4 steps · Phone, Email, SMS, Direct mail
Each supporter’s own giving rhythm says when they are slipping. Act inside the window, not at year end.
Sample charity: the people and numbers in these screens are made up, so the picture shows the tool, not a result.
Lapses caught early.
Why your CRM misses this. Some CRMs only report one month at a time, so a supporter’s rhythm over the years never shows. The usual stand-in is one rule for everyone, such as no gift in 12 months.
Data
1 of its 2 sources usually sit outside the CRM
Signals
it reads 3 of them
Reach
4 channels: phone, email, sms and more
Journey
4 steps, start to finish
Mission joins these into one record per person, beside your CRM.
Who is about to lapse, and how many days do you have? These supporters are close to, or already past, the point where their own giving rhythm says they have gone quiet.
What to do: Pick up the phone for your highest-value supporters. Put the rest into a priority email sequence.
Each step names when it happens and the channel it uses. Under the steps is the campaign as it is built in Orbit, in 2 parts. Read them in order.
Day 0
Call list
Cliff Edge Critical with the highest lifetime giving: a personal thank-you call, no ask.
Day 0
Cliff Edge Urgent: an impact update tied to the campaign they last gave to.
Day 7
SMS
Did not open the email: a short text with a link to the same story.
Day 14
Direct mail
Still quiet: a printed update for those with a postal address.
A new gift resets Days Since Last Donation, so they leave the Cliff Edge band at the next refresh and their Rhythm Drift Score drops back below 1.
Results land on the same supporter record, so the next run starts from what just happened.
Proven. A first SMS appeal returned a positive ROI, even at test scale. See a similar use case
Lapses caught early. Each supporter’s own giving rhythm says when they are slipping. Act inside the window, not at year end.
Lapse Prevention: Who is about to lapse, and how many days do you have? These supporters are close to, or already past, the point where their own giving rhythm says they have gone quiet.
Donations: supporter ID, gift amount, gift date; Addresses: postal address for mail
Some CRMs only report one month at a time, so a supporter’s rhythm over the years never shows. The usual stand-in is one rule for everyone, such as no gift in 12 months.
Phone, Email, SMS, Direct mail. Day 0: Call list Then Day 0: Email Then Day 7: SMS Then Day 14: Direct mail.
Fundraising.
This pathway is one of the four in the capstone of Learn Mission, a free course.
You build the audience, the email, the schedule and the guardrail in Orbit, one stop at a time.
Open the capstone