It is well known that higher donor retention equals sustainable revenue and organizational growth. Since retaining donors is less expensive than acquiring new ones, donor retention is one of the easiest and most cost effective opportunities for increased fundraising performance. In order to maximize this potential, it is imperative for your organization to become proficient at running LYBUNT and SYBUNT reports from your Bloomerang database.

LYBUNT Report

LYBUNT stands for “Last Year But Unfortunately Not This Year.” The LYBUNT report will return all donors that donated last year, but haven’t donated this year. These donors haven’t been retained by your organization. In order to increase donor retention, it is important to focus your efforts on retaining these donors.

Start by creating a new report from a template and select the LYBUNT report template. This report returns constituents with gave last fiscal year but not this fiscal year.

The LYBUNT template will include the constituent’s name, latest transaction amount, latest transaction date, and number of interactions this fiscal year as columns for the report. You can customize this further by selecting additional columns for the report. Here are some suggested columns for your report.

• Address; City; State; Postal Code
• Email
• Phone
• Engagement Level

SYBUNT Report

SYBUNT stands for “Some Year But Unfortunately Not This Year.” The SYBUNT report will return all donors that donated some year in the past, but haven’t given this year. Use this report to follow-up with long-term lapsed donors.

While most SYBUNT donors have lapsed for a longer period of time than your LYBUNT donors, they still constitute a high-value prospective donor pool. LYBUNT donors are a component of your SYBUNT donor list, but it is important to create and implement different cultivation strategies for SYBUNT donors. This report identifies long-term lapsed donors so you can convert them back into active donors.

Start by creating a new report from a template and select the SYBUNT report template. This report returns constituents who gave some fiscal year but not this fiscal year.

The SYBUNT template will include the constituent’s name, latest transaction amount, latest transaction date, lifetime revenue, and number of interactions this fiscal year as columns for the report. You can customize this further by selecting additional columns for the report. Here are some suggested columns for your report.

• Address; City; State; Postal Code
• Email
• Phone
• Engagement Level

Customizing your LYBUNT and SYBUNT Reports

The LYBUNT and SYBUNT report templates in Bloomerang are great for a holistic view of your organization’s retention progress this year. But don’t stop there. Customize the LYBUNT and SYBUNT report templates in Bloomerang further by modifying the standard filters or adding additional filters

For example, export lapsed donor lists (like LYBUNT and SYBUNT) based on…

• Specific transaction types – find donors with transactions that are categorized as revenue or raised [raised = pledges, donations, and recurring donation payments] [revenue = pledge payments, donations, and recurring donation payments]
• Specific funds, campaigns, and appeals – find donors who gave to an appeal last year, but haven’t given to the same appeal this year
• Specific cumulative amounts – find donors who gave $500+ last year, but haven’t given $500+ this year

You may also want to add an additional filter to exclude constituents who are flagged as “Inactive” or “Deceased” to ensure your final LYBUNT or SYBUNT is actionable.

Improving Donor Retention with Bloomerang Software

Every constituent in your Bloomerang database is an asset to your organization and as summarized in this post, higher donor retention equals sustainable revenue and organizational growth. With these Bloomerang reports, you are now ready to retain lapsed donors, which is one step toward improving your organization’s overall donor retention.