How to Clean Up Your Donor List and Reconnect with the Right People

🧭 The problem

Most donor databases are filled with “nice-to-have” data. Contacts who haven’t donated in years or who bounce every email. Over time, this digital clutter turns your development outreach into guesswork.

🧠 Why it’s worth solving

One organization was spending precious time and energy trying to revive disengaged donors. Their Executive Director knew they needed to shift focus: “I wanted to look forward to new partnerships, not revive ones that were long gone.”

🧹 How we made it better

Together, we developed objective criteria—like last gift date, giving totals, and bounce history—to identify which contacts were worth keeping. After cutting the list in half, they could finally see their community clearly: a tight, actionable list of people who cared.