Happy Friday! I just have a quick question today. How long before you reclassify a lapsed donor as a new donor? Is it two years since the date of their last gift? 3 years? 5? TIA
We actually have a 3rd category for those types of gifts. We classify those as Win Backs and note the FY for the last gift and a note. Then when the letters are being signed our CDO can make reference to that and welcome them back. Seems to work well.
For me, a lapsed donor is always a lapsed donor. Even if they last gave 10 or 20 years ago, they likely remember giving to us and it's in our best interest to customize their acknowledgement to welcome them back instead of welcoming them for the first time. Hope this helps!