Lapsed Donor Reports Training Webinar

Learn to build Lapsed Donor Reports in DonorSnap. Lapsed donors are people who gave in the past but haven’t given this year, and reaching them is a core part of year-end appeals. This training compares the LYBUNT and Non-Giving canned reports with a custom report built in DataMiner Platinum, so you can pick the right tool for a letter, a board meeting or a mass email.

In this webinar we cover:

• Running the LYBUNT report under Reports > Fund Development Analysis
• Changing the date range to find SYBUNT and long-lapsed donors
• Pulling donors lapsed from a specific campaign, appeal or donation type
• Using the Non-Giving report for contacts who simply haven’t given
• Building a Lapsed Donor Report in DataMiner Platinum
• Sending a mass email, labels or texts to your lapsed donors
• Which report to use when you need a donor’s last gift in your appeal letter

New to custom reports? Start with the DataMiner Platinum Basics webinar.

Quick recap

The trainer explained that keeping track of lapsed donors, and winning them back, is one of the biggest responsibilities in donor management, especially heading into year-end appeals. She first ran the LYBUNT canned report (Last Year But Unfortunately Not This year) from Reports > Fund Development Analysis, showing how to filter by contact type and donation type and how to widen the date range to produce a SYBUNT list. She then showed the Non-Giving report under Donation Activity, which lists anyone who hasn’t given in a date range regardless of past giving. Finally, she built a custom Lapsed Donor Report in DataMiner Platinum using Donation Amount Prior Year greater than $1 and Donation Amount YTD equal to zero. Her rule of thumb: use DataMiner Platinum to send a mass email from DonorSnap, and use LYBUNT when your appeal letter needs the donor’s last gift.

Summary

Running the LYBUNT Report
Go to Reports > Fund Development Analysis > LYBUNT. By default it lists contacts whose last gift fell in the prior calendar year. Filter by contact type (for example, individuals only for a mailing), status (active only, unless a board report should include deceased legacy donors), and donation type, campaign or appeal, then choose Viewer, PDF or Excel.

Viewer, PDF and Excel Output
The Viewer and PDF give a clean, printable list with email, phone, last gift, consecutive giving years and lifetime giving, which works well for board or development committee conversations. The Excel export includes nearly every field, including user-defined fields, so plan to delete what you don’t need before a mail merge.

Changing the Date Range for SYBUNT and Long-Lapsed Donors
The LYBUNT date range is the window of the donor’s last gift. Widen it to the past three years to produce a SYBUNT list (Some Year But Unfortunately Not This year), or set it to an older range, such as 2010 to 2020, to reach long-lapsed donors with one more ask.

Finding Donors Lapsed From a Specific Campaign or Donation Type
Uncheck the donation filters you don’t want to find people who gave to something before but not this year, such as members who haven’t renewed, past golf tournament sponsors or previous grantors. This is the only report that can target lapsed giving by campaign, appeal or donation type.

The Non-Giving Report
Reports > Donation Activity > Non-Giving lists contacts who haven’t given in the date range you enter, whether or not they ever gave before. Because it includes no financial history, it works as an address and contact list. Use it when you want everyone who hasn’t supported an event or year, not just lapsed donors.

Building a Lapsed Donor Report in DataMiner Platinum
In Reports > DataMiner Platinum, click the blue add button, title the batch and click Insert. Choose Contact data with Status set to Active, select export fields such as email, address, Donation Amount Prior Year and Donation Date Last, then query Donation Amount Prior Year greater than $1 AND Donation Amount YTD equal to 0.

Sending Mass Email, Labels and Texts to Lapsed Donors
DonorSnap’s communication tools under Processing, including Mass Email Campaign, labels and texting, only accept a DataMiner Platinum batch. Select your Lapsed Donor Report as the recipient list. The report updates itself as gifts come in, so it can be reused every year without rebuilding. Check for an existing lapsed donor report before building a new one.

Choosing Between LYBUNT and DataMiner Platinum
DataMiner Platinum lets you pick your fields and filter on attributes like board member or volunteer, but it can’t easily filter lapsed giving by campaign or appeal, and it can’t show what a donor’s last gift was for. LYBUNT shows the last gift’s date, amount, appeal, campaign and accounting code but isn’t customizable.

Staying Ahead of Lapsed Donors Year-Round
Under Processing, the Automated Task Manager can email donors automatically, such as 365 days after their last donation, with a story or donation link to keep them engaged. DonorSnap Analytics, a paid AI report builder, can produce LYBUNT-style results with the last gift details while letting you choose fields.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a LYBUNT report? A list of donors who gave Last Year But Unfortunately Not This year. In DonorSnap, it is a canned report under Reports > Fund Development Analysis > LYBUNT, showing each lapsed donor’s last gift, contact details, consecutive giving years and lifetime giving.

What is the difference between LYBUNT and SYBUNT? SYBUNT widens the window to Some Year But Unfortunately Not This year. In DonorSnap, run the LYBUNT report and change the date range to cover several past years, such as the last three, to produce a SYBUNT list.

How do I include a donor’s last gift amount and campaign in my appeal letter? Use the LYBUNT report. It is the only canned report in DonorSnap that returns the date, amount, appeal, campaign and accounting code of each donor’s last gift. Export it to Excel and merge those fields into your letter outside of DonorSnap.

Why doesn’t the MAX aggregate for the campaign field in DataMiner Platinum show the donor’s last gift? Because MAX means largest, not most recent. In a Donation Summary export, the MAX and MIN campaign and appeal fields return the biggest (end of the alphabet) and smallest (beginning of the alphabet) values, and they are not tied to Donation Date Last or Donation Amount Last.

Can I send a mass email to the people on my canned LYBUNT report? Not from inside DonorSnap. Processing > Mass Email Campaign, labels and texting only accept a DataMiner Platinum batch, so build a Lapsed Donor Report in DataMiner Platinum to email your lapsed donors directly from DonorSnap.

How do I find members who haven’t renewed this year? Run the LYBUNT report and leave only your membership donation type checked. The results show contacts who paid membership in the date range but haven’t paid this year. The same approach works for events, grants or any campaign or appeal.

What is the difference between the LYBUNT and Non-Giving reports? LYBUNT only lists people who gave in the past but not after your date range. The Non-Giving report, under Reports > Donation Activity, lists anyone who hasn’t given in your date range, whether or not they ever gave, and includes no financial history.

Do I need to rebuild my DataMiner Platinum lapsed donor report every year? No. A query using Donation Amount Prior Year and Donation Amount YTD updates automatically, so donors drop off as soon as their payment is entered and the report rolls forward each year. Remove specific years from the description so it stays accurate.

Can I filter a lapsed donor report by board members or volunteers? Yes, but only in DataMiner Platinum. The LYBUNT report filters only on contact type, status and donation fields. DataMiner Platinum can add attributes, mail codes, board or volunteer fields and any other field in your database.

Related Pages:

DataMiner Platinum Basics webinar
DonorSnap Analytics
Getting Started 106: Reports
Retaining New Donors Training Webinar
Nonprofit Annual Reports Training Webinar