direct mail

Create an Attitude of Gratitude at Your Nonprofit

Ann Green Communications, direct mail, donor engagement, donor relations, donor-centered, gratitude, planning, thank you letters, writing , , , , , , ,

We all like to feel appreciated and that includes your donors. Thanking your donors should be a priority for your nonprofit organization. Is that the case? Unfortunately, the answer is usually no.

Thanking your donors is not just something you do after you receive a donation and then do nothing for a while. You need to show gratitude all year round and with Valentine’s Day coming up, that’s a great opportunity to thank your donors and show them how much you appreciate their support.

Maybe you would rather not go the Valentine’s Day route, which may seem superficial considering everything that’s going on in the world. The U.S. is not a calm place to be right now. But Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be just for couples and we could all use a lot of joy and kindness. 

Whatever you decide, you should still do something to show appreciation this month (and every month). The holidays are over and February can be a dreary month if you live in the Northern Hemisphere. Many of us are dealing with frigid temperatures and what’s going on when places like Houston and New Orleans are getting measurable snow?

This is also a good opportunity to keep in touch with the people who gave to your year-end appeal, especially first-time donors. If you haven’t shown any appreciation since your year-end appeal, don’t wait much longer.

Your donors have the option to give to countless nonprofit organizations, but they chose yours. I like this quote from Mark Phillips –“They are not your donors; you are one of their charities.” Don’t they deserve to feel appreciated?

Here are a few ways you can thank your donors now and throughout the year.

Create a thank you photo

Make your donor’s day with a great photo like this one.

You can send thank you photos via email and social media, use one to create a card, and include one on your thank you landing page.

Make a video

Videos are a great way to connect with your donors. They’re simple, yet effective, so don’t worry if you weren’t a film major. It’s not hard to create a video.

One idea for your video is to show a bunch of people saying thank you. You’ll want your video to be short, donor-centered, and show your organization’s work up close and personal. You can also create personalized videos, which are always a nice gesture.

Your thank you landing page is the perfect place to put a video. This is your first opportunity to say thank you and most landing pages are just boring receipts (and receipts are unacceptable when it comes to showing gratitude). You can also put your thank you video on your website and share it by email and social media.

Send a card

A handwritten thank you card will also brighten your donor’s day. If you don’t have the budget (Although you should have a decent mail/print budget. More on that below.) to send cards to everyone, send them to your most valuable donors. These may not be the ones who give you the most money. Do you have donors who have supported your organization for more than three years? How about more than five years? These are your valuable donors. Don’t take them for granted.

That said, I do think you should make every effort to send a card to ALL your donors at least once a year. You can spread it out so you mail a certain number of cards each month, ensuring all your donors get one sometime during the year. You could also opt for a thank you postcard.

Many organizations don’t send thank you cards, so you’ll stand out if you do.

Share an update 

In addition to saying thank you, share a brief update on your success and challenges. Emphasize how you couldn’t have helped someone without your donor’s support. For example – Thanks to you, Steven won’t go to bed hungry tonight. His family has been struggling to make ends meet right now.

Phrases like Thanks to you or Because of you should dominate your newsletters, impact reports, and other updates.

How you can do better

Make this the year you do a better job of thanking your donors. Remember, it should be a priority.

Thank your donors as soon as you can and send a thank you note/letter or make a phone call. Electronic thank yous aren’t good enough.

Be personal and conversational when you thank your donors. Don’t use jargon or other language they won’t understand. Write from the heart, but be sincere. Give specific examples of how your donors are helping you make a difference.

Also, make sure your thank you note/letter puts gratitude front and center. You don’t need to explain what your organization does, brag, or ask for another donation. You have plenty of opportunities to ask for donations, and if you do a good job of thanking your donors you can raise more money. Plain and simple, the purpose of a thank you letter is to thank your donors.

I’m a big fan of communicating by mail, even if it’s only a few times a year. It’s much more personal. Yet, many nonprofits are skittish about spending too much on mailing costs.

If your budget doesn’t allow you to mail handwritten cards, is there a way you can change that? You may be able to get a print shop to donate cards. You could also look for additional sources of unrestricted funding to cover cards and postage. Think of these as essential expenses for your essential donors.

Maybe you need a change of culture – a culture of gratitude. This comes from the top, but you also need to get your board, all staff, and volunteers invested and involved in thanking your donors. 

Ideally, thanking your donors should be something you enjoy. If you think of it as a chore, it will show. If you can visualize your donors choosing to give you a gift, that can help put you in gratitude mode.

You can’t say thank you enough. Make a commitment to thank your donors at least once a month. Create a thank you plan to help you with this. Planning ahead and creating systems makes a difference.

Keep thinking of ways to let your donors know how much you appreciate them. You don’t even need to wait for a holiday or special occasion. Just thank your donors because they’re amazing and you wouldn’t be able to make a difference without them. Don’t they deserve that?

Read on for more information about how you can create an attitude of gratitude and make your donors feel appreciated.

#21daysofthankology

The Do’s And Don’ts When Thanking Donors

Donor Appreciation: Creating a Strategy (And 22+ Ideas!)

Donor Recognition: When & How to Acknowledge Supporters

How Will You Thank Your Year-End Donors?

Ann Green direct mail, donor engagement, donor-centered, gratitude, planning, thank you letters, writing , , , , , ,

I imagine many of you are working on your year-end fundraising campaign. You may have started working on your appeal letter, which is great, but how much time have you spent thinking about how you’ll thank your donors? Maybe not that much. If that’s the case, you’re making a mistake because it’s just as important, if not more important, to plan how you’ll thank your donors. 

I highly recommend creating a thank you plan, which will help you show gratitude before, during, and after a campaign. 

Your donors deserve an amazing thank you. The problem is most thank yous don’t come anywhere close to being amazing. Many organizations treat thanking their donors as an afterthought and it shows. You can’t do that. It will hurt your chances of getting future donations. If you’ve been having trouble keeping your donors, doing a better job of thanking them should help.

There are many ways to thank your donors after an appeal – by mail, phone, email, on your website, or a combination of those. The more you can do, the better.

Thanking your donors is something you need to do well. Don’t shortchange your donors with a half-hearted, generic thank you.

Do an amazing job of thanking your donors. Make it a priority. Here are a few ways to do this. 

Start planning now

Don’t wait until the day after your appeal goes out. Give yourself plenty of time to plan. Write your thank you letter at the same time you write your appeal. 

Figure out what you’ll be able to do. I highly recommend a handwritten note or phone call. Can you do that for all your donors? If not, maybe you’ll break it down by new donors, long-time donors, or donors who have given a certain amount.

It’s important to thank your donors as soon as possible. I understand that handwritten notes and phone calls take more time, especially during the busy year-end season. If that’s the case, you can and should do those at other times of the year instead.  At the very least, your donors should get a letter, even if they’ve donated online. Thank you emails tend to resemble receipts, but we have the power to change that. Whatever you decide, remember to get started on the content now. 

In the past, the standard was to send thank you letters within 48 hours. If that’s too hard, don’t wait much longer than a week. Make sure you’re ready to go when the donations come in. 

Make your donor’s day with a handwritten thank you note

I love it when a nonprofit sends a handwritten thank you note. This is a rare occurrence, so if you do it, your thank you note will stand out in your donor’s mailbox.

Handwritten notes are great in many ways, but one advantage is you don’t have to write that much. In fact, you can do one in just a few minutes.

You could make thank you cards with an engaging photo or buy some nice thank you cards. Get together a team of board members, staff, and volunteers right after your appeal goes out to help you with this.

Think about how much your donors will appreciate this nice gesture. Here’s a sample note.

Dear Lisa,

Thank you so much for upgrading your gift to $75. We’re still seeing more people coming into the Westside Community Food Pantry. It’s difficult for many families in the community to afford groceries right now. Your generous gift will help a lot. We’re so happy you’ve been a donor for the past five years.

Phone calls are another personal way to show appreciation

Calling first-time donors is known to improve retention rates. But you could also call long-time donors to make them feel special.

Again, you want to get a team together to help. This is a great thing for your board to do. Here’s a sample phone script.

Hi Steve, this is Jennifer Taylor and I’m a board member at the Westside Community Food Pantry. Thank you so much for your generous donation of $50 and welcome to our donor family. Your gift will help feed more local families right now. Many of them are struggling to make ends meet.

Write that amazing thank you letter

If it’s impossible to send handwritten notes or make phone calls, you can still impress your donors with an amazing thank you letter. As I mentioned before, many thank you letters aren’t amazing at all and are mediocre at best. You’ll have an advantage if you take some time to create a great, donor-centered letter.

The purpose of a thank you letter is to thank your donors. Keep that in mind at all times.  

Don’t start your letter with On behalf of X organization…. If you’re sending it on your letterhead, it should be obvious it’s coming from your organization. Instead, start your letter with – Thank you, You’re incredible, or You did something great today!

You also don’t need to explain what your organization does. This often comes across as bragging by saying something like – As you know, X organization has been doing great work in the community for 20 years…. Someone who’s donated to your organization should already be familiar with what you do. 

And, don’t ask for another gift in your thank you letter. You did that in your appeal letter. You can ask again another time. Always keep gratitude front and center.

Write separate thank you letters for different types of donors. Welcome new donors and welcome back your current donors. Monthly donors should also get special recognition.

Your thank you letter needs to make your donors feel good about giving to your organization. Let them know how their gift is helping you make a difference. Include a brief story or example, such as the sample handwritten note or phone script I included above.

As with all writing, make your letter personal and conversational. Write to your donor using you much more than we and leave out jargon and any other language your donors won’t understand. Also, you must address your donors by name – not Dear Friend. Personalization is crucial when thanking your donors.

Your envelope makes a difference. Don’t use a boring, white #10 envelope. Make your letter stand out by using a colored or textured envelope. You could include a teaser that says Thank You and use a nice stamp (You can buy thank you stamps). Hand address the envelopes if you can and include a handwritten note inside that will help make it more personal. You could also include an engaging photo in the letter.

Yes, you do need to include the tax-deductible information, but do that at the end, after you impress your donors with your letter, or include it on a separate page. It’s easiest to include this with your thank you letter or email. Then you don’t have to send it again unless your donor requests it.

Create a more personal online thank you

The thank you plan I reference above gives you advice on how to create better thank you landing pages and email acknowledgments. These often come across as transactional. You need to think of the donations you receive as the start or continuation of a relationship, not a transaction.

Remember, even though your online donors will get an electronic acknowledgment, they should still get thanked by mail or phone. I like to think of the landing page, email, and what comes in the mail or by phone as the thank you journey. Don’t forget this is an ongoing journey.

I do want to emphasize the importance of a good email subject line. Stand out in your donor’s inbox and use language that conveys gratitude, such as Thank You, Lisa! or You just did something great! Steer clear of anything like Donation Receipt or Your Receipt from X Organization. It’s not that hard to do this and you’ll make a good impression.

Remember to make thanking your donors a priority, both now and throughout the year. You should be more successful if you do.

Raise More Money With a Fundraising Appeal that Stands Out

Ann Green appeal letters, direct mail, donor retention, donor-centered, fundraising, writing, year-end appeal , , , , , ,

Can you believe it’s already September? Depending on where you live, you may or may not be getting that nice refreshing air September often brings. After a hot summer, I’m ready for that.

September also brings us to the start of the busiest time of the year for nonprofit organizations, especially if you’re doing a year-end appeal. 

Even though you may not launch your campaign until later in the fall, you should get started on your appeal letter now. If you haven’t even started thinking about your whole campaign, don’t wait any longer. Everything always takes longer than you think. 

You need to create an appeal that will stand out and resonate with your donors. If you’ve been using the same boring, generic template for years, it’s time for something new. 

You need a letter that takes into account what’s going on in 2024. How are the everchanging current situations affecting your clients/community?

Your appeal also needs to be personal – both for your donors and when you write about your clients/community. 

Here are some ways you can create a better appeal that stands out and can help you raise more money. 

Your envelope matters

You may not think your envelope makes much of a difference, but it does. You need to get your donors to open your letter. If you can’t get them to do that, then all your hard work has gone to waste.

Make it look as personal as possible. Use something other than the standard #10 white business envelope and steer clear of a window envelope because that makes it look like a bill. Think about using an oversized or colored envelope. 

Perhaps you’d like to include a teaser on the outer envelope. Fundraising experts are mixed on whether this is a good idea. It makes it look less personal, but a good teaser can capture your donor’s attention. This doesn’t mean one that says 2024 Annual Appeal. That’s not inspiring. Instead, say something like – Find out how you can help kids learn to read.

A hand-addressed envelope will look more personal. If that isn’t feasible, print directly on the envelope. You could also use mailing labels. Use some nice stamps if you can.

Create an inviting piece of mail.

Share a compelling story

A good appeal letter should open with a compelling story. Focus on a person or family and not your organization. Your donors want to hear about the people they’ll be helping. 

Here’s an example – Cara, a single mother with three kids, has gone through a lot over the past few years. It’s been hard to find work that pays enough and groceries are so expensive. Sometimes she’s forced to choose between buying groceries and paying the heating bill.

But thanks to generous donors like you (or because of our generous donors if you’re writing to people who haven’t given before), she’s been able to get boxes of healthy food at the Westside Community Food Pantry. At first, Cara was embarrassed that she had to rely on a food pantry to feed her family, but she’s always treated with respect and dignity when she visits. 

We want to continue providing Cara and other members of our community with healthy food when they need it.

You could also share a first-person story from a client/program recipient.

Include a photo

Include an engaging color photo in your letter or on your reply form. Photos can tell a story in an instant.

Next comes the ask

Ask for a donation at the beginning of the next paragraph (after the story). Make sure it’s prominent and clear. Also, ask your current donors if they can give a little more right now. Don’t be afraid to ask your donors to upgrade their gifts. People want to help if they can.

Phrase your ask like this – We’re so grateful for your previous gift of $50. We’re continuing to see more people coming into the food pantry right now. Would you be able to help us out a little more this time with a gift of $75?

Asking for an upgrade can help you raise more money. Also, if you’ve been doing a good job of engaging your donors throughout the year (and I hope that’s the case), they shouldn’t mind if you ask for a larger gift. Including the amount of your donor’s previous gift is helpful since people don’t often remember what they gave before.

Be sure the ask is the only call to action in your appeal. Don’t distract people with information about an upcoming event or volunteering. Save that for a different message.

Be donor-centered, as well as community-centered

There’s been some dichotomy over the past few years between being donor-centered and being community-centered, but I think you can be both. What you don’t want is to be organization-centered.

Show your donors how they can help you make a difference for your clients/community and how much you appreciate their role in that. Make your donors feel good about supporting your nonprofit.

At the same time, respect your clients/community by not undermining them when you use terms like at-risk youth or underserved communities. They are people, after all.

Share your success and challenges

Highlight some of your accomplishments, but you can share challenges, too. 

Show how you plan to continue your work with your donor’s help. Remember to stay donor-centered and community-centered! 

Personalization is crucial

Don’t send everyone the same appeal. Try to send different letters to current donors, monthly donors, lapsed donors, people on your mailing list who haven’t donated yet, event attendees, volunteers, and friends of board members. 

The more you can segment, the better, but at the very least, you must do these two things.

Send a personalized appeal to your current donors. They’re your best bet for getting donations. Let them know how much you appreciate their support. 

Also, send a specific appeal tailored to monthly donors, giving them the recognition they deserve. For your year-end appeal, I would thank them for all their generous support and ask them to give an additional gift. You can ask them to upgrade at a different time.

Don’t send a generic, one-size-fits-all appeal letter. Go the extra mile for your donors, so they’ll continue to support you.

Your appeal letter should also have a personal salutation (first names are best) and not be addressed to Dear Friend or Dear Valued Donor. How much do you value this relationship if you can’t even use a person’s name?

If this sounds like a lot of work, then give yourself plenty of time. This is important. Personalizing your letters can also help you raise more money.

Make it easy for your donors to give

Include a reply envelope with amounts to check off or a reply form and a return envelope. Create donation tiers that show what each amount will fund. Do this on your donation page, too.

If donors have given before, you can include that amount on the reply form and also customize their giving strings.

Some donors prefer to donate online. Direct them to a user-friendly donation page on your website. You could create a QR code for your letter and reply device. Make sure your donation page is mobile-friendly, too.

Offer a monthly or recurring giving option

Monthly gifts can generate more revenue, give you a steady source of income throughout the year, and improve donor retention. Encourage your donors to give $5, $10, or even $20 a month. This may be a more viable option for some of them. 

Be careful and don’t send an appeal to your current monthly donors that invites them to become monthly donors. That’s one reason why they need their own appeal.

Your letter must be easy to read (and scan)

Use short paragraphs and bulleted lists, along with bold or color for keywords, but keep it tasteful. Make it easy to read and scan. Most people won’t read your letter word for word. Use a simple font and at least a 12-point type (14 is even better).

Human attention spans are less than 10 seconds. But go figure, longer fundraising letters (four pages as opposed to two) have been shown to perform better, especially for prospective donors.

Resist the temptation to create a one-page letter. This often means cramming a bunch of tiny text on the page. With a longer letter, you’ll have more space to tell a story and repeat messages. You can also break up the text with a photo, testimonials, and short paragraphs. Printing on both sides of the page is fine, too.

Quality and readability are essential here. Make every word count. 

Think of your letter as a conversation with a friend

You can create a better, more personal appeal if you think of your letter as a conversation with a friend. That means not using jargon like at-risk youth and underserved communities. Be specific and use everyday language. Your goal should be for your reader to understand you.

Refer to your reader as you and use you a lot more than we.

Too many editors spoil the appeal

Your entire staff doesn’t need to be involved in writing your appeal. Generally, the more people you involve in writing your letter, the worse it becomes. Fundraising Consultant Tom Ahern refers to this as letter writing by committee.

Your best writer should craft it and then turn it over to your best editor. Whoever signs the letter (your Executive Director?) can take a quick look at it, but don’t send it to a committee.

If you don’t have someone on your staff who can write a good fundraising appeal, then hire a freelancer or consultant to do it.

Besides weakening the content, involving more people takes extra time.

Make a good lasting impression

Repeat your ask at the end of your appeal. Don’t forget to say please and thank you.

Be sure to add a P.S. People often gravitate to the P.S. as they scan the letter, so include something that will capture their attention. It may be the only thing they look at.  It should include information that’s already in your appeal – Please donate now to help us feed more families in the community.  Don’t distract people with information about volunteering, an event, etc.

Get your pens out

Include a short handwritten note, if you can. Make it relevant to each donor, such as thanking someone for a previous donation or hoping a potential donor will support you. You could also stick on a handwritten Post-it note. Hand-sign the letters in blue ink.

Spend some time writing a better, more personal appeal letter that will stand out and help bring you the donations you need. Good luck!

Image by Howard Lake

The Time to Start Planning Your Year-End Fundraising Campaign is Now

Ann Green appeal letters, database, direct mail, donation page, donor-centered, fundraising, gratitude, planning , , , , , ,

Can you believe it’s August already? Time flies and soon it will be September. I know It’s hard to think about fall when it’s been sweltering in many parts of the world, including places where it’s usually not that hot. Even so, September will be here before you know it. I’m already starting to see ads for back-to-school sales….

If you’re doing a year-end fundraising campaign, the time to start planning it is now, hopefully in an air-conditioned space. You don’t want to wait too long, especially if you’re behind in your revenue goals.

I’ve put together a checklist to help you get started. You can also use this for fundraising campaigns at other times of the year.

How much money do you need to raise?

You may have already set a goal for your year-end campaign in your 2024 fundraising plan (at least I hope you did) and maybe that has changed. 

You must determine how much money you need to raise before you start your campaign and raising as much as we can is not a goal.

Do you have a campaign plan?

Put together a plan for your campaign that includes a timeline, task list, and the different channels you’ll use. Make it as detailed as possible.

I strongly encourage you to mail an appeal letter. Direct mail appeals are more successful. You can also send an email appeal and follow up with email, as well. 

When do you want to launch your appeal? If you’re in the United States, it’s best to wait until after the November 5th election, and you know why. For those of you outside the US, you can start earlier. Whenever it is, make your goal to have the letters done at least a week before that, because things always take longer than you think they will. Work backwards to figure out how you can get to your proposed send date.

Keep in mind you’ll be competing with many other organizations who are doing appeals. Think about how you can make yours stand out.

Also, how are you mailing your appeal? Do you use a mail house or get staff and volunteers together to stuff envelopes? Either way, plan ahead, so you’re not scrambling at the last minute.

Do you have a good story and photo to share?

If you’ve been using the same boring, generic appeal letter template for the last few years, it’s time for a refresh. It’s a good idea to revise your templates at least once a year. Our world has changed a lot in the last few years and you need to take that into account.

A good way to start is to create an engaging story for your appeal. What challenges are your clients/community facing right now? Many people are struggling to make ends meet. Focus on them, not your organization. Each year is different and this is why you need new stories.  

You’ll want some good photos for your letter and donation page, too. Quotes and testimonials from clients will also enhance your appeal.

How can your donors help you make a difference?

Your appeal letter should focus on a need and let your donors know how they can help you make a difference. You might want to start by creating a brief and an outline.

You may be seeing more people at your food pantry because of rising food costs and cuts in benefits. Maybe your clients are struggling to find affordable housing.

You can also highlight some of the accomplishments you’ve made recently and state what you would like to do in the coming year, although these are usually more appropriate for a newsletter or impact report. 

One way to frame this is to describe a situation such as this. You run a tutoring program in your community and work with students who are falling behind in school. You can describe how thanks to your generous donors, your one-to-one tutoring program has helped students get better grades and are now less likely to be held back a year. You want to keep that going and serve more students.

Remember to focus on your clients/community and don’t brag about your organization.

Are your mailing lists in good shape?

Make sure your mailing lists are up-to-date. Check for duplicate addresses and typos. Your donors don’t want to receive three letters at the same time or have their names misspelled. Take a little time to do some data hygiene. Give your email list some attention, too.

Also, now is a good time to segment your mailing lists – current donors, monthly donors, lapsed donors, event attendees, etc. This is so important. Your current donors are your best source of donations. You should have more success if you can personalize your appeal letters. Acknowledge if someone has donated in the past or is a monthly donor. Donors like it when you recognize them for who they are, so don’t send everyone the same appeal.

Do you have enough letterhead, envelopes, and stamps?

Don’t wait until September or October to check your supply of letterhead and envelopes. Make sure you have enough. 

Speaking of envelopes, something besides the standard white business envelope can improve your response rate. Think about using an oversized, colored, or embellished envelope. If that’s not possible, don’t use a window envelope because it resembles a bill. A general rule is you don’t want any of your direct mail pieces to look like a bill or junk mail.

Even though many people donate online, you want to make it easy for donors who prefer to mail a check. Include a pledge envelope or a return envelope and a preprinted form with the donor’s contact information and the amount of their last gift.

Stamps are more personal, so you might want to find some nice ones to use. 

Is it easy to donate online?

Be sure your donation page is user-friendly and consistent with your other fundraising materials. Using a branded donation page and not a third-party site is best. Highlight your year-end appeal on your homepage and include a prominent Donate Now button.

One way to ensure a good experience is to have someone on your staff or, even better, someone outside of your organization make a donation on your website. If they want to run out of the room kicking and screaming, then you have some work to do.

Do you offer a monthly or recurring giving option?

I’m a huge fan of monthly giving. It’s a win-win for your organization. You can raise more money, boost your retention rate, receive a steady stream of revenue, and allow your donors to spread out their gifts.

If you don’t have a monthly giving program or have a small one, don’t wait any longer to start one or grow the one you have. Be sure to highlight it as a giving option.

Do you want to find a major funder who will give a matching gift?

Another good way to raise additional revenue is to find a major funder to match a portion or all of what you raise in your year-end appeal. If you want to go down this route, now would be a good time to reach out to these potential funders. 

How will you thank your donors?

Be sure to spend as much time on your thank you letter/note as you do on your appeal letter and write them at the same time. And if it’s been a while since you’ve freshened up your thank you templates, you know what you need to do. It’s so important to thank your donors and thank them well as soon as you receive their gifts, so have a thank you letter/note ready to go. Don’t treat thanking your donors as an afterthought.

Handwritten notes and phone calls are much better than a preprinted letter. Create or buy some thank you cards and start recruiting board members and volunteers to make thank you calls or write notes. 

You’ll want to put together a welcome plan for your new donors and that also needs to be ready to roll after the donations come in.

How will you keep up with your donor communication?

Even though you’ll be busy with your appeal, you want to ramp up your donor communication this fall. Keep engaging your donors and other supporters (who may become donors) by sharing updates and gratitude. Pour on the appreciation! 

Send at least one warm-up letter or email. How about a postcard? You could create a thank you video or a video that gives a behind-the-scenes look at your organization. Maybe you could hold an open house or offer tours. Just don’t disappear until appeal time. 

Yes, we’re still in a period of economic uncertainty. Some donors may not give as much or at all, but others will give more. They won’t give anything if you don’t ask.

There’s still plenty of time to go to the beach and get ice cream this summer, but right now find that air-conditioned space and start planning your year-end campaign.

Best of luck!

Photo by CreditScoreGeek.com

Don’t Take a Vacation From Your Donor Communication

Ann Green Communications, direct mail, donor engagement, donor relations, donor-centered, gratitude , , , ,

It’s summer! I hope you’ll get a chance to take a vacation or just some time off. It may be quieter at your nonprofit, but you don’t want to be too quiet and ignore your donors. Summer is a great time to do some relationship building. 

You should communicate with your donors at least once a month and that includes the summer months. Don’t make the mistake of taking a vacation from your donor communication. Continuing to stay in touch with your donors will help you when you launch your fall fundraising campaign. 

Maybe this sounds impossible, especially if you’re a small organization and worried about your finances, but you can do this!

Here are a few ways you can connect with your donors this summer, as well as throughout the year, and build those important relationships. 

Make your donor’s day with a handwritten thank you card

Nonprofit organizations don’t thank their donors enough. You don’t need a reason to thank your donors. Just do it and do it often. You’ll stand out if you do.

This is a good time to do something personal, such as sending a handwritten thank you card. Pour on the gratitude and let your donors know how much you appreciate them.

You only need to write a few sentences, but make it warm and friendly. Think of it as having a conversation with a friend. Get board members and other volunteers to pitch in and help. You could also have a beneficiary write thank you notes.

Send a postcard

It used to be fairly common for people to send postcards when they went on vacation. I don’t know how many people still do that, although I always enjoy receiving them.

Postcards are a great way to connect with your donors. Communicating by mail is more effective than electronic communication. I know mail is expensive, but a postcard shouldn’t cost too much. Your donors are also more likely to see your messages if you send them by mail. 

You can say thank you, share an update, or a combination of both. Besides feeling appreciated, donors also like to hear how their gift is making a difference. You could consider an infographic postcard.

Sending something by mail is an investment that could pay off if your postcard (or handwritten card) entices a donor to give again and possibly upgrade.

Email and social media are okay, too.

While it’s important to stay in touch once a month, it may not be possible to use direct mail that much. You can also use email and social media. Email has an advantage here because you can personalize your messages and the engagement levels are better, although not as good as direct mail. The downside is people get a ton of email and social media messages, so make yours stand out.

You could send your donors a thank you photo or video. Maybe you already do a monthly e-newsletter. Jazz it up a little. You could even make it shorter. Share a story that lets your donors know how they’re helping you make a difference for your clients/community.

You don’t need anything fancy and make it easy for yourself by keeping it simple. There are so many ways to thank your donors and share an update. It’s okay to have a little fun and get creative. It’s summer, after all. It could also be a nice distraction from everything that’s going on in the world.

Get donors involved

We’re still facing a lot of economic uncertainty, but donors want to help if they can. 

Will certain policies or budget cuts affect your organization? Many states have issued their budgets for the next fiscal year.

Share ways your donors can help – perhaps by contacting their legislators, volunteering, or making a donation.

I’m a big fan of advocacy alerts. They can be a great way for people to engage with your organization. Be sure to thank participants and keep them updated on any outcomes.

When all levels of government make funding cuts or policy changes, the need in the community grows, which puts more burden on nonprofit organizations. Remember, some donors will step up and help, if they can. 

Make room for improvement and plan ahead

Summer can be a good time to make improvements in your existing communication. Spend time finding some engaging stories and photos for your newsletters and other updates. This is also a good time to warm up your donors for your fall campaign.

Start working on your appeal and thank you letters for your next campaign. Make sure they focus on building relationships and are donor-centered. Segment your donors by different types – new, renewing, monthly, etc.  Also, make sure your CRM/database is up to date.

If you’re feeling pinched financially, I often recommend starting your fall campaign earlier. That’s fine if you’re not in the United States, but since we have a big election coming up on November 5, it would be wise to launch it after that. That doesn’t mean going dark, though. 

Summer could be a good time to raise some additional revenue by inviting current donors to join your family of monthly donors and reaching out to your lapsed donors.

For now, keep relationship building front and center. Keep communicating with your donors. They want to hear from you. Don’t take a vacation from your donor communication.

The Power of a Postcard

Ann Green Communications, direct mail, donor engagement, donor relations, donor-centered, gratitude, impact report , , , , ,

People used to send postcards when they went on vacation, especially back in the days before we had email and social media. Now people are more likely to post pictures on social media, sometimes posting more than you want to see. 

We don’t use postal mail as much anymore and many nonprofits are a part of that group. This is a mistake. Direct mail is more personal and your donors are more likely to see something they receive in the mail, as opposed to any type of electronic message you send. Plus, people never get nearly as much mail as they do email and social media messages. Electronic communication is good, but communicating by mail is better.

I’m a big fan of communicating by mail and believe nonprofits should communicate by mail more often than they do. Now you might say – “But mail is too expensive. So is printing something. We have a small staff and we barely have time to get anything done.” I understand all that. I know direct mail can be expensive and putting together a mailing takes more time, but it’s an investment that can help you raise more money.

One way to mail that shouldn’t cost too much is to use postcards. First, you can probably do them in house. Also, if you do it well, it’s a quick, easy way to capture your donor’s attention right away. Creating a postcard will be less expensive than something like a four-page newsletter or impact report. Donors have a lot going on and don’t want to be barraged with too much information. 

Direct mail is a proven way to communicate and engage. I encourage you to give postcards a try.  Landscaping companies, realtors, and political candidates all use postcards, and so should you. With summer just around the corner (yea!), it’s a great way to stay in touch. Here are a few ways you can engage with your donors by using postcards.

Say thank you

Never miss an opportunity to thank your donors and a quick, easy way to show gratitude is with a postcard.

Create a postcard with a thank you photo, image, or word cloud. The best option is to create a card with enough space so you can include a handwritten note. If that’s not possible, then create one with a pre-printed message.

Let your donors know how their gifts are helping you make a difference for your clients/community and that you couldn’t do your work without them. 

Send a thank you postcard between one of your fundraising campaigns, so your donors know you’re thinking about them. Another idea is to send one as a warm up before a campaign.

Ideally, you should be thanking your donors at least once a month. Many organizations don’t mail any type of thank you card, so you’ll stand out if you do.

Share an update

A postcard can be a good way to share an update with your donors. You could make an infographic to give them a quick glance at some of your progress. Some organizations use oversized postcards for their impact/annual report. 

Some infographics just show a bunch of numbers, and numbers don’t mean that much without knowing why something is important. For example, instead of just listing the number of people visiting your food pantry, let your donors know you’re seeing higher numbers because families are having trouble making ends meet since groceries are too expensive.

Other ways to use postcards

You could send a postcard wishing your donors a Happy Thanksgiving or Happy Holidays. Another option is a donor’s anniversary or their birthday, if you keep track of that.

You can also use a postcard for fundraising. While not as effective as a direct mail package (letter, reply envelope, etc.), it can be used as a heads-up for a campaign or a reminder. You could include a QR code and a website link so your donors can easily make a gift or get more information.

Postcards are good for a Save the Date for an event. You could also use one for an informal event.

What to keep in mind

Your postcard needs to capture your donor’s attention right away. It needs to be visual and not include a lot of text (but not just numbers). The text you do include needs to be engaging, conversational, and donor-centered. Examples could include Thank You, Because of you, or Look what you helped us do. Don’t be afraid to get a little creative by using shaped printing. 

Yes, communicating by mail costs more, but it can pay off if you create something more personal that your donors will see. Whether you’re saying thank you, sharing an update, or a combination of both, connect with your donors by sending them a postcard.

How Making Wise Investments Can Help You Raise More Money

Ann Green Communications, database, direct mail, donor engagement, donor retention, monthly donors, planning , , , , ,

In most instances, nonprofit giving declined again in 2023. If you’re interested in the numbers, here are the latest results from M + R Benchmarks.

If your giving has gone down, you may have cut back on some expenses. While that’s understandable on one level, you need to be careful before you nix something you think you can’t afford. It may be something you should be investing in.

Instead of going on autopilot and saying “We can’t afford this,” think about how you can make wise investments. Stay away from the scarcity mindset. It’s often not helpful.

Here are a few areas you should be investing more money in. The good news is if you do it well, these investments can help you raise more money.

Invest in a good CRM/database

Plain and simple, a good CRM (customer relationship management)/database can help you raise more money. You can segment your donors by giving amount and politely ask them to give a little more in your next appeal – $35 or $50 instead of $25. Many organizations don’t ask their donors to upgrade their gifts and you’re leaving money on the table when you neglect to do this.

A good database can help you with retention, which will save you money since it costs less to keep donors than to acquire new ones. Donor retention continues to be a huge problem.

Many CRMs have built-in payment processors. If not, invest in a good one. 

Your CRM will let you personalize your letters and email messages. Make sure to invest in a good email service provider, too. Personalized letters and messages mean you can address your donors by name and not Dear Friend. You can welcome new donors and thank current donors for their previous support. You can send targeted mailings to lapsed donors to try to woo them back. You can send special mailings to your monthly donors. You can record any personal information, such as conversations you had with a donor and their areas of interest.

In short, you can do a lot with a good CRM/database. Invest in the best one you can afford, and Excel is not a database.

If you’re worried about spending $50 to $100 a month on a CRM/database, you may be able to recoup that expense if you can ask for an upgrade and personalize your communication.

Invest in direct mail

You may not use direct mail that much, especially over the last few years. Some organizations were never or rarely using it before the pandemic.

If that’s the case for you, you’re missing out on an effective and more personal way to communicate with your donors. Think of the enormous amount of email and social media posts you receive as opposed to postal mail. Your donors will be more likely to see your messages if you send them by mail.

Yes, direct mail is more expensive, but you don’t have to mail that often. Quality is more important than quantity but aim for at least three or four times a year, and don’t just send fundraising appeals.

Give some thought to what you send. Some ideas, besides appeal letters, include thank you letters/cards; Thanksgiving, holiday, and/or Valentine’s Day cards; infographic postcards; two-to-four-page newsletters; and impact reports. You could put a donation envelope in your newsletter to raise some additional revenue, but do not put one in a thank you or holiday card. I wouldn’t recommend putting one in an impact report either, especially if you only do one a year.

Shorter is better. Lengthy communication will cost more and your donors are less likely to read it. 

A few ways you can use direct mail without breaking your budget are to clean up your mailing lists to avoid costly duplicate mailings, spread thank you mailings throughout the year – perhaps sending something to a small number of donors each month, and look into special nonprofit mailing rates. You may also be able to get print materials done pro bono or do them in-house, as long as they look professional.

Of course, you can use email, but your primary reason for communicating that way shouldn’t be because it’s cheaper. Both direct mail and email have their place, but in many cases, direct mail is more effective. They also work well when you use them together.

Invest in monthly giving

If you don’t have a robust monthly giving program, you’re missing out on a great way to raise more money. Monthly giving is one of the few types of fundraising that saw an increase last year. It’s good for all nonprofit organizations, but it’s especially beneficial for small nonprofits.

All it takes is for someone to start giving $5.00 or $10.00 a month (hopefully more). These small gifts add up. Also, the retention rate for monthly donors is around 90%. Plus, they’re more likely to become mid-level, major, and legacy donors.

This is why having a good CRM is so important. It will help you find potential monthly donors and segment your current monthly donors so you can send them specialized donor communications. 

Don’t wait any longer to invest in this proven way to raise more money. If you already have a strong monthly giving program (kudos to you), take the next step and invest in mid-level donors and so on.

Invest in donor communications

By donor communications I mean thank you letters/notes, newsletters, and other updates. Some organizations don’t prioritize these and want to spend their time “raising money.” They don’t seem to realize they can raise more money with better donor communications. Remember this formula – ask, thank, report, repeat.

Don’t skimp on your communications budget. Creating thank you cards and infographic postcards is a good investment and a necessity, not a luxury. Thank you cards are a much better investment than mailing labels and other useless swag.

Maybe you need to reallocate your budget to cover some of these expenses. You could also look into additional sources of unrestricted funding. 

Of course, you can also use email and social media to communicate with donors. This reiterates the need for a good email service provider with professional looking templates for your email newsletter and other updates.

Invest in infrastrucure

We need to stop treating overhead or infrastructure as something negative. Most individual donors don’t care about overhead, anyway. However, some funders want us to spend our budget on programs, but how can we successfully run our programs if we don’t have enough staff and can barely afford to pay the people we do have? A rotating door of development staff makes it hard to maintain those important relationships. We also have to pay rent and other expenses (including a CRM, direct mail communication, etc.).

Until these funders stop worrying so much about overhead, you may want to invest some time in finding unrestricted funding sources – often those important individual gifts, such as monthly donations and mid-level/major gifts. 

Don’t limit yourself by saying you can’t afford certain expenses. If you make wise investments, you should be able to raise more money.

How Your Nonprofit Can Stand Out in a Sea of Information

Ann Green Communications, direct mail, donor-centered, email, multichannel, planning, writing , , , , ,

Our world is packed with information, too much at times. When I was growing up, we just had a few TV channels to choose from. Now there are countless streaming options. We also have email, the internet, and social media, just to name a few. It’s a lot!

How does your nonprofit organization compete with all this? You need to communicate regularly with your donors and you need to do it well. But in this sea of information, they might miss your messages. 

Here are a few ways you can make your messages stand out and get noticed. 

What’s your intention?

What’s the purpose of your message? What do you want your reader to do? Are you asking for a donation? Maybe you’re thanking your donor or sharing an update.

Think from your reader’s perspective. What would she be interested in or what would make him take action?

Don’t muddle your messages with too much information. Keep it simple and stick to one call to action or type of message. If you ask someone to make a donation, volunteer, and contact their legislators in the same message, they may not do any of that.

Choose the right channels

Most likely you’ll use more than one channel to communicate. Pay attention to the channels your donors are using and focus your efforts there.

Email may be your primary mode of communication and there’s a reason for that. It’s fast, easy, relatively inexpensive, and almost everyone has an email address. You can quickly get a message out to a lot of people. Also, unlike social media, it’s something you can control. You don’t have to rely on a social media algorithm to hope your message ends up in your donor’s feed.

The downside is people get an enormous amount of email from a variety of different sources. Political organizations and candidates here in the U.S. send a ton of email messages and it’s only going to get worse as the 2024 election approaches. I tend to ignore a lot of those emails and then end up missing something important. Plan a strategy to help you break through the noise. 

Plus, the average email open rate is around 20%. And, social media is often just a lot of a lot.  

You can see how easy it is for your electronic messages to get lost in the shuffle. Your donors may just tune things out, even if you have something engaging to share. 

While you’ll likely use electronic communication pretty regularly, don’t discount direct mail. Your donors are more likely to see these messages. We get far less postal mail than electronic communication. Also, someone can put a piece of mail aside and look at it later. Don’t count on that happening with any type of electronic communication. You can also communicate by phone. This is a great way to thank your donors.

Going multichannel is usually your best bet. This is very common for fundraising campaigns and inviting people to events, as well as including a link to your email newsletter on your social media platforms. This way if people miss your initial message on one platform, they may see it on a different one. You’ll also want to send regular reminders for fundraising appeals and event invitations.

Get noticed right away

Your donors have a lot going on and you need to capture their attention right away.

Your fundraising letters and anything else you send by mail need to look appealing enough to open. You could put a tagline on the envelope. That doesn’t mean something like It’s Our Annual Appeal. Try something like – How you can help families move into their own homes. or THANK YOU!

Your envelope should look personal and not resemble a bill or junk mail. A few ways to make your mail stand out are to use something other than the usual white business envelope, hand address your envelope, and use stamps.

Once your donor opens your fundraising appeal, lead with a story followed by a clear, prominent ask. When they open your thank you letter, they should be greeted with gratitude.

A good subject line is the key to getting someone to open your email message. Keep in mind that your donor’s inbox is bursting with messages. Don’t use something boring like April e-newsletter or Donation Received. Entice them with Learn how you helped the Stevens family find their own home or You just did something amazing today! Putting someone’s first name in the subject line can also help with open rates.

Keep them engaged once they open your message.

Keep it short

In many cases, a shorter message is best. You want a good balance between saying too much and saying too little. All your words should count, so be careful about adding too much filler. That often includes bragging about your organization and explaining what you do.

Keep in mind the average human attention span is about eight seconds.

Your goal is to get your donors to read your messages. If it looks long and boring, they probably won’t bother.

Make it easy to read and scan

Besides sending a short message, use short paragraphs and lots of white space, too. Your messages need to be easy to read and scan in an instant. Most people aren’t going to read something word for word. Be sure they can quickly get the gist of what you want to say. Don’t use microscopic font either – use 12 point or higher.

Be personal and conversational

Write directly to your reader using clear, conversational language – no jargon. Don’t confuse your donors with generic messages.

Don’t cast a wide net

It’s important to send your messages to the right audience and your audience isn’t everyone.

You’ll have more luck with a fundraising appeal when you send it to past donors or people who have a connection to your cause. The same is true for event invitations or recruiting volunteers.

You may want to reach out to as many people as possible, but that won’t guarantee you’ll get more donations or event attendees. Segmenting and engaging with the right audience will bring you better results.

Be a welcome visitor

If you communicate regularly and do it well, your donors should recognize you as a reputable source and are more likely to read your messages. If all you do is send them generic fundraising appeals, prepare to be disappointed.

When you send email, make sure people know it’s coming from your organization. In the from field, put DoGood Nonprofit or Nancy (Jackson), DoGood Nonprofit. If you just put a person’s name, people may not know who it’s from and ignore your message, unless that person is well known to your readers.

Only send email to people who have opted into your list. Otherwise, you’re spamming them. Some people will choose not to receive email from you and that’s okay. The ones who do are interested in hearing from you. Give people the option to unsubscribe, too. Measuring your email metrics will help you communicate more effectively. 

When you send email, it’s important to strike a balance between being known and being annoying. Unlike the political organizations I mentioned above, many nonprofits don’t communicate enough. Be sure to reach out anywhere between once a week and once a month.

Even though people only get a few pieces of mail a day, most of it’s junk mail. You never want any of your letters, newsletters, or postcards to be perceived as junk mail (see above).

By putting in a little time and effort, you can help ensure that your messages stand out in a sea of information.

Is Your Nonprofit Newsletter Engaging or Boring?

Ann Green Communications, direct mail, donor engagement, donor relations, donor retention, email, newsletter, writing , , , , ,

In theory, a newsletter can be a great way to engage with your donors. In reality, that doesn’t often happen because most donor newsletters can be used as a cure for insomnia. They’re too long and filled with boring articles that brag about how wonderful the organization is.

A newsletter is a vital part of the ask, thank report, repeat formula and you can’t just go through the motions. The good news is it’s possible to create an engaging newsletter your donors will want to read. Here’s what you need to do.

Think about what your donors want

You need to include content that will interest your donors. Do you think your donors would rather read an article about your CEO receiving an award or one about Kara, a single mother who is having trouble making ends meet, but is grateful because thanks to your generous donors, she can get food for her family at the Eastside Community food pantry? 

The answer should be obvious. Your donors want to hear about how they’re helping you make a difference for your clients/community. Before choosing content, think carefully about whether or not your donors would be interested in it. 

If you’re a larger organization, you could create different newsletters for different programs or one specifically for monthly donors.

You need a print newsletter

You may opt not to do a print newsletter because it’s expensive and takes too much time, but you’re making a mistake if many of your donors prefer print.

I think you’ll have more success if you can do both print and email newsletters. I recommend a short email newsletter once or twice a month and one to four print newsletters a year.

Donors are more likely to see any communication that comes in the mail, as opposed to the enormous volume of email most of us get.

Follow the Domain Formula, which was developed by the Domain fundraising group. A couple of things they recommend is to send your print newsletter only to donors and to put it in an envelope, not send it as a self-mailer.

They also recommend putting a donation envelope in your print newsletter. This is a proven way to raise additional revenue and you may be able to recoup your expenses. Print newsletters are a great way to boost your retention rate.

You can also save money by creating a shorter print newsletter (maybe two pages instead of four) or only mailing it once or twice a year. You can print them in-house, as long as it looks professional.

Be sure you have a clean mailing list. If you can get rid of duplicate and undeliverable addresses, that’s another way to save a little money.

Remember, donors are more likely to read a print newsletter. But ask them what they like, and listen to what they say. If a majority of them prefer print, then you need to find a way to accommodate them.

Give some thought to your email newsletter

Your print and email newsletter are separate entities. Therefore, you shouldn’t email people a PDF of your print newsletter. Use an email service provider and a newsletter template to create the best experience for your readers.

Send your email newsletter to anyone who signed up for it and only to people who signed up to receive it. This can be both donors and non-donors. It could be a good cultivation tool for future donors. Give people ample opportunities to sign up for your e-newsletter, but understand not everyone will want to receive it.

Use an engaging subject line (something like Learn how you’re helping families find a home and not April newsletter) so you can stand out in your donor’s inbox. And be sure people can read it on a mobile device. You can also get a little creative with your e-newsletter by including a short poll or quiz.

Share your stories

Stories are the most important part of a nonprofit newsletter (print and email). Each newsletter needs to begin with a compelling story. If you’re making a difference, you have stories to tell.

Client stories are best, but you could also do profiles of volunteers, board members, and donors. Focus on what drew them to your mission (more on that below).

Create a story bank that includes at least four client stories to use every year.

Don’t stray from your mission

A common article I see in many nonprofit newsletters is one about a foundation or major donor giving a large gift. This may be accompanied by a picture of someone holding a giant check. Of course, you should recognize these donors (and all donors), but why is this gift important? How will it help your clients/community?

For example – This generous $50,000 grant from the Eastside Community Foundation will help us serve more students in our tutoring program. Many students fell behind during remote learning and are still struggling to catch up.

Something else I see a lot is a profile of a new board member. Instead of focusing so much on their professional background, let your donors know what drew them to your organization. We welcome Lisa Miller, Vice President of First National Bank, to our board. Lisa has a brother with autism and is very passionate about finding ways for people with autism to live independent lives. 

Write to your donors

Write your newsletter in the second person, emphasizing you much more than we. Be personal and conversational. Say – You helped Kara feed her family or Because of donors like you, X number of families have been able to get healthy food every week. This is important because so many families are struggling to make ends meet right now.

Leave out jargon and other language your donors won’t understand. Write as if you’re having a conversation with a friend.

I’m not a fan of the letter from the CEO because those tend to be organization-centered instead of donor-centered. If you feel you must include one of these, be sure to thank your donors. And if you’re mailing your newsletter in an envelope (recommended), do a separate letter and don’t make it part of the newsletter. 

Pour on the appreciation

Never miss an opportunity to thank your donors. You couldn’t do your work without them. Every one of your newsletters needs to show gratitude and emphasize how much you appreciate your donors.

Make it easy to read (and scan)

Most of your donors aren’t going to read your newsletter word for word, especially your e-newsletter. Include enticing headlines and email subject lines (if you don’t, your donors may not read it at all), at least a 12-point font, and lots of white space so your donors can easily scan your newsletter.

Stick to black type on a white background as much as possible. Colors are pretty, but not if it’s hindering your donor’s ability to read your newsletter. Photos can be a great way to add some color, as well as tell a story in an instant.

Use the inverted pyramid and put the most important story first (client story or profile), keeping in mind your donors may not get to all the articles.

Short and sweet

Your print newsletter should be no more than four pages. Limit your monthly email newsletter to three articles. Some organizations send an e-newsletter twice a month. Those should be even shorter – maybe just two articles. People have a lot going on and don’t want to be bombarded with too much information.

Shorter, more frequent updates, are often better.

Other ways to update your donors

For some of you, putting together a newsletter may be too much to take on. You don’t have to do an actual newsletter, but you do need to keep your donors updated.

Do what you can, but be sure to update your donors at least once a month. You may find you have more success with shorter, more frequent email updates and postcards with an infographic a few times a year. You could also send a Donor Care Letter. 

Take time to create a great newsletter that will engage your donors and not bore them.

Do a Stellar Job of Thanking Your Donors

Ann Green direct mail, donor engagement, donor relations, donor-centered, gratitude, planning, thank you letters, writing , , , ,

Year-end fundraising season is underway. You may have started working on your appeal, which is great. But don’t stop there. It’s just as important, if not more important, to plan how you’ll thank your donors. 

I highly recommend creating a thank you plan, which will help you show gratitude before, during, and after a campaign. 

Your donors deserve a stellar thank you. The problem is most thank yous don’t come anywhere close to being stellar. Many organizations treat thanking their donors as an afterthought and it shows. You can’t do that. It will hurt your chances of getting future donations.

There are many ways to thank your donors after an appeal – by mail, phone, email, on your website, or a combination of those. The more you can do, the better.

Thanking your donors is something you need to do well. Don’t shortchange your donors with a half-hearted, generic thank you.

Do a stellar job of thanking your donors. Make it a priority. Here are a few ways to do this. 

Start planning now

Don’t wait until the day after your appeal goes out. Give yourself plenty of time to plan. Write your thank you letter at the same time you write your appeal. 

Figure out what you’ll be able to do. I highly recommend a handwritten note or phone call. Can you do that for all your donors? If not, maybe you’ll break it down by new donors, long-time donors, or donors who have given a certain amount.

It’s important to thank your donors as soon as possible. I understand that handwritten notes and phone calls take more time, especially during the busy year-end season. If that’s the case, you can and should do those at other times of the year instead.  At the very least, your donors should get a letter, even if they’ve donated online. Thank you emails tend to resemble receipts, but we can change that. Whatever you decide, remember to get started on the content now. 

In the past, the standard was to send thank you letters within 48 hours. If that’s too hard, don’t wait much longer than a week. Make sure you’re ready to go when the donations come in. 

Make your donor’s day with a handwritten thank you note

I love it when a nonprofit sends a handwritten thank you note. This is a rare occurrence, so if you do it, your thank you note will stand out in your donor’s mailbox.

Handwritten notes are great in many ways, but one advantage is you don’t have to write that much. In fact, you can do one in just a few minutes.

You could make thank you cards with an engaging photo or buy some nice thank you cards. Get together a team of board members, staff, and volunteers right after your appeal goes out to help you with this.

Think about how much your donors will appreciate this nice gesture. Here’s a sample note.

Dear Cara,

Thank you so much for upgrading your gift to $75. We’re still seeing more people coming into the Eastside Community Food Pantry. It’s difficult for many families in the community to afford groceries. Your generous gift will help a lot. We’re so happy you’ve been a donor these past five years.

Phone calls are another personal way to show appreciation

Calling first-time donors is known to improve retention rates. But you could also call long-time donors to make them feel special.

Again, you want to get a team together to help. This is a great thing for your board to do. Here’s a sample phone script.

Hi David, this is Tracy Clark and I’m a board member at the Eastside Community Food Pantry. Thank you so much for your generous donation of $50 and welcome to our donor family. Your gift will help feed more local families right now. Many of them are struggling since grocery prices are so expensive.

Write that stellar thank you letter

If it’s impossible to send handwritten notes or make phone calls, you can still impress your donors with a stellar thank you letter. As I mentioned before, many thank you letters aren’t stellar at all and are mediocre at best. You’ll have an advantage if you take some time to create a great, donor-centered letter.

The purpose of a thank you letter is to thank your donors. Keep that in mind at all times.  

Don’t start your letter with On behalf of X organization…. If you’re sending it on your letterhead, it should be obvious it’s coming from your organization. Instead, start your letter with – Thank you, You’re amazing, or You did something great today!

You also don’t need to explain what your organization does. This often comes across as bragging by saying something like – As you know, X organization has been doing great work in the community for 20 years…. Someone who’s donated to your organization should already be familiar with what you do. 

And, don’t ask for another gift in your thank you letter. You did that in your appeal letter. You can ask again another time. Always keep gratitude front and center.

Write separate thank you letters for different types of donors. Welcome new donors and welcome back your current donors. Monthly donors should also get special recognition.

Your thank you letter needs to make your donors feel good about giving to your organization. Let them know how their gift is helping you make a difference. Include a brief story or example, such as the sample handwritten note or phone script I included above.

As with all writing, make your letter personal and conversational. Write to the donor using you much more than we and leave out jargon and any other language your donors won’t understand. Also, you must address your donors by name – not Dear Friend. Personalization is crucial when thanking your donors.

I’ve been emphasizing the importance of envelopes lately. Don’t use a boring, white #10 envelope. Make your letter stand out by using a colored or textured envelope. You could include a teaser that says Thank You and use a nice stamp (You can buy thank you stamps). Hand address the envelopes if you can and include a handwritten note inside that will help make it more personal. You could also include an engaging photo in the letter.

Yes, you do need to include the tax-deductible information, but do that at the end, after you impress your donors with your letter, or include it on a separate page. It’s easiest to include this with your thank you letter or email. Then you don’t have to send it again unless your donor requests it.

Create a more personal online thank you

The thank you plan I reference above gives you advice on how to create better thank you landing pages and email acknowledgments. These often come across as transactional. You need to think of the donations you receive as the start or continuation of a relationship, not a transaction.

Remember, even though your online donors will get an electronic acknowledgment, they should still get thanked by mail or phone. I like to think of the landing page, email, and what comes in the mail or by phone as the thank you journey. Don’t forget this is an ongoing journey.

We may be looking at another tough fundraising season. One thing that can help is to do a stellar job of thanking your donors, both now and throughout the year.

Image by Graham Irwin