Sustainer Failed-Payment Recovery & Win-Back Sequence
A pastoral, multi-touch email/text/call sequence to recover lapsed recurring gifts after a card decline, expiration, or bank-draft failure — the retention engine of the program.
Draft: pending review
This starter document is signed off by Church counsel + CFRE before it ships. The guardrails below define that review.
What’s inside
- Trigger map: hard decline vs. soft decline vs. expired card vs. paused, each with timing and channel
- Ready-to-send message copy (email, SMS, voicemail) that is warm and non-shaming
- Dunning cadence with retry windows and a hand-off-to-staff threshold
- Suppression rules for bereavement, hardship, and do-not-contact flags
Legal & ethical guardrails
The sector-specific compliance points this document must honor.
- SMS/email recovery must comply with TCPA/CAN-SPAM: prior consent, clear sender identity, honored opt-outs
- Card retries must follow network rules on retry limits and updated-account handling
- Tone must never coerce or imply spiritual consequence for a failed gift
- A failed recurring gift is not tax-deductible until actually paid — copy must not imply a completed contribution
Held for professional review.
The native DOCX and full working text ship only after sign-off by Church counsel + CFRE on this exact version. The summary and review requirements remain visible in the meantime.
Not legal advice. Not legal, tax, or accounting advice. The Fundraising Co. provides educational fundraising materials and is not a law firm; nothing here creates an attorney–client relationship or substitutes for advice from professionals licensed in your jurisdiction. Laws and IRS rules vary by state and change over time. Review every document with qualified counsel before use.