Valentine’s Day is coming up. This is the perfect time to thank your donors and show how much you appreciate their support. It’s also timely if you haven’t thanked them since you sent a thank you letter after you received their annual appeal. You did send thank you letters after your annual appeal, didn’t you?
In my last post, I wrote about finding ways to engage your donors and one suggestion was thank you messages.
If you want to send out a thank you message on Valentine’s Day, you may not have time to do cards or a video, but going the electronic route is fine. Send an email and post something on social media.
In addition, put a thank you message on your home page. Keep it up all year, although you can change it periodically. Phrase it something like this.
Thank you to all our donors! Your support makes it possible for us to (list ways in which you are helping the people you serve).
If you prefer not to acknowledge Valentine’s Day, I still think February is a good time to send out an upbeat thank you message. Unless you live in Florida or California, it’s cold and snowy, and kind of bleak. People may be getting tired of winter and need some cheering up.
Share an update or success story
Besides saying thank you, share a brief update or success story. Emphasize how you couldn’t have helped someone without the donor’s support. If you included some 2013 goals in your annual appeal, sharing regular updates of your accomplishments is a great way to engage.
Get creative
Make your thank you message really positive and fun. One idea is a photo of people holding up thank you signs. I’ve included links with a couple of examples below. The first one is actually a video, but you could do the same thing with a photo. By the way, this is a great example of a video. Not only does it say thank you, but it showcases the work the organization does and the people they serve.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt to feature cute kids.
Visual messages are a great way to engage. Besides photos, create a thank you illustration, infographic, or word cloud.
Keep it up
Keep thinking of ways to thank your donors! You really can’t say thank you enough.
If your budget allows it, think about sending out cards or creating a video.
At certain times of the year, like Valentine’s Day or Thanksgiving, people expect to receive messages of gratitude, but imagine how surprised your donor might be if they receive something in May or August?
And if you are looking for creative ways to say thank you, maybe these posts will inspire you.
How are you thanking your donors?
Ann Green's Nonprofit Blog 