How to create a donor re-engagement flow

Estimated 3 minute read

Updated Dec 17, 2024, 10:17 AM EST

Learn how to leverage Klaviyo's out-of-the-box donor re-engagement flow and make it your own in just a few minutes.

For non-profit organizations, getting supporters to donate for the first time can be time-consuming and expensive. Encouraging contributors to donate a second time can also be difficult if you don’t consistently engage these stakeholders with the right messaging at the right time.

Create a donor re-engagement flow

Once you integrate your donation platform with Klaviyo, a number of pre-built flows will automatically populate into your account, including:

Donor re-engagement flow
Small donor re-engagement flow
New donor thank you flow
Repeat donor thank you flow
Welcome flow

The trigger for this donor re-engagement flow will be Made Contribution and the flow filter will be Made Contribution zero times since starting this flow.

Donor re-engagement flow with the trigger 'Made Contribution' and the flow filter 'Made Contribution zero times since starting this flow'.

The first email in this flow will be scheduled to send 90 days after someone makes a contribution. It's possible to use an SMS instead, but emails are the best practice. While SMS is good for getting your content in front of viewers, asking for donations through this channel may lead to a high unsubscribe rate. Since SMS messages tend to be more intrusive than email, it is better when you are providing value (e.g., information, deals, etc.) to the subscriber, not the other way around. The only exception is if someone clearly indicated they wanted to receive reminders via text.

When someone makes a contribution, they will enter this flow and get scheduled to receive a re-engagement email after 90 days. After 90 days, when this email is scheduled to send, Klaviyo will check the flow filter. If the donor has made another contribution since first entering this flow, they will be skipped and won't receive this re-engagement email. Those that have not made another contribution since entering this flow, however, will receive your re-engagement email at this 90-day time point.

You can also adjust the timing of the flow email if a 90-day time point doesn't fit with your goals.

Customize Klaviyo’s pre-built donor re-engagement flow

You will find a default template for a best practice donor re-engagement email. This template includes:

Dynamic content
Our default template leads with a placeholder variable for first name, and also includes a variable that will populate with the amount of the recipient's last contribution. This ensures that each donor will receive a personalized email.
What's New
You will want to highlight the important work you’ve been doing to remind your donors why they are invested in your mission and how you're making progress.
Call-to-Action
Let your donors know why their continued support matters and then provide a Donate button asking for a contribution.

Click on the 90-day email.
In the Email details sidebar, scroll down to see the option to update the subject and sender details as well as the template of the email.
Click Edit to see the default layout and example content we've populated as a starting point.
Use the drag-and-drop template editor to easily customize the template to fit your organization's mission and brand.