Drift

Why it matters

Most systems only notice a donor once they have lapsed, usually after a year or more without a gift. By then the moment has passed. A donor who has given every spring for five years and has not given by late summer is telling you something months earlier.

Drift catches that earlier signal. A quarterly giver who is two months late and an annual giver who is four months late can both be drifting, even though a one-size rule would miss one of them. A personal call at that point, asking nothing, is often all it takes.

How Steward shows it

Steward works out each donor's own giving rhythm, including a donor who gives in the same month every year, and flags them once they are clearly past their expected next gift. Drift appears on Home, with a sentence saying why, and as a badge in the donor directory and on the donor's profile.

Donors who are a little past their rhythm, not far enough to be sure, are grouped under "Early signs" and kept out of the headline dollars. Logging a conversation quiets the list for a while, never the badge.

Related terms

• Donor lapse Donor lapse is the moment a donor stops giving for longer than you would expect, usually a full year or more without a gift. The donor is then called lapsed.
• Lapsed donor A lapsed donor is someone who gave to your organization in the past but has not given within the period you expect, most often twelve months or more.
• Attrition Attrition is the loss of donors from one year to the next. The attrition rate is the share of last year's donors who did not give again this year, the opposite of the retention rate.