What Are LYBUNT and SYBUNT Donors in Fundraising?

It's October, and your nonprofit is preparing its year-end fundraising campaign. Someone from the team runs a donor report and discovers that 37 people who contributed last year haven't donated in 2026. The fundraising coordinator calls them lapsed donors, the executive director wants to know what happened, and the CRM has conveniently labeled them LYBUNTs.

Well, that's a rather unfortunate name to give someone who might simply be waiting until December to make their annual donation.

If you've spent time around nonprofit fundraising or donor management software, you've probably encountered LYBUNT and SYBUNT. They sound like something someone invented during a particularly exhausting spreadsheet session, but they're established fundraising terms used to identify people who previously supported an organization and haven't contributed during a specified period.

These reports help nonprofits understand donor giving patterns, identify supporters who haven't donated recently, and plan appropriate follow-ups. But before treating everyone on the list as a lost donor, it's worth understanding what the terms actually mean.

What Do LYBUNT and SYBUNT Mean?

LYBUNT stands for Last Year But Unfortunately Not This Year. It identifies donors who contributed during the previous year but haven't made a qualifying contribution in the current reporting year.

Suppose Theresa donated $100 to your nonprofit in November 2025. Your organization runs a report in October 2026, and she hasn't contributed again. Under a calendar-year reporting system, Theresa qualifies as a LYBUNT donor.

SYBUNT stands for Some Year But Unfortunately Not This Year. It refers to people who donated during an earlier year but haven't contributed in the current reporting period.

For example, Marcus supported your nonprofit's community food program in 2023 and 2024. He didn't donate in 2025, and your records show no contribution from him in 2026. He belongs to the group of longer-inactive supporters commonly called SYBUNTs.

Can Someone Be Both LYBUNT and SYBUNT?

Yes, and if you've ever worked with different donor management systems, you may have noticed that they don't always classify these donors the same way.

For example, if you've used Blackbaud, you might have noticed that its SYBUNT report can also include LYBUNT donors. That's because someone who gave last year technically also gave in some previous year, so they can qualify for both reports.

But if you're using Oracle NetSuite, you'll find that the groups are separated. LYBUNT covers donors who gave in the previous fiscal year but haven't contributed in the current one. SYBUNT identifies donors who gave before the previous fiscal year and haven't contributed in either of the two most recent fiscal years.

So if you're switching systems or comparing reports, don't assume the same labels will produce identical donor lists. Check how your software defines each group before relying on the numbers, especially when preparing fundraising reports for your board.

For small nonprofits, keeping these groups separate can simplify outreach and reporting. Otherwise, you might end up counting the same donor twice and wondering why your lists don't match.

Why Should Nonprofits Track LYBUNT and SYBUNT Donors?

Imagine your nonprofit raises $60,000 this year, compared with $50,000 last year. Everyone's pleased, and reasonably so. But what if most of that increase came from a few larger contributions while dozens of previous supporters stopped giving?

The organization has raised more money, but the number of people contributing may be shrinking.

This is a real concern across the nonprofit sector. The Fundraising Effectiveness Project's full-year 2025 findings estimated that charitable dollars raised increased by 5.0% compared with 2024, even as the number of donors declined by approximately 3.6%. Overall donor retention was estimated at 43.3%.

Those figures show why fundraising revenue and donor participation need to be examined separately. An organization can receive more money while relying on fewer supporters, something that may create challenges for its longer-term fundraising efforts.

LYBUNT and SYBUNT reports help identify which previous supporters haven't returned and give fundraising teams a starting point for reviewing those relationships.

They're especially useful for understanding different giving patterns. Someone who donated consistently for five years and suddenly stopped may deserve a different follow-up from someone who contributed once to a friend's birthday fundraiser.

Neither situation automatically means the donor is dissatisfied. People change their giving priorities, encounter financial difficulties, or simply haven't reached their usual donation period yet.

A Practical Example of LYBUNT and SYBUNT Donors

Let's say the Community Literacy Initiative reviews its donor records on October 18, 2026. The organization uses calendar-year reporting, meaning its current year runs from January 1 through December 31.

These fictional records use mutually exclusive LYBUNT and older-SYBUNT groups.

Theresa and Olivia qualify as LYBUNT donors because they contributed in 2025 but haven't given in 2026. Marcus and Rebecca last contributed before 2025, while James made a contribution this year.

Now, here's something worth examining about Olivia. She's donated every December for the past four years, and your report was generated in October. Technically, she's a LYBUNT donor, but her usual giving month hasn't even arrived.

Imagine sending her an email asking why she stopped supporting the organization. She'd probably be just as confused as you are when someone reminds you about a deadline that hasn't passed.

A LYBUNT report tells you who hasn't contributed within the selected dates. It doesn't explain their intentions or whether they've departed from their usual giving pattern.

Calendar Year vs. Fiscal Year

Reporting dates also affect the results.

Suppose your nonprofit's fiscal year begins July 1. A donor contributed in March 2026 but hasn't given again by October.

Under calendar-year reporting, that person is a current-year donor. Under fiscal-year reporting, their March contribution belongs to the fiscal year that ended June 30, making them a LYBUNT donor in the fiscal year that began July 1.

Same donor, same contribution history, different reporting periods.

Before presenting LYBUNT or SYBUNT figures to your board, confirm whether the report uses calendar or fiscal years, the date through which contributions are included, and which transaction types qualify.

How to Create LYBUNT and SYBUNT Reports

You don't necessarily need specialized software to identify these donors. If your organization maintains accurate donation records, a spreadsheet can do the job.

Some donor management systems already provide built-in reporting templates. For example, Little Green Light includes LYBUNT and SYBUNT reports that can be generated from constituent records. Its reporting tools also use the organization's configured fiscal-year settings, so choosing the correct reporting period remains important even when the software handles the calculations.

If you're using Excel or Google Sheets, the process can be broken down into three steps.

1. Organize Your Donation Records

Start with a transaction list containing unique donor IDs, donation dates, amounts, and transaction statuses. Use donor IDs rather than names whenever possible, since two people may share a name and one person may appear under several email addresses.

Decide which gifts qualify for your report. Unpaid pledges, voided transactions, and fully refunded contributions shouldn't automatically be treated as completed donations.

2. Compare Donors Across Reporting Years

For a calendar-year report covering 2026, identify everyone who made a qualifying contribution in 2025, then compare those donor IDs with everyone who contributed in 2026.

The basic formulas are:

LYBUNT = Donors who gave last year − Donors who gave this year

Older SYBUNT = Donors who gave before last year − Donors who gave last year or this year

Count each person once, even if they made multiple contributions. Spreadsheet filters, lookup formulas, or pivot tables can help you compare the records.

3. Review the Results Before Using Them

Check whether the list contains donors with paused recurring payments, outstanding pledges, contributions made through donor-advised funds, or gifts recorded under another constituent. These situations can affect how donor activity appears in the database.

Also review communication preferences and other involvement. Someone may have stopped donating but continued volunteering or participating in your programs.

Once you've reviewed the records, you can decide which supporters may benefit from a relevant update or personal follow-up.

What Should You Do With LYBUNT and SYBUNT Donors?

Let's return to Theresa, who gave $100 to your literacy program in November 2025.

Your records show no contribution from her this year, and your organization is preparing its year-end campaign. You could send another generic appeal, but perhaps she hasn't heard much about the program since making her original gift.

Wouldn't sharing an update be a reasonable place to begin?

For example:

"Hi Theresa, I wanted to share a little update on the literacy program you supported last year. Since then, we've completed another round of reading sessions and expanded our volunteer tutoring schedule. We're preparing the next program cycle now, and I thought you'd appreciate hearing how things have been going."

The organization can include an appropriate invitation to contribute again, depending on the campaign and Theresa's communication preferences. But the message already has value because it tells her what happened to the program she supported.

This also connects to donor stewardship. A nonprofit that maintains meaningful communication after receiving a contribution has more information to draw from when reconnecting with supporters. Staff can review what the donor previously supported, which updates they've received, and whether any questions or commitments remain outstanding.

For older SYBUNT donors, you may need to review more of their history.

Marcus, for instance, last donated in 2024. Perhaps his contribution was connected to a particular community event that the nonprofit no longer organizes. Instead of assuming he lost interest, the team could review that original campaign and consider whether an update about related work would be relevant.

An appropriate reengagement process might include:

• Reviewing the donor's history: What did they support, and how frequently did they give?

• Checking previous communications: Have they received updates, responded to messages, or expressed particular preferences?

• Sharing something relevant: Explain what has happened since their last contribution, using verified program information.

• Offering a reasonable next step: This might be a program update, event invitation, or fundraising opportunity, depending on the relationship.

And if you want to measure whether the outreach was useful, track how many people were contacted, how many subsequently contributed, and any relevant feedback received.

Suppose six of 40 contacted inactive donors give again. That's a 15% reactivation proportion for the contacted group during your chosen evaluation period. It doesn't prove the outreach caused those donations, and it shouldn't be confused with your organization's overall annual donor retention rate.

Keep the records accurate, assess the results in context, and avoid assuming every returning donor was persuaded by a particular email.

Putting Your LYBUNT and SYBUNT Reports to Work

Once you've generated your reports, give your team a manageable process for reviewing and following up with donors. You don't need to contact everyone immediately, especially if some supporters typically contribute later in the year.

Start by adding a few fields to your working report:

• Last contribution date: When did the donor last give?

• Giving pattern: Do they usually contribute monthly, annually, or occasionally?

• Last communication: When did someone from your organization last contact them?

• Next action: Should they receive a program update, personal check-in, or fundraising invitation?

• Assigned staff member: Who is responsible for following up?

• Follow-up status: Has the action been completed, and was there a response?

When reporting these figures to leadership, include the reporting period and enough context to explain what the numbers represent.

For example, suppose your October report identifies 37 LYBUNT donors. After reviewing their histories, you discover that 12 typically contribute in November or December, five have outstanding pledges requiring review, and the remaining 20 have no recent giving activity or planned follow-up recorded.

All 37 still qualify as LYBUNT donors under the report's date criteria, but your team now has a clearer idea of which relationships need attention and which records require further review.

Keep the original report for comparison, document any follow-up activity, and review the results after your campaign. This will help your organization understand how many previous supporters returned, which outreach activities were completed, and whether its donor records are being maintained consistently.

A useful LYBUNT or SYBUNT report should leave your team knowing who needs attention, who will handle the follow-up, and what information should be reviewed before the next campaign.