Year-end fundraising coincides with what we might call the gratitude season, which includes Thanksgiving in the U.S. and the December holidays. This is appropriate since thanking your donors is part of the fundraising equation, even though many nonprofits tend to ignore this.

We’re not living in normal times and it’s vital that you don’t turn your year-end fundraising campaign into a money grab. We’re all dealing with a lot. Your nonprofit may be falling short on revenue. Because of that, you’re laser-focused on your year-end campaign and think you’re too busy to spend much time thanking your donors.

But that’s precisely why you need to get on the thank you bandwagon. Showing some appreciation to your donors right now can help you raise more money for your year-end campaign (or any campaign). It will also make it more likely your donors will give again. This is known as the Gratitude Effect.

One idea is to hold a thankathon, especially if you haven’t launched your appeal yet. Traditionally, thankathons are done by phone, but you can use other channels, too.

You’re never too busy to thank your donors. Besides, don’t they deserve some special attention?

Showing gratitude doesn’t happen nearly as often as it should, but you need to spend just as much time thanking your donors and building relationships as you do on fundraising.

Here are a few ways to incorporate gratitude into your year-end fundraising campaign.

Say thank you in your appeal

Does your appeal thank donors for their past or potential gifts? It should. Everyone wins when you show gratitude while you’re trying to raise money.

This is especially important around GivingTuesday and I’ll write more about that in an upcoming post.

Wish your donors a Happy Thanksgiving

A nice way to show gratitude is to send your donors a special Thanksgiving message. Many nonprofits already do this. If you’re not one of them, make this the year you start. If you can send a card or postcard, that’s great, but an email message is also fine. If you use email, be sure to address your donor by name to make it more personal and send it the day before when they’ll be more likely to see it.

In a recent post about running a multichannel campaign, I suggested skipping the reminder during Thanksgiving week and pouring on the gratitude instead. If you don’t launch your campaign until after Thanksgiving, this would be a great way to kick it off.

There’s a lot of uncertainty right now and your donors will appreciate a heartfelt message from you. Let them know how grateful you are to have them as part of your donor family. 

Don’t stop with Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving isn’t the only time to show some appreciation. The holidays and New Year’s are coming up soon (sooner than you think) and that’s a good opportunity, especially for those of you outside the U.S., to express gratitude. But you don’t need a holiday or other special occasion. Just thank your donors and do it often. 

Whatever you decide, DO NOT include a donation envelope or any other type of ask with your thank you message. This is known as a thask and it’s guaranteed to deflate your donor’s good feelings in an instant.

Be ready to thank your donors as soon as you receive a donation

Every single donor, no matter how much they’ve given or whether they donated online, gets a thank you card/letter mailed to them or receives a phone call.

Planning ahead will help you thank your donors as soon as possible. I’m sure you’re spending a lot of time and effort getting out your fundraising appeal. Perhaps you’ve recruited other staff or volunteers to help you.

You need to do the same thing when you thank your donors. Get your board, other staff, and volunteers to help make phone calls, write thank you notes, or include a handwritten note in a thank you letter. This is also an opportunity for a thankathon.

Make thanking your donors a priority

Your donors deserve more than just the same boring, generic thank you letter. The initial thank you right after you receive a donation is important. So is the next one and the one after that and the one after that….

Thanking your donors is not something you just do after you receive a donation. You want to thank your donors at least once a month. How many of you are actually doing that? 

Here are some ways you can show gratitude throughout the year.

• Send a handwritten note.
• Create a thank you video and share it on your website, by email, and on social media. Better yet, personalize it.
• Send welcome packages to your new donors.
• Invite your donors to connect with you via email and social media. Keep them updated on your success and challenges. Making all your communications donor-centered will help convey an attitude of gratitude.
• Thank your donors in your newsletters and other updates. Emphasize that you wouldn’t be able to do the work you do without their support.
• Hold an open house or offer tours. You can also create a virtual tour or other engaging video content to let your donors see your nonprofit up close and personal.
• Thank your donors just because they’re great.
• Keep thinking of other ways to thank your donors.

Create a thank you plan to help you with this.

Show a little kindness

We could all use a lot more kindness and a lot less divisiveness right now. As long as you’re sincere, I don’t think there’s such a thing as being too nice.

In the spirit of kindness, show some gratitude to your donors and make them feel special.