planning

Do You Need to Clean Up and Organize Your Mailing Lists?

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, planning

Wow, summer is flying by. It will be September before you know it. Like many nonprofit organizations, you may be doing a big year-end fundraising appeal. If so, you need to start planning for it now.

A good place to start is by cleaning up and organizing your mailing lists (direct mail and email). I know this is boring, but it’s something you need to take seriously.

Add, edit, and delete
Tackle all those address change requests or bounced email addresses that may have accumulated over the last several months.

Also, check for misspelled or incorrect names and addresses. I’m often addressed as Anne instead of Ann.

You won’t make a good impression if you get your donor’s name wrong or there’s a typo in the address. If a donor ever lets you know his or her name is incorrect, apologize and fix it right away.

Your database is a goldmine
A good database can make a big difference in your fundraising. But the best database in the world won’t matter if you haphazardly enter information and don’t keep it current.

Who does your data entry, and how well do they know your donors? You might need to have your development director, executive director, or any board members who interact with donors look over your donor lists to make sure the information is accurate. Tedious, yes, but important.

Add any personal bits of information about your donors to your database. This could include attending an event or meeting with a board member. You’ll need this when you personalize your letters (see below) and add a short handwritten note to each one.

Invest in a good database, as well as an email service provider to make this easier for you.

5 Signs Your Nonprofit Needs to Stop Using Excel and Get a Database!

 
 
Divide and conquer
Segment your mailing lists by current donors, monthly donors, first-time donors, long-term donors, lapsed donors, other supporters (e.g. people who subscribe to your email list but aren’t donors), event attendees, volunteers, etc.

You want to personalize your letters according to donor group. You’re going to have the most luck with current donors, especially if you’ve been showing gratitude and sharing accomplishments throughout the year.

10 Ways to Segment Your Donors to Improve Fundraising Effectiveness

 
Go multi-channel
You’ll have more success in your fundraising campaign if you can communicate with your donors through more than one channel.

When going through your lists, you may discover you have mailing addresses for some donors, but no email addresses or vice versa. Here you need to write or email your donors to get that information. They may not give it to you, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

You can also email your donors to invite them to follow you on social media and post something on social media inviting folks to sign up for your email list.

Personalization makes a difference
You want to get your donors’ names right and make sure there aren’t any typos in their addresses. Also, if you can personalize your appeal letters, you’ll have a better chance of getting a donation.


Of course, this will take time, which is why you should start thinking about it now and not at the end of October.
 
Photo by Luke McGuff  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/legalcode

Welcome Your New Donors With Open Arms

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, planning
This post is included in Welcoming Donors and Securing Second Gifts from the Nonprofit Blog Carnival
Did you know that approximately 70% of first-time donors don’t make a second gift? Yikes! We can do better.
Do something special for your current first-time donors

Before your next big appeal, make a point to send your first-time donors a short thank you email, postcard, or note card in which you shower them with appreciation and give a specific example of how their support is helping you make difference.

Of course, you should continue to stay connected to all your supporters by showing gratitude and sharing accomplishments.

Create a welcome plan

Your first step after you receive a donation is to thank your donors within 48 hours, preferably with a handwritten note or phone call. Don’t send a boring, generic thank you letter. Take time to create an awesome thank you. Is it Time For an Extreme Thank You Makeover?

According to fundraising expert Roger Craver, thank you calls increase retention rates for first-time donors by 25%. Get a group of board members and other enthusiastic volunteers to call your new donors, or send them a handwritten thank you card.

*Make sure these are actually new donors. A good database will help you avoid any snafus.*

A week or two after the initial thank you, send out a welcome package. You can do this by mail, email, or a combination of both.

Welcome your new donors. Thank them again and show them other ways they can connect with you. Invite them to subscribe to your newsletter and join you on social media.

Your welcome package can include a warm introductory letter and a brochure or fact sheet. You could also guide people to your website for more information about your organization.

Be careful about how much information you send. Donors want to feel welcome not overwhelmed.

I don’t recommend sending unsolicited swag. You could offer your new donors a gift and they can let you know if they want to receive it, but it’s not necessary.

What donors really want from you is to know how they are helping you make a difference.

New Donor Welcome Kits | Your Next Gift Strategy

Who are your new donors?

They could be event attendees, volunteers, or newsletter subscribers. If you know, refer to that in your thank you letter. If not, send a short survey with your welcome package and ask, “How did you hear about us?”

Another question to ask is whether your donors prefer print or electronic communication. Short surveys are also a good way to connect throughout the year. The more you know about your donors the easier it will be to communicate with them.

Keep spreading the love
Keep reaching out your donors – at least once or twice a month. Show appreciation and update them on your success.

Also, think of other ways to do something special for your new donors. You could offer tours of your facility or hold an open house.

A huge factor in donor retention is a good donor relations plan that you will carry out regularly as long as your donors support you, which hopefully will be for many years.

Let’s keep working on bringing up those retention rates.

Photo by Gideon Tsang https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode

How You Can Print and Mail With Limited Resources

Ann Green Communications, fundraising, planning
In my last post Don’t Give Up on Print, I mentioned that some nonprofit organizations try to save money by cutting back on printing and mailing. That could be a mistake and I suggested you survey your donors to see whether they have a preference between print and electronic communication.
So now you’ve surveyed your donors and found many of them prefer to receive print communication, and you rarely send anything through the mail because you have limited resources (budget, time, staff).  What do you do?  Here are some suggestions.
Be smart
First off, figure out what you should print and mail.  I recommend mailing at least four pieces a year.  If not, you’ll miss reaching donors who don’t or rarely use electronic channels.
In addition, be smart about what you send out and who you send it to. If your fundraising letter isn’t generating the revenue you want, you might need to improve the content. You may also be sending it to a weak audience.  Mail to people who will be receptive to your cause.
Send out quality material your donors will want to read.
Increase your printing and mailing budget
Can you budget more for printing and mailing?  This is often not as much of a priority as it should be.
If you can’t increase your current budget, find additional sources of unrestricted funding to cover these costs.
DIY
With a good color printer and the right software, you can produce materials in house. Be sure they look professional.
Find a sponsor
You could get your invitations or annual report donated.  A print shop might do this.  It’s good publicity for them. You often get sponsors for an event. Have a sponsor cover the cost of the invitations, as well.
Put a donation envelope in your print newsletter
You might recoup the cost of the mailing, as well as raise additional revenue.  In my last post, I recommended organizations that feel really strapped send a newsletter with a donation envelope in the spring and a year-end appeal.
  
Use discounted mailing options
You may be eligible for special nonprofit rates. Special Prices for Nonprofit Mailers You could use standard or bulk mail for items that aren’t time sensitive, such as newsletters or annual reports. Factor in how long it will take to mail, so your spring newsletter doesn’t arrive in July.  Only use first class mail for appeal letters and thank you letters.
Recruit volunteers to help with mailings
Just make sure they do quality work and don’t slap on crooked mailing labels or write illegible thank you notes.
Different strokes for different folks
You may not need to mail something like an annual report to everyone.  You certainly shouldn’t mail one of those massive 20 pagers to all your donors.
You could send a four- page annual report to your major funders and a postcard annual report to the rest of your donors. 

Shorter is better, both to capture your donor’s attention and to save on printing and mailing costs.   

It’s possible to print and mail with limited resources.  It does take some planning and prioritizing, but it should pay off if it allows you to connect with more donors.

Photo by Reza https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode

But We Don’t Have Time To Do That

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, planning
Do you ever find yourself saying that?  I understand. We’re all busy.  If you work for a small nonprofit, you probably feel as if you are being pulled in different directions.
But be careful. What are you saying you don’t have time to do?  If you are saying you don’t have time to write thank you notes, communicate regularly, or measure your progress,  you are neglecting some important areas.  
It’s possible to make time to do these things, even if you feel you are so busy you can’t see straight.  One big key is planning.  
Say thank you, and say it again and again
A few weeks ago, I gave an example of an organization that missed an opportunity to build relationships by not sending thank you notes after an event.
Many nonprofit organizations don’t do a great job of thanking their donors. Sending a handwritten note or making a phone call will make a better impression on your donors than one of those boring, generic thank you letters.
Get board members and volunteers to help.  If you have an event, you usually recruit volunteers.  Have these volunteers write notes or make calls, too.  It doesn’t take that much time to write a short note, but it makes a huge difference.  Get a bunch of people together and have a thank-a-thon.
You need to keep thanking your donors throughout the year.  This is where a Thank You Plan comes in handy.  

Try to thank your donors once a month.  It could be a short update via email or social media.  Thanks to you, we just expanded our afterschool program to Washington and Eastside High Schools.

Donors don’t want to be ignored
Remember the movie Fatal Attraction where the Glenn Close character says, “I’m not going to be ignored.”  Well, your donors don’t want to be ignored either.  You won’t suffer the same fate as Michael Douglas, but your donors may not donate again.
Your donors want to hear how they are helping you make a difference, and you need to be in touch with them at least once or twice a month.
Creating a Communications Calendar  is essential and will make this a whole lot easier for you. 
A newsletter can be a great way to stay in touch.  Setting up a template and using an email service provider will provide consistency.  Perhaps each issue will include a story/profile and some updates.
Remember, your newsletter doesn’t need to be long.  Keep it to a few short articles.  Shorter, more frequent communication is more likely to get your donors’ attention.  Send out a tweet saying Our donors are awesome.
Does it work?
One of the news programs in Boston has a weekly segment called “Does it work?”, where they review products such as the Potato Express and Chop Wizard.
You also need to ask – does it work?  Are you connecting with people on Twitter? –  Is your spring event worth doing? – Are you meeting your fundraising goals? 
If something isn’t working, figure out how you can make improvements or don’t spend your valuable time doing it anymore. 
Here’s a sample dashboard you can use to help measure your progress and figure out if what you are doing is working. Library of Sample Dashboard Indicators 
These are just a few areas where you might say you don’t have time to do that, but you need to make the time.

What  do you feel you don’t have the time to do?

Photo by bark via Flickr.


Freshen Things Up With Some Spring Cleaning

Ann Green Communications, fundraising, marketing, planning
Spring is here, although winter doesn’t seem to want to go away quite yet. 

Spring is a time for new beginnings. It’s a time to clean up what’s old and make room for something new and better.

Many of you may take on spring cleaning projects in your home. Here are a few spring cleaning projects you can do that will benefit your nonprofit organization.


Clean up your mailing lists
Did you have an influx of address changes, returned mail, and bounced emails after you sent out your year-end appeal? Now is a good time to clean up and update both your print and email mailing lists.

Update and improve your donor database
Your donor database is an important tool and you need it to be up-to-date and filled with accurate information about your donors.

Your database is not just a place to keep addresses and gift amounts.  Use it to its full potential.  Are you using that all wrong? Segment your donors, and record any personal information such as conversations you had with a donor and their areas of interest. 
Don’t cut corners when it comes to data entry and having a good database. Having High Standards is Important, Especially When It Comes to Data Entry.

Be ready for your next mailing
Even though it’s tedious, have someone who is familiar with your donors (your development director?) go through your mailing lists and database to see if you need to make any additions, changes, and deletions.

This is crucial if you are planning a spring appeal or event.

Update your website
Has it been awhile since your updated your website? Even with the popularity of social media, people will go to your website for information, whether they are first-time visitors or long-time supporters. 
Your website must be up-to-date and user-friendly.  Use this checklist to help you create an effective and engaging website. A Website Checklist
Out with the old – In with the new
Now is a good time to look at your 2014 fundraising and marketing plans to figure out what’s working and what isn’t.  If you never created these plans, then one of your first priorities should be to do that.  Don’t go through 2014 without having any plans.
Perhaps you aren’t connecting with people on Google+ or that online auction you’ve had for years takes too much time for the amount of money you raise. 
You may be reluctant to let go of something, but just as if you were going through your closet at home, sometimes you need to get rid of your old, favorite sweater.  Spring Clean Your Fundraising Program…by Throwing Things Out! 
You may want to try something new this spring, but don’t just jump into the latest craze.  You’ll need to decide what makes sense for your organization.
Also, focus on what you can do better.  Instead of trying a new type of social media, work on starting conversations and building relationships on Facebook and Twitter.

Take some time to make the updates and changes you need. What types of spring cleaning projects do you plan to work on?

Photo by Liz Lawley via Flickr

Get Ready for 2014 – Creating a Communications Calendar

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, marketing, planning
Happy New Year! I hope you have taken time to put together fundraising and marketing plans. My last post in this series about getting ready for 2014 is to create a communications calendar (also known as an editorial calendar). 


I like the term communications calendar because it emphasizes the importance of communicating with your donors and other supporters all year round. One of the great things about having a communications calendar is you won’t get so stressed out trying to come up with content for your newsletters and other updates.

As you put together your communications calendar, think about how you will use different channels. You may only send out direct mail a few times a year, but send out a newsletter once a month and communicate by social media several times a week. You will often use a number of different channels when you send out a fundraising appeal or promote an event.

All your communication should be audience-centered and emphasize how you are making a difference for the people you serve and in the community.

Here are some categories you can use in your communications calendar. Some items will be time sensitive and others won’t be.

Events
Does your organization hold any events? Besides your events, are there other events in your community that would be of interest to your supporters? This is a great thing to share on social media.

Legislation
Advocacy alerts are a wonderful way to engage with your supporters. Be on the lookout for any federal or state legislation that’s relevant to your organization. Encourage people to contact their legislators about an issue or a bill. Report back to them with any updates, and thank them for getting involved.

Time of year
Is there something going on during a particular month that is pertinent to your organization? Perhaps it’s homelessness awareness month or your organization was founded in May 1994.

Thanksgiving, the holidays, and winter can be a difficult time for some people. How can you weave that into your work?

News stories
You won’t be able to predict news stories in advance. However, as something newsworthy comes up, see if that’s something you could share.

Fundraising and recruitment

Be sure to add your fundraising appeals to your communications calendar. You want to highlight these and not inundate your donors with a lot of other information at that time.

If your organization has specific times it needs to recruit volunteers, add that to your calendar, as well. 

Thank your donors
Figure out different ways to let your donors know how much you appreciate them. Do this at least once a month.

Ongoing content
If you are making a difference, you have stories to tell. Share your clients’ success stories. You could also profile a board member or volunteer.

Put together a collection of stories and profiles to use in your newsletter and website throughout the year. If you are profiling board members or volunteers, highlight what motivated them to serve on your board or volunteer with your organization. Keep it focused on your mission.

Keep it up
As you hear about other relevant information, add it to your calendar, so you will always have good content to share with your supporters.

Here is more information to help you create a communications/editorial calendar.


Editorial Calendars – Resources for You
Become Your Own Publishing Powerhouse with LightBox Collaborative’s 2014 Editorial Calendar
Photo by Adam Sporka via Flickr

Get Ready for 2014 – Creating a Marketing Plan

Ann Green Communications, marketing, planning
Marketing and communications often take a backseat to fundraising, even though they are closely related. You can’t raise money without clear messages and a good strategy to communicate those messages.


You need a marketing plan

Some organizations don’t have a marketing plan or they have one that’s sort of piecemeal.

If you have never created a marketing plan, you may want to do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis or some other kind of organizational analysis to help you get focused. (See links below for more details.)

At the very least, you should create a plan that covers how you will communicate with your audience(s). Ideally, you should be looking at more than one year and your marketing plan needs to be consistent with your strategic plan.

If you already have a marketing plan and have been measuring your progress (Gold stars for you!), you can incorporate what’s worked in the past into your 2014 plan.

Don’t make the mistake of not taking your marketing and communications seriously. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you put together your marketing plan.

Who are you?

What does your organization do and what makes you unique? What is your message platform? If you’ve never created a consistent set of messages, you need to do that. How To Get Everyone In Your Organization To Be Consistent In Messaging

  
What are your needs and goals?
Each nonprofit has different needs. Everyone needs to raise money, but perhaps you also need members, clients, or volunteers. Come up with categories and goals and create a strategy for each. For example, if you need tutors or mentors, you need to come up with a recruitment plan.

Think about going beyond raising awareness. You need a call to action, such as donating, volunteering, attending an event, or contacting your legislator.

Who is your audience?
It’s not everyone. Sometimes it’s people who know you well, such as donors, and sometimes it’s not.

Craft your messages with your audience in mind. What would entice someone to donate, volunteer, or attend your event?

Communicating with your supporters
Reaching out to donors and other supporters is a huge part of your communications. Throughout the year you need to update them on how they are helping you make a difference. In my next post, I’ll write about creating a communications calendar to help you with that.

Communicating with an external audience

Here you want to reach out to people and groups who will be most receptive to your message or call to action. Sometimes you don’t need to look far. For example, you should have more luck promoting your event by asking your social media followers to share your announcement with their friends than you will if you post an event listing in the paper.


All nonprofits want media coverage, but plan carefully. Target the right publications and choose the right stories. Pitch something newsworthy.

Measure your progress
At least once a quarter look at your goals and figure out what is working, what isn’t, and how you can make improvements.

Use this dashboard to monitor your progress. Scroll down a bit for the marketing section.

Library of Sample Dashboard Indicators




Take some time to put together a well thought-out marketing plan. It will be time well spent.

Photo by Plantoo47 via Flickr

Get Ready for 2014 – Creating a Fundraising Plan

Ann Green donor relations, fundraising, planning

Many of you are probably knee-deep in your year-end fundraising campaign.  But 2014 is less than a month away, and if you haven’t starting planning for it, you need to do that now.


Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll write about ways you can plan for 2014, which includes creating fundraising and marketing/communications plans, as well as a communications calendar.  All are very much interconnected.

You must have a fundraising plan
Most nonprofit organizations receive the bulk of their revenue through donations, so it’s crazy not to have a fundraising plan.


You may have heard the sayings if you fail to plan, you plan to fail, and not having a plan is like starting a journey without a map (or programming your GPS). Cliches? Maybe, but they make a lot of sense.

Putting together any kind of plan doesn’t need be painful. It will take some time, but it’s time well spent. It’s a lot better than being taken by surprise when you come up short on revenue.

Ideally, you should have a multi-year fundraising plan that is based on your strategic plan. Here are a few other things to consider as you put together your fundraising plan.

Did you measure your progress in 2013?
I hope you did, because it will make it easier for you if you can factor in what worked and what didn’t as you plan for 2014.

How much money do you need to raise?
The revenue part of your fundraising plan is fairly straightforward. Figure out how much money you get from other sources, such as fees, and how much you need to raise. Remember to build in a reserve, too.

Be realistic
Determine how much you want to raise from each source – individuals, grants, events, etc. The funding climate is still precarious, so you need to rely on a variety of sources.

Be realistic about what you can do. Cultivating major donors can be worthwhile, but it takes time to build these relationships and you need to involve your board. Events and online auctions can take up a lot of staff time and sometimes don’t bring in that much revenue.

Look at what’s worked in the past. Remember, just because you’ve always done something, doesn’t mean you need to continue doing it.

Make it detailed
Fundraising plans don’t just cover how much money you are going to raise. You also need to include a strategy. Map out each step of an individual appeal campaign or an event and include a timeline. You don’t want to leave anything out.

Also, figure out who will be involved and in what capacity. Make sure to include your board.

Include a donor relations component
Even though your  fundraising plan will include ways to find new donors, don’t neglect the ones you already have. Donor relations is a crucial, but often overlooked, part of fundraising.

Include ways to thank donors, such as holding an open house or sending out holiday cards, as well as donor communication, such as newsletters and social media updates.


You want your donors to give again and to give at a higher level. This means you need to keep them engaged and interested in your work. Also, as you look for new donors, find ones who will support you long-term.

Measure your progress
Don’t ignore your fundraising plan after you finish it. At least once a quarter, check to see if you are on track with your goals. Determine what is working and what isn’t. If you are falling short in your grant revenue, perhaps you are applying to foundations that aren’t the right match for your organization.

In addition, each time you hold an event or run a campaign, figure what worked, what didn’t, and how you can make improvements in the future.

Here is a dashboard you can use to keep track of your progress.
Library of Sample Dashboard Indicators

Don’t make the mistake of not having a fundraising plan. Read on for more information about putting one together.

How to Write a Successful Fundraising Plan
What Should Your Fund Development Plan Include?

Sample Fundraising Plan


Fundraising Plan 1 Year Template

Photo by 401K via Flickr

Once is Not Enough

Ann Green Communications, fundraising, planning
I imagine many of you have sent out your year-end appeal within the last few weeks. Are the donations pouring in? Maybe not, but don’t worry yet.


Even though the end of the year is when most nonprofits see the highest level of giving, it’s also a busy time for your donors.

Once is not enough and you need to follow up with friendly reminders. In most cases, you will use a multi-channel approach. This is contingent on the type of contact information you have and what channels your donors use. You may not have email addresses or phone numbers for all your donors.

It’s also important to make your follow-up messages positive. Don’t make your donors feel bad about not contributing yet.


Here are some ways to follow up with your donors.

By email
Email is often the easiest way to get your message across to a large number of people. You probably have email addresses for most of your supporters.


Send friendly reminders once a week. At the end of December, send messages a couple of times between December 27 and 31.

If possible, only send email reminders to people who haven’t donated. If you can’t do that, be sure to thank the people who have already donated. Continue to share success stories. You can also give updates on your progress, if you have a goal and a deadline.


Your email reminder should include a link to your user-friendly donation page.

By social media

Post similar reminders on social media. Provide updates and thank your donors. You can post reminders several times a week, but if you don’t have that many followers, you’ll want to spend your time elsewhere.

Again, include a link to your website to make donating easy.

By phone
Sometimes a quick phone reminder is all it takes to spark a donation. It’s up to you if you want to call everyone who hasn’t donated. Your best bet is to call people who have donated in the past, especially if they have given at a higher level.

This is also a good opportunity to thank your donors. Leaving a message is fine, but be sure to include a call back number and the link to your website.


By mail
In this case, you may want to target a few select groups. If a mailing address is the only contact information you have for a donor, then you’ll want to send a follow-up letter. You can also send letters to higher dollar donors. Be sure to include a pledge form and return envelope. Always make things easy for your donors.

#GivingTuesday
#GivingTuesday is December 3 and this is a great opportunity to remind your donors.  Find ways you can incorporate #GivingTuesday into your follow up plan.
Get ready for #GivingTuesday: resources for nonprofits

A Playbook To Kickstart Your Nonprofit’s #GivingTuesday Campaign

Is your nonprofit ready for #GivingTuesday?
It may seem like you are communicating a lot with your donors, and of course you need to be mindful of contacting them too much, but sending follow-up reminders makes a difference.

Photo by Phil Scoville via Flickr

Create a Thank You Plan

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, planning, writing
This post is included in the November Nonprofit Blog Carnival | Giving Thanks and Gratitude

You probably have a fundraising plan (if not you should) and maybe a donor relations plan, but do you have a thank you plan?

Nonprofit organizations spend a lot of time on their fundraising campaigns, but treat thanking their donors as an afterthought.

You need to spend just as much time thanking your donors as you do on fundraising.

Creating a thank you plan will help you stay focused on gratitude all year round. Donor retention rates keep plunging and some of the reasons are donors don’t feel appreciated and that they only hear from nonprofits when they are asking for money.

Here are some things to consider as you put together your thank you plan.

Plan to thank your donors right away
Every single donor, no matter how much they have given or whether they donated online, gets a thank you card/ letter mailed to them or receives a phone call.

Try to thank your donors within 48 hours. This shouldn’t be hard to do. Carve out some time each day you get a donation and thank your donors.

Plan to go beyond sending a boring thank you letter

Instead of sending a generic thank you letter, mail a handwritten card or call your donors. Calling your donors to thank them is something your board can do. It’s often a welcome surprise and can raise retention rates among first-time donors.

Here’s where planning comes in. Find board members, staff, and volunteers to make phone calls or write thank you notes. Come up with sample scripts. You may also want to conduct a short training.

If you can’t send handwritten cards or call all your donors, send them a personal and heartfelt letter. Don’t start your letter with “On behalf of X organization we thank you for your donation of….” Open the letter with “You are amazing” or use one of the suggestions from this post. 22 Delightful Ways to Say Thank You!

Add a personal handwritten note to the letter, preferably something that pertains to that particular donor. For example, if the donor has given before or attended one of your recent events, mention that. In addition, make sure all the letters are hand signed.

Let your donors know how much you appreciate them and highlight what your organization is doing with their donation.

Here is more information on how you can do a better job of thanking your donors and some sample phone scripts and letters.

Let’s Do a Better Job of Thanking Donors

Fundraisers, Fix Your Thank You Letters!!


Plan to keep thanking your donors all year round
As you put together your communications calendar, incorporate ways to thank your donors. Try say thank you at least once a month. Here are some ways to do that.

  • Send cards or email messages at Thanksgiving, during the holidays, Valentine’s Day, or mix it up a little and send a note of gratitude in June or September when your donors won’t be expecting it.
  • Invite your donors to connect with you via email and social media. Keep them updated with accomplishments and success stories. Making all your communications donor-centered will help convey an attitude of gratitude. Share accomplishments such as:

Thanks to you, we just started an afterschool program at the Northdale Middle School. Now these students have a safe place to meet and learn new skills.

  • Be sure to keep thanking your donors in your newsletter and social media updates. Emphasize that you wouldn’t be able to do the work you do without your donors’ support.
  • Create a thank you video and share it on your website, by email, and on social media. Our Favorite Nonprofit Thank You Videos 
  • Hold an open house at your organization or offer tours so your donors can see the inner workings of your nonprofit. 

Show Appreciation by Holding an Open House

The Power of Place – Making the Most of Tours For Donors

  • Keep thinking of other ways to thank your donors.
Creating a thank you plan will make it easier to keep showing appreciation to your donors all year round. If you treat them well, maybe they’ll treat you well the next time you send a fundraising appeal.