Dutchman Shelton Martis, playing only his second game on loan from West Brom, ended the six-match luckless run stretching back to August when he headed home from close range after 42 minutes.
It proved enough to end Rovers' dreadful run of 12 games without a victory although they look far from a side rooted to the bottom of the table.
Doncaster gave Ipswich plenty of problems with their slick passing and Paul Heffernan had an angled shot deflected for a corner in the fourth minute with Sam Hird having another effort blocked from the resulting flag kick.
Ipswich gradually got into their stride although controversial midfielder David Norris, disciplined by the club following his goal celebration at Blackpool last week, was booed every time he touched the ball.
Norris was denied in a goalmouth scramble in the 20th minute after he latched onto the ball after a header from Richard Naylor had bounced back off the crossbar.
There was little to choose between the teams although Ipswich began to step up the pace before the interval with Alan Quinn having an angled drive tipped over in the 33rd minute before Norris missed a sitter when he fired wide from close range after being set up by Jon Walters.
Norris had cause for regret when Martis headed home at the other end a couple of minutes after Matt Mills had flicked on a free-kick from Brian Stock.
The goal-starved Rovers fans went wild with delight but Doncaster still had to negotiate a tricky second period as Ipswich battled hard for an equaliser.
New on-loan signing Darren Ambrose came on as substitute to have a left-foot volley superbly tipped over the bar by Neil Sullivan in the 65th minute.
Former England keeper Richard Wright produced an even more brilliant save four minutes later at the other end to keep out a fierce deflected effort from Martin Woods with his fingertips.
Spanish striker Pablo Counago had a header saved with his first touch after coming on as substitute in the 71st minute but missed a great chance to level the scores when he was just off the mark from point-blank range six minutes from time.