How to Use the Prospects View for Growing Your Donor and Member Base

Learn strategic approaches for using Prospect Segments to identify warm leads, build cultivation programs, and strategically develop your donor and membership base.

Use this guide when building or expanding your donor and/or membership base, creating strategic cultivation plans, or reconnecting with lapsed supporters.

Prospect Identification Strategy

The Prospecting Segments dashboard categorizes constituents based on their behavior to help you prioritize outreach:

• Engaged Non-Donors: Individuals with a 30%+ email open rate and 1+ click in the past 6 months. These are high-priority leads for initial giving.
• Engaged Non-Members: Similar high engagement (30% open rate) from individuals who haven't yet joined as members.
• Engaged Lapsed Donors: Prior supporters with a 25%+ open rate and recent clicks. These are prime candidates for re-engagement.
• Curious Segments: Individuals with lower open rates (10-15%). These require more consistent top-of-funnel content to build interest.

Prioritizing Engaged Non-Donors

Engaged Non-Donors represent your warmest prospects—they are already reading your content and clicking your links, even if they haven't given financially yet.

1. Navigate to Prospects > Engaged Non-Donors.
2. Click View Constituents to see the full list of individuals in a report.
3. Review the list, paying attention to their status (e.g., Member, Event Attendee).
4. Prioritize those with recent activity or those who have attended multiple events.
5. Open a constituent profile to review their specific engagement history and contact information.

Engaged Non-Donors list with engagement metrics highlighted

Building a Cultivation List

Create a strategic pipeline by focusing on highly active segments:

1. Export Tier 1 Segments: Pull lists for Engaged Non-Donors and Engaged Lapsed Donors.
2. Filter for Quality: Identify constituents who are both Members and Event Attendees for the highest conversion potential.
3. Research & Assign: Check for available email addresses, phone numbers or physical addresses to determine the best outreach method.
4. Schedule Outreach: Plan initial touchpoints to transition these engaged individuals into active donors or members.

Understanding Engagement as a Pipeline Signal

High engagement across different segments is a strong signal of future support:

• Email Clicks: A click suggests they are looking for ways to get involved beyond just reading.
• Event Attendance: Attendance at member or public events indicates a desire for community connection.
• Open Rates: Consistent opens (30%+) show that your mission is resonating with them.

Transitioning Donors Up the Pipeline

Use segments to track and guide the constituent journey:

• Stage 1: Engaged Non-Donor → First Gift: Convert high-open-rate prospects into first-time donors.
• Stage 2: New Donor → Sustained Member: Use engagement data to encourage donors to join membership programs.
• Stage 3: Lapsed → Active: Use the Engaged Lapsed Donor segment (25% open rate) to bring former supporters back into the fold

Monitor segment movement monthly—constituents should flow from higher Curious scores to lower Engaged scores as engagement increases.

Addressing Engaged Lapsed Donors

Engaged Lapsed Donors are high-priority because they have both a prior giving history and current engagement signals:

1. View the constituents in the Engaged Lapsed Donor segment using the report tool.
2. Sort by years since the last gift and engagement score.
3. Prioritize those who gave major gifts in the past but haven't recently (lapsed major donors).
4. Develop a re-engagement strategy:

• Personal call from ED or board member acknowledging past support.
• Update on impact of their previous gifts.
• Conversation about their continued interest and any changed circumstances.

1. If receptive, schedule a cultivation meeting to explore renewed engagement.

Re-engaging a lapsed major donor is often faster than developing a new prospect.

Creating Segment-Specific Cultivation Workflows

Build automated or manual workflows tailored to each segment's needs:

For Engaged Non-Donors: Welcome to major gift conversation, education on how gifts impact mission, invitation to exclusive donor event.

For Engaged Lapsed Donors: Personal reconnection call, impact update, re-ask conversation.

For Curious Segments: Re-engagement campaign, low-barrier entry gift (e.g., $25), then upgrade path.

Segment-specific workflows increase conversion efficiency by matching messaging to constituent readiness.

Pro Tips

• Build a strategy for communicating with your lapsed donors and members. Use the Prospect tool to help put your strategy into action.
• Use Filters to identify non-donors who may be inclined to attend events for targeted invitations.