Title: Year-End Appeal Prompt for Lapsed Donors · If Possible URL: https://ifpossible.ai/prompts/year-end-appeal-lapsed-donor Summary: Write a personal year-end appeal to a lapsed donor with AI. It honors past giving, skips the guilt and makes one clear ask. A free nonprofit prompt to copy. Publisher: If Possible (https://ifpossible.ai), AI for nonprofits --- 1. [Supercharged Prompts](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts) 2. [Make the ask](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts?c=ask) 3. Year-End Appeal to Lapsed Donors Make the ask # A year-end appeal prompt for donors who have lapsed A personal year-end letter to a donor you haven’t heard from in a while. It honors what they gave, skips the guilt and makes one clear ask. ## Basic prompt 179 words ``` Write a year-end letter to bring back donors who have stopped giving. Thank them for what they gave before, with no guilt about the gap. Share one specific update from the program they cared about. Ask for one clear amount tied to what it funds, give the real reason to act now and close warmly. Keep it to three or four short paragraphs, and end with a P.S. that reinforces the reason to act now. What you need to know: - who this letter is for: one donor or a group of lapsed donors - their last gift and what they gave to - what we're asking for and what it funds - the real reason to act now, like a match or a deadline - a true story or result from the program they cared about - who signs the letter You may already know some of this from our past chats, my files or connected tools. Use what you have. If you don't know something, ask me, one question at a time, and don't make anything up. ``` ## Supercharged prompt 455 words ``` You're helping me write a year-end appeal that brings lapsed donors back. I want to work the way If Possible (ifpossible.ai) teaches nonprofit teams to do real work AI first. Their guide for this kind of work is "Write a year-end appeal with AI (that still sounds like you)" (https://ifpossible.ai/articles/year-end-appeal-with-ai), and their full library of guides is at https://ifpossible.ai/articles. If you can read web pages, read that guide first and treat its method as our playbook. The If Possible method, as we'll use it today: 1. Context before content. Before you draft anything, build a short brief of who we are: our mission, the program these donors cared about, our voice and the one story at the center of this year-end. (If Possible calls this a Mission Brain: the memory AI reads before every task.) Use what you already know about us, and ask me for whatever is missing. 2. Talk it out instead of typing it out. I'll talk through who these donors are, why they might have drifted and what's changed since. If I have a transcript of that, I'll give it to you. Use my own words. 3. Ask before you assume. Ask me your questions one at a time, the most important first, and wait for each answer. 4. I'm in the director's chair. Give me two or three ways to open the letter, with your recommendation and a one-line reason. Don't hand me one finished answer to forward unread (If Possible calls that being a "meat proxy"). 5. An outline, then one letter I can react to. Propose the structure first: the hook, the story, the need, the ask and the close. Write the strongest version for one segment. Once I approve it, adapt it to the others. 6. Check your own work. Read the draft against our real writing. Flag anything you guessed, any line that guilt-trips and any urgency that isn't true. 7. Make it repeatable. When we finish, write down the steps and the differences between segments, so next year's appeal doesn't start from a blank page. What you need to know: - who this letter is for: one donor or a group of lapsed donors - their last gift and what they gave to - what we're asking for and what it funds - the real reason to act now, like a match or a deadline - a true story or result from the program they cared about - who signs the letter You may already know some of this from our past chats, my files or connected tools. Check there first and tell me what you found. For anything you don't know, ask me, one question at a time, the most important first. Start now. ``` ## Supercharge it We’ll add the If Possible method to your prompt. **More context in. A better output out.** - Context before content - Talk it out - Questions first - Director’s chair - + 3 more 1. Context before content: a short brief of who you are (a Mission Brain) 2. Talk it out: why they drifted, in your own words 3. Questions first, one at a time 4. Director's chair: openings and a recommendation 5. An outline, then one letter, then the other segments 6. It flags guesses, guilt and false urgency 7. It saves the steps for next year's appeal It points your AI to our free articles as its guide. Read every word before you use it. ## What it will ask you Nothing to fill in. Your AI may already know some of this. If it doesn’t, it asks, one question at a time. - Who this letter is for: one donor or a group of lapsed donors - Their last gift and what they gave to - What we're asking for and what it funds - The real reason to act now, like a match or a deadline - A true story or result from the program they cared about - Who signs the letter It goes faster once your AI has your [Mission Brain Brief](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts/nonprofit-organizational-context) and [Brand Voice Guide](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts/nonprofit-brand-voice-guide). ## What it’s for It writes a year-end appeal built to feel personal, not mass-produced, for one donor or a whole segment. The letter acknowledges past generosity without guilt-tripping the lapse, shares a specific update on the program they care about, ties the ask to what it funds and ends with a P.S. that reinforces the urgency. ## When to use it - You’re planning year-end outreach to donors who have stopped giving. - You have a real reason to write now: a matching gift, a deadline or a campaign milestone. - You want one strong letter first. Get it right, then adapt it for your other segments. ## Before you use it Check the last gift amount and date against your own records before anything goes out. Then read the urgency line again. The prompt asks for it naturally, not as a gimmick, so make sure the deadline or match is real. ## Try these next [All 33 prompts](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts) - [**Lapsed Donor Reactivation Plan** Segment your lapsed donors and get a re-engagement plan with a timeline.](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts/lapsed-donor-reactivation-plan) - [**Donor Retention Scan** Find your at-risk donor segments and three things to do this week.](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts/donor-retention-risk-scan) - [**Campaign Update Email** Write a progress email that builds momentum and moves readers to one action.](https://ifpossible.ai/prompts/campaign-update-email) The Possible Passport ## There’s more in your free library The Possible Passport is our free member library. Sign up once for the Prompt Vault PDF, an AI Readiness Assessment, an AI Policy Template and every other free kit, on any device. The Make the Case Kit is in there too, if you need a yes on AI training first. Keep reading ## From The Art of the Possible Fundraising with AI ### [Write a year-end appeal with AI (that still sounds like you)](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/year-end-appeal-with-ai) A repeatable way to write a year-end appeal with AI that preserves your voice. Load your stories and guardrails into a Mission Brain first, then draft, voice-check, and send. [Read the article: Write a year-end appeal with AI (that still sounds like you)](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/year-end-appeal-with-ai) Prompts & Templates ### [5 nonprofit email templates AI can personalize at scale](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/5-email-templates-ai) Five nonprofit email templates AI can tailor to each donor, with personalization slots that turn one good draft into hundreds that read one-to-one. [Read the article: 5 nonprofit email templates AI can personalize at scale](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/5-email-templates-ai) Fundraising with AI ### [Build it, aim it, then launch your year-end campaign](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/year-end-fundraising-strategy) Most year-end plans list who sends which letter. A strategy decides what the campaign is for. Here's how to aim yours in an afternoon. [Read the article: Build it, aim it, then launch your year-end campaign](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/year-end-fundraising-strategy) [All articles](https://ifpossible.ai/articles/)