Abandoned donations are part of the fundraising process — but, understandably, you’d like to capture as many of those almost-forgotten contributions as you can.
Turns out, you can do so without reworking your messaging, adding new incentives, or instilling more urgency. It’s all about timing.
We recently ran a test at Fundraise Up to see just how much timing actually matters. Here’s how it worked: When a supporter closes the checkout before completing their donation, they see a gentle prompt: Want a reminder later? If they opt in, we follow up with an email.
Previously, this email schedule was fixed — reminders went out one, three, and seven days after abandonment. But, as part of this experiment, we wanted to test a simple change: sending the first reminder email much sooner — within the first hour of abandonment.
The results speak for themselves: donation conversions increased by 5.7%.
So yes, a prompt reminder works wonders. But why does this timing make such a difference? Behavioral science offers three different reasons why reaching supporters at the right moment can be the nudge they need to complete their gift.
1. Good intentions don’t always survive a delay
Most donors who abandon a donation don’t change their minds about giving. Instead, it’s as simple as getting pulled away at the wrong moment. Put simply, abandonment happens because of interruption — not lack of intention.
Behavioral scientists call this the “intention-behavior gap.” It’s the space between deciding to do something and actually following through.
Across many different areas of life, research shows that our intentions explain only a small portion (roughly 18-23%) of what we do. That’s not because we don’t care — it’s because time and everyday distractions get in the way. And, even with the best intentions, we’re wired to focus on what’s right in front of us.
Unfortunately, the longer the delay between intention and action, the wider this gap becomes. What starts as an innocent, “I’ll come back to this in a minute,” quickly snowballs into procrastination, diverted attention, or forgetting entirely.
Hence, the power of a well-timed reminder email. This gentle cue doesn’t create new intent. Rather, it protects the intent that’s already there by reaching your supporters before another delay or distraction can derail them.
2. Mobile giving is more easily interrupted
In the experiment, the faster follow-up had the biggest impact on mobile donors. While overall donation conversions saw a 5.7% increase, mobile donation conversions increased by 7% (and 8% when looking only at one-time donations on mobile).
Why did mobile see such a boost? Giving on a phone is even more interruption-prone, which worsens the dreaded intention-behavior gap. Constant notifications and frequent app switching can all pull someone away mid-donation. While mobile devices make it easier to start a donation, they also make it easier to abandon one.
But distraction isn’t the only issue — there’s also the “mobile giving gap” to contend with. People tend to be more self-focused when using their phones, and that’s in direct conflict with the outward shift in attention required for charitable giving.
That mismatch matters. When a supporter abandons a donation on mobile, it’s not because they’ve reconsidered the cause. It’s because their attention has snapped back to whatever feels most immediate or personal at that moment.
A prompt reminder catches supporters while they’re still close to the original context that inspired them to give. The quicker you reconnect, the more likely you are to recover their attention (and their donation).
3. Faster reminders maintain the emotional connection
Most donations are sparked by a feeling — connection, empathy, or urgency. But while that emotional response might be strong initially, it quickly fades.
Once a supporter steps away from checkout, the moment that inspired them to give immediately starts losing its pull. Time creates distance. So, the longer someone waits, the more mentally removed they become from their original decision.
This isn’t unique to fundraising. E-commerce research has consistently shown that abandoned cart emails perform best when they’re sent quickly — often within the first hour. The majority of retailers (98%) send their first follow-up within 24 hours precisely because it reaches people while they’re still thinking about the purchase.
Of course, why people abandon checkouts differs between e-commerce and fundraising. In retail, shoppers leave because they’re price-checking, waiting for a discount, or reconsidering whether they even want the product. But, in fundraising, donors rarely “shop around” for a better cause. Donations are abandoned because the execution simply falls apart.
But that makes this lesson even more relevant for fundraising. If a one-hour follow-up works in retail, where intent is weaker and more conditional, it should work even better in charitable giving, where motivation is strong but follow-through is fickle.
When there’s no clear reason to act right now, many people opt to wait — and then eventually forget. With every hour that ticks by, supporters move further away from the emotional state that prompted them to give. And, when you lose that connection, you lose the donation.
Abandoned donations are more about distraction, delay, and disconnect than doubt about your cause. By reaching supporters while intent is fresh, attention is intact, and emotion is still present, nonprofits can recover more gifts (without changing their message or adding pressure).