• Budget-friendly donor appreciation event planning ideas
• Donor cultivation: What it is & 5 key strategies
• 3 ways to improve donor relations in 30 days

Run your LYBUNT and SYBUNT reports through Givebutter

To hit your fundraising goals, you need to know which supporters are most likely to give. There are two segments—LYBUNT and SYBUNT—that target groups that have given before and are more likely to give again with the right outreach strategy.

With Givebutter’s donor management tools and built-in CRM, you can store donor data, filter contacts by giving history, run year-end reports, and track LYBUNT and SYBUNT donors using built-in segments. Then, you can leverage Givebutter’s marketing tools to launch a donor stewardship strategy combining email automation, SMS messaging, social media, and more.

Ready to see how Givebutter’s all-in-one platform can help transform your fundraising? Set up your free account today.