Ops Insights #081 AI Objectives for Lapsed and Lost Donors
January 8, 2026 | Read Time: 3 minutes | Written by Jenny Kleintop
When Mike was looking into AI tools that vendors offered, he asked me, “Do you have any thoughts about who would be the best targets for our AI, event donors, lapsed donors, etc.?
Here’s how I responded: It depends on the goal of the AI. Is it to steward and thank donors to retain them? Is it to re-engage lapsed or lost donors? Is it to try to convert more donors into sustaining donors? Is it to upgrade donors whom we can’t get a fundraiser linked to?
AI should not be a catch-all to try to do too many things. There should be various journeys with one goal/purpose/thing to solve for.
First, I’d ask what the vendor says the objective of their AI is and see if your goals align with it. Then, I’d recommend starting with 3 objectives that you want AI to accomplish. Based on our work together and knowing what the team can’t get to, I’d start with the following:
Objective 1: Retain 40% of our lapsing donors and dollars.
List to use: Tag in NXT = Lapsing & living Individual with either a phone or email.
Here’s how Blackbaud defines lapsing: haven't given a gift or received a soft credit in 15-24 months. Review their giving history to see which current campaigns and appeals fit their interests and passions, and suggest a recurring gift for more regular giving.
Objective 2: Recapture 10% of lapsed donors and dollars.
List to use: Tag in NXT = Lapsed & living Individual with either a phone or email.
Here’s how Blackbaud defines lapsed: Lapsed donors haven't given a gift or received a soft credit in two to five years. Review your relationship with them to determine why they stopped giving and decide whether to recapture them or mark them as inactive to focus on others.
Objective 3: Recapture 5% of lost donors and dollars who gave 5-10 years ago.
List to use: List to use: Tag in NXT = Lost, Individual.
Here’s how Blackbaud defines lost: haven't given a gift or received a soft credit in over five years. To acquire these donors (again), treat them as new prospects, and promptly acknowledge new gifts with personal interactions and welcome packages.
All 3 lists above exclude: has assignment, has prospect status, certain cons code: board member/staff/volunteer/chapter member anytime, as I think these exclusions need a different strategy.
If you start with those 3 objectives, below is a visual based on the data we have for potential ROI. Of course, you can check with the vendor what they think is realistic based on them working with other places.
Then, as we feel confident in the outreach method and success of the AI tool, we can weave in other objectives, such as:
Objective 4: Convert 5% of our annual donors into recurring/sustaining donors.
Objective 5: Upgrade 2% of our annual donors into $1K+ level donors.
Objective 6: Re-engage 1% of our long-lost donors (who gave more than 10 years ago) by getting them to come to an event or take a call with a team member.
Rather than say what can AI do for us, figure out a pain point or problem that the AI can solve. Give it a specific goal/purpose/thing to solve for. This then allows you to measure the ROI.
Take Action
It’s your turn. Take the following 3 steps to help retain and recapture those donors that you worked so hard to get.
1 ➡ Think of 3 types of donors where you have lots of donors but not enough staff or time to connect with those donors.
2 ➡ Reach out to 3-4 vendors who claim they use AI to interact and increase engagement and donations using AI, which may be referred to as AI Agents or Autonomous Fundraising.
3 ➡ Ask very specific ROI questions to the vendors, use cases, referrals, etc., to get a clear handle on what your investment will do for you.
You’ve got this!
👋 See you next time,
Jenny
P.S. Happy New Year!
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