thank you

Why Does Giving to Your Organization Feel Like a Transaction and Not a Relationship?

Ann Green appeal letters, Communications, donor relations, fundraising, website, writing , , , , , , ,

506328659_22260c5bb2_zFor the last couple of years, I’ve done my year-end giving online on #GivingTuesday.  The day before I purchased Christmas gifts on Cyber Monday, and there wasn’t much difference in the process.

Is it #GivingTuesday or Asking Tuesday?

On #GivingTuesday I was inundated with emails asking for donations, just like the day before I was barraged with emails from Amazon and Zappos.  I know organizations are trying to capitalize on #GivingTuesday, but it was more like Asking Tuesday.

I was told I only had a few hours left to give. Really?  But this isn’t the only day to give. If you’re going to stress urgency, focus on the need of your recipients and not your organization.

I saw very few hints of any type of relationship. Only one organization recognized me as a past donor. Your generosity makes the work we do possible

Many emails began with the dreaded Dear Friend.  Some of these came from large organizations that should be able to afford a database that personalizes salutations.

Some organizations stressed the importance of being a part of #GivingTuesday.  Why is that important? I would rather be a part of helping you make a difference for the people you serve.

Your donors don’t want to receive an appeal when they’ve already donated.  At the very least include a thank you like this – We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to those who have already given.

You can do better by opening your appeal with a story and thanking donors for their past support. Give donors a compelling reason to give and focus more on the relationship and not the transaction.

I’m not the only one who felt this way.  COULD DECEMBER BE THE MONTH WHEN YOU WILL LOSE THE MOST DONORS?

A receipt is not a thank you

When I shop online, I don’t expect the receipt I receive to be as warm and fuzzy as the sweaters I just purchased, but I do expect something personal after I make a donation.

Your thank you landing page is a chance for you to make a good first impression and that doesn’t always happen, especially on some third party sites.

Here’s an example that’s pretty blah.

DONATION CONFIRMED
Thank you for your generous gift to
DONATION SUMMARY AND RECEIPT

.

This one’s a little better, although I would nix the On the behalf of ……

Thank You!

On behalf of the Board of Trustees and staff at X, thank you for your generous online contribution.

Even better

Thank you Ann!

None of the email thank you messages I received knocked my socks off. Here are two openings that are particularly bad.

Thank you for making a donation to x

Here’s an acknowledgment – you should keep this for your records:

 

Thank you for your donation to x

If you have any questions about your donation, please email x and reference number 151201134525.

Yes, I’m feeling the love right now.

But all hope is not lost. I received a follow up thank you email a few days later with the subject line

You #CrushedIt on Giving Tuesday

Almost every online donation I made felt like a transaction. I know you need to include the donation summary and tax ID information, but put that at the end of your thank letter, after you tell your donors they’re amazing.

Donor Relations Guru Lynne Webster has some additional insights #GivingTuesday 2015, and here are some ways to give your donors a better thank you experience. Don’t Treat Thanking Your Donors as an Afterthought

Keep this in mind for all your appeals, especially the ones you send at the end of December.

Focus on the relationship, not the transaction.

Photo by Paul Downey

Make an Investment in Your Donors

Ann Green Communications, database, donor relations, fundraising, planning , , , , ,

This post was included in the November Nonprofit Blog Carnival: A Call to Abundance

7a83c-9677860267_458aa4d0b3

I know many nonprofits have limited resources.  These can include budget, time, and staff.  I also know it’s hard when you feel you’re barely scraping by.  But there are some areas where you can’t skimp.  Think of it as making an investment in your donors.

Invest in a good database and email service provider

The best ones aren’t free.  Fundraising consultant Pamela Grow gives an example of being told to weed out donor data because the database the organization had was only free if it held less than 500 donor records.

This is crazy.  A better database and email service provider can help you raise more money. You can segment your donors by amount and politely ask them to give a little more in your next appeal – $35 or $50 instead of $25.

A better database can help you with retention. You can personalize your letters and email messages.  No more Dear Friend.  You can welcome new donors and thank donors for their previous support. You can 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 your donor data. Here’s more information to help you find a database and email service provider that’s right for you.

Finding the Right Donor Database for Your Nonprofit

Compare Non-Profit Software

The 4 Best Email Marketing Software for Nonprofits

MailChimp vs Constant Contact: Which Email Marketing Software Reigns Supreme for Small Businesses?

Invest in direct mail

Direct mail is an effective and more personal way to communicate with your donors. Every day we’re barraged with email and social media posts, but receive just a few pieces of postal mail. Your donors will be more likely to see your messages if you send them by mail.

You don’t have to mail that often but aim for at least three or four times a year.  I know it can be expensive, so be smart about what you send. Two to four-page newsletters and annual reports are fine. Lengthy communication will cost more and your donors are less likely to read it.  Remember to also make everything  you send donor-centered.

Plan ahead.  If you have a small staff, you may need to start working on a special Valentine’s mailing right after New Year’s.

Cleaning up your mailing lists will help you avoid costly duplicate mailings. Look into using discounted mailing options, too. Special Prices for Nonprofit Mailers

Invest in thanking your donors

This is so important! Nonprofit organizations tend to do a poor job of thanking their donors.

Ideally, your donors should get a handwritten thank you card or a phone call.  Even though these take more time, it’s time well spent. At many of the small nonprofits I’ve worked at, it was all hands on deck to get out our fundraising appeals.  Staff and volunteers would stuff envelopes and write handwritten notes on the letters.

Do the same when you thank your donors.  Get your board involved in making phone calls or writing cards.  Recruit volunteers to help, too.

Take time each day you get a donation to make phone calls, write cards, or send letters.  Don’t let board members put off making calls or let a stack of letters sit on your ED’s desk.

Create a thank you plan to help you and don’t treat thanking your donors as an afterthought.

Make it work

If you can’t increase your budget, find additional sources of unrestricted funding to cover these costs. You may also be able to find a sponsor or get a print shop to print your thank you cards or annual report pro bono.

Do something. You must make an investment in your donors.

Photo by ota_photos  www.tradingacademy.com   

 

 

Give Your Donors the Royal Treatment

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, writing , , , , , , ,

11715533163_0316b42569_zIn my last post, I wrote about the importance of welcoming your new donors and keeping them happy so they won’t leave after one year, as many do. But it’s equally important to show the love to your current donors.

You may think your most valuable donors are the ones who give the most money, but what about the people who have supported your organization for three, five, or even ten years?  These are your valuable donors, considering repeat donor retention rates are about 65%.

Pay attention to your retention

Donor retention often takes a backseat to finding new donors. That doesn’t make much sense since an “easier” way to raise revenue is to get your current donors to give again and give at a higher level.

This won’t happen if you ignore your donors or only communicate when you ask for money. Yes, you’ll need to find new donors, but spend more time keeping the ones you already have.

Before your next big appeal figure out your retention rate A Guide to Donor Retention, and how long each donor has supported you.

This is your first step to help you keep your current donors. Here’s what else you need to do.

Stay on your donors’ good side

I know you’re swamped trying to get your year-end appeal out, but this is not the time to scale back on your donor communication.  Continue to send your newsletter and other updates. Keep them donor-centered.

Send a special note of gratitude this fall, maybe a month or so before you send your year-end appeal.

Get personal

Personalize your appeal letters and thank you letters. Your donors have names, so don’t address them as Dear Friend.

I’m a big fan of the Whiny Donor (@thewhiny donor).  In the following post she describes how she’s been supporting her alma mater for 24 years and in turn received a thank you letter with the salutation Dear [College] Supporter.  That prompted her to stop giving. You’re bound to blow it with a donor or two…This may not happen to you, but why risk it.

Don’t send the same generic letter to everyone. You must recognize past gifts. Thank donors for their past gift in your appeal letter and a repeat gift in your thank you letter.

While on the personal theme, make sure your letters sound like they’re written by a human, not a robot.

Pour on the gratitude

Thank you phone calls and handwritten notes always trump a pre-printed letter.  I realize you may not have the resources to call or send cards to all your donors. Figure out what you can do, but if you have donors that have supported you for more than two years, that s a big deal, and it shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Find board members, other staff, and volunteers to help.  Perhaps you can only call donors who have given for at least three years.

If you do need to send a pre-printed thank you letter, again make it warm and personal.

You’ve only just begun

Stay in touch throughout the year.  Continue to show gratitude and let your donors know how they’re helping you make a difference.

Give your donors the royal treatment, so they’ll stay with you for many years.

Photo by Dennis Jarvis

Roll Out the Red Carpet for Your New Donors

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, planning , , , , , ,

6895820769_201c897309_z

Did you know that approximately 70% of first-time donors don’t make a second gift? This has to stop. We can do better a better job of keeping our donors. Here’s how.

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. Don’t Treat Thanking Your Donors as an Afterthought

Research by fundraising expert Penelope Burk states that first-time donors who receive a thank you call are more likely to donate again and give at a higher level the next year. 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 message and a brochure or fact sheet. You could also direct 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’re helping you make a difference.

New Donor Welcome Kits | Your Next Gift Strategy

How Welcoming is Your Welcome Package?

5 Ways to Wow with Welcome Packs

Who are your new donors?

They could be event attendees, volunteers,or newsletter subscribers. If you know, refer to that in your thank you note or phone call. 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 to your donors – at least once or twice a month. Show appreciation and update them on your success.

Think of other ways to do something special for your new donors, such as offering tours of your facility or holding 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.  In my next post, I’ll share some ideas to help you keep your longer-term donors.

Don’t Treat Thanking Your Donors as an Afterthought

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, planning, writing , , , , , ,

f4121-4759535950_7bca6684c8

This post is included in the July Nonprofit Blog Carnival 18 End-of-Year Fundraising Tips

Summer is in full swing, but fall is just around the corner.  Many of you may be starting to work on your year-end appeal, but have you given any thought to how you will thank your donors?

Thanking your donors is just as important as your appeal.  Here’s how can give your donors a great thank you experience.

Make a good first impression with your thank you landing page

Many people donate online now, and your landing page is your first chance to say thank you.  It should be personal and not have all the charm of a Home Depot receipt.

Open with Thank you, Jean! or You’re amazing!  Include an engaging photo or video and a short, easy to understand description of how the donation will help the people you serve.  Put all the tax deductable information after your message or in the automatically generated thank you email.

6 Fresh Ideas for Your Nonprofit’s “Thank You” Landing Page

If you use a third-party giving site, you might be able to customize the landing page. If not, follow up with a personal thank you email message within 48 hours.

Robots don’t make good writers

Set up an automatic email to go out after someone donates online. This will let your donor know that you received her donation and it didn’t get lost in cyberspace.

Be sure it’s warm and personal.  Just because your thank you email is automatically generated, doesn’t mean it needs to sound like it was written by a robot.

You’ve only just begun

I’m a firm believer that even if someone donates online he should receive a thank you card, letter, or phone call within 48 hours.

Stand out with a handwritten note

You can make your donor’s day by sending a handwritten thank you note. Personal mail is so rare, and your card will stand out.

Now is a good time to create some thank you cards.  One idea is to use a picture of a client or group of clients holding a thank you sign. 58742420_459d268c5e_z If cost is an issue, you could get the cards donated.

Writing cards will take more time, so you’ll need to plan ahead. Craft a sample note; recruit staff, board members, volunteers, and clients to help write cards; and hold thank you writing parties immediately after you send an appeal.

Phone calls make a difference, too

You can do the same thing with thank you phone calls.  Create a sample script, recruit people to make calls, and hold thankathons after your appeal.

Create an awesome letter

If it’s impossible to write cards or make phone calls, then send an awesome letter.

This means something personal and conversational.  Leave out vague jargon such as at-risk or underserved. Recognize past gifts and upgrades, and give a specific example of how the donation will make a difference. Something like this.

Dear David,

Thanks to your generous donation of $75,we can provide a family with a week’s worth of groceries. 

Thank you for being a longtime donor!

Here are some more examples.

5 Thank You Letters Donors Will Love

How to Craft a Killer Thank You Letter

Creating More Donor-Centered Thank You Letters: One Nonprofit’s Success

Make your new donors feel welcome

Approximately 70% of first-time donors don’t give a second gift. We need to change that.

Start thinking about creating a welcome package for your new donors. A week or so after you mail a thank you note/letter, send something in the mail or by email, if money is tight.

New Donor Welcome Kits | Your Next Gift Strategy

How Welcoming is Your Welcome Package?

It’s all about relationships

Keep in touch now and throughout the fall, so you stay on your donors’ radar. Then continue to thank your donors all-year round.

Why You Need a Thank You Plan

As you you prepare for your year-end appeal, please don’t treat thanking your donors as an afterthought.

Image by Woodley Wonderworks

Don’t Forget to Thank Your Donors

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising , , , , , ,

44eb5-5386099858_4fe6c8bf1b

Have you thanked your donors recently?  If you haven’t shown gratitude since your year-end appeal, you need to do something soon. And you need to be thanking your donors more often – at least once a month.

It’s not too late to start creating an attitude of gratitude. Summer is coming (yea!) and this is a great time to connect with your donors and plan the thank you component of your year-end appeal.

Share your mid-year accomplishments

We’re almost halfway through the calendar year.  Hard to believe, isn’t it?  Share some accomplishments with your donors.  Remember to focus on how THEY are helping you make a difference.

If you don’t have a print newsletter, you could create a postcard infographic with a prominent thank you and a few accomplishments.  Keep it short and engaging. Don’t bore donors with a lot of facts and statistics.

Make it donor-centered, too.  Thanks to you, we were able to expand our tutoring program to three more high schools since January.

I recommend mailing something to your donors this summer.  They’re more likely to see a mailed piece than an email message.

Create some thank you cards

Create a thank you card that includes a photo of a person or group holding a thank you sign. 58742420_459d268c5e_z A good photo can get your message across in an instant.   You could also create cards with your organization’s logo or just buy thank you cards.

Make sure you have them ready for your next fundraising appeal, and use them throughout the year.

Don’t skimp when you thank your donors

You may be panicking because I’m suggesting you print and mail thank you cards and you don’t have much of a budget for that.  But some donors prefer print communication.  Besides, it’s always nice to get a thoughtful card in the mail.

Can you budget more for printing and mailing?  You could also find a printer to print cards pro bono.

Communicating with your donors should be a priority. You don’t want to skimp when it comes to thanking your donors. You don’t have to mail that often, but try to aim for three to four times a year.

Get ready for year-end

Fall will be here before you know it. Spend some time this summer getting ready for your year-end appeal.  Spruce up your thank you messages and thank you landing page. Work on giving your donors a thank you experience.

Do something special for your donors

Think about having an open house or maybe a BBQ for your donors.  A great time to do this would be in September or October.  It’s a nice segue to your year-end appeal.

If this is starting to stress you out, create a thank you plan that you can incorporate into your communications calendar.

I’ll be writing more over the summer about building relationships and getting ready for your year-end appeal. In the meantime, don’t forget to thank your donors.

Why You Need a Thank You Plan

Ann Green Communications, donor relations, fundraising, planning , , , , ,

58742420_459d268c5e_z

This post is included in 16+ ways to say thank you better: September 2015 Nonprofit Blog Carnival

You probably have a fundraising plan and maybe a donor relations plan, but it’s also important to have a thank you plan since you should spend just as much time thanking your donors as you do raising money.

This isn’t happening. Nonprofit organizations spend a lot of time on their fundraising campaigns, but treat thanking donors as an afterthought. According to Bloomerang, 13% of donors leave because they were never thanked. Another 18% leave because of poor communication. Why Donors Leave

We can fix this! CrGuestPost-Jay-Love-Why-Donors-Stop-Their-Supporteating a thank you plan will help you stay focused on gratitude all year round.  Here’s what you need to include in your thank you plan.

Plan to thank your donors right away

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

Try to thank your donors within 48 hours. This shouldn’t be hard to do if you plan to carve out some time to thank your donors each day you get a donation. Get other staff or volunteers to help you.

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.

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. Make sure to get your team together well before your next fundraising campaign.

Here’s a sample phone script, which you can modify for a thank you note.

Hi, this is Susan Jones and I’m a board member at the Eastside Community Food Bank. I’m calling to thank you for your generous donation of $50. Thanks to you, we can provide a family with a week’s worth of groceries. This is great. We’re seeing more people coming in right now because of cuts to food stamp programs. We really appreciate your support.

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’re amazing” or “Because of you, Jason won’t go to bed hungry tonight.”

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. Make sure all letters are hand signed.

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

In addition, write your thank you letters at the same time you write your appeal letters.  Make sure they’re ready to go as soon as the donations come in.

Plan to keep thanking your donors all year round

Use your communications calendar to incorporate ways to thank your donors. Try to 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. Try to send at least one or two gratitude messages a year by mail, since your donors will be more likely to see those.
  • 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. 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.
  • Hold an open house at your organization or offer tours so your donors can see your nonprofit up close and personal.
  • 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.

Gratitude resources

Inspiring Quotes About Gratitude

Create a Thank You Experience for Your Donors

The Power of Gratitude

Nine Clever Ways to Thank Your Donors

5 Thank You Letters Donors Will Love

Photo by Shih-Chieh Li
 

Create a Thank You Experience for Your Donors

Ann Green donor relations, fundraising, writing , , ,

ec6ac-4101881178_fefea807b5

Thanking donors shouldn’t be a process: it should be an experience. An experience that will last as long as someone donates to your organization, which hopefully will be for a long time.

If you treat thanking your donors as a       ho-hum task that you have to do, it will show.

Make a good first impression with your thank you landing page

Thanking your online donors is a three-part experience (not process).  Your landing page is your first chance to say thank you and often it’s no better than an online shopping receipt.

Open with Thank you, Jim! or You’re amazing!  Include an engaging photo and a short, easy to understand description of how the donation will help the people you serve.  Put all the tax deductable information after your message or in the automatically generated thank you email.

If you use a third-party giving site, you might be able to customize the landing page. If not, follow up with a personal thank you email message within 48 hours.

6 Fresh Ideas for Your Nonprofit’s “Thank You” Landing Page

You’re a human, so write like one

Next, set up an automatic email to go out after someone donates online. This will let your donor know that you received her donation and it didn’t get lost in cyberspace.

Just because your thank you email is automatically generated, doesn’t mean it needs to sound like it was written by a robot. Write something warm and personal.

How to Thank a Donor Through Email

Every donor gets thanked by mail or phone

I’m a firm believer that even if someone donates online, he should receive a thank you card, letter, or phone call within 48 hours.  I make most of my donations online, and in 2014 about 1/2 of the organizations didn’t send me a letter, just an automatically generated email.  None of them called or sent a handwritten card.

Make your donor’s day with a handwritten thank you card or phone call.  You don’t have to do this alone.  Recruit board members, other staff, and volunteers to write cards or make phone calls.

If that’s not possible, write an amazing letter and include a personalized handwritten note.  I understand larger organizations may not be able to send all their donors a handwritten card, but they should have the resources to create a decent letter.

Create a memorable thank you

Most thank you letters are pretty mediocre.  Create something that stands outs.  Be personal and conversational without using any vague jargon.  Recognize past gifts or upgrades, and give a specific example of how the donation will make a difference. Something like this.

Dear Susan,

You’re incredible!  Thanks to your generous donation  of $75 , we can provide a family with a week’s worth of groceries. 

Thank you for being a longtime donor!

Here are some more examples.

5 Thank You Letters Donors Will Love

Steal This Thank You Letter! A Sample Donor Thank You Letter for Your Non-Profit

Make new donors feel welcome

Approximately 70% of first-time donors don’t give a second gift. Don’t let that happen.  A week or so after you thank your new donor,send her a welcome package.

Welcome Your New Donors With Open Arms

Keep thanking your donors throughout the year

The thank you card/letter you send after you receive a donation is not the end, it’s the beginning.  Find ways to thank your donors throughout the year. Thank them at least once a month.  A thank you plan can help you with that.

How to Create a Thank You Plan

Create a memorable thank you experience for your donors.

How Do You Acknowledge Your Memorial Gifts?

Ann Green donor relations, writing ,

4639772572_7396e02019_m

I’ve been to several memorial services over the last few years. I guess that’s what happens as you get older.  In most cases, the families designated charities to donate to, often in lieu of flowers.  I’ve always liked this.  You get to honor someone and support a charity, as well.

I gave five memorial gifts over the last two years. Unfortunately, the responses from the nonprofits were pretty marginal.   Four organizations sent generic thank you letters.  Three of them acknowledged it was a memorial gift. One sent a very generic email with no acknowledgement this was a memorial gift.

If your organization is a recipient of a memorial gift, don’t miss this opportunity to connect and build relationships with these donors. Just think, out of the multitude of nonprofits and charities out there, the family chose yours (they may have chosen one or two others, too).

How do acknowledge your memorial gifts?   Do you send the same old boring thank you letter, or do you give some thought to creating a personal and heartfelt thank you.  Here’s how you can do a better job of acknowledging your memorial gifts.

Work with the family

Most likely the family will contact you about being a recipient of a memorial gift.  Talk to them and ask why your organization was important to this person.  Perhaps he was a volunteer, donor, or patient.  Use this information in your thank letter.

Give the family the names and addresses (not amounts) of any donors in case they want to write their own thank you letters.

Thank your donors right away

This is basic Thank You Letter 101.  I received one letter four months after my donation and another came three months later.  In both cases the organizations weren’t spending the extra time writing a great thank you letter.  Instead, I received this – “We are sincerely grateful for your support. Our goals are ambitious ones and the charitable contributions we receive from supporters like you make our mission achievable.”  The other two letters arrived about a week after the donation.

Acknowledge that it’s a memorial gift

Segmenting your thank you letters is always a good idea, whether it’s a new donation, upgrade, or a gift in memory of someone.  You want to recognize each donor.

Be sure to add a field on your donation page and pledge form for memorial gifts.

Make the thank you personal

This donor just lost someone they knew, perhaps someone close to them.   Don’t send them an impersonal form letter, like the example above.

This is a great time to send a handwritten note.  You may not have that many memorial gifts and they’re going to come at different times of the year, not necessarily during a fundraising campaign.  Take time to create something personal.

As with all thank you notes/letters, let the donor know how her gift is helping you make a difference.

Here’s a sample.

Thank you so much for your donation in memory of John Smith. John was a longtime donor and was very committed to fighting homelessness.  Because of your generous gift, we can help more families find a place to call home.

Build relationships

Never miss an opportunity to build relationships.  Invite these donors to sign up for your newsletter, follow you on social media, or volunteer. Only one of the letters I received listed ways to get involved with the organization.

Don’t take your memorial donors for granted. They may not have donated to your organization if they didn’t have some interest what you do.  Keep them interested and engaged.

Read on for information and sample letters.

In lieu of flowers: how to write lively memorial donation thank-you letters

Be Thankful for Your Donors

Ann Green donor relations, fundraising, writing , ,

6342540955_625d662978_zThanksgiving is a time when we show gratitude to the special people in our lives.  Do you extend this same gratitude to your donors?  Sometimes it doesn’t seem that way.

Nonprofit organizations tend to treat thanking their donors as an afterthought.  But you need to spend just as much time thanking your donors as you do on fundraising.  Here are some ways you can create an attitude of gratitude.

Thanking donors isn’t a process; it’s an experience

First off, don’t think of thanking donors as a process.  Create an experience for your donors –  an experience that will last as long as your donor supports your organization.

Go beyond sending a boring letter that looks like a receipt.  I know you need to include the tax-deductible information, but put that at the end , after you shower your donors with love.

Thank your donors right away

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

Try to thank your donors within 48 hours. Carve out some time each day you get a donation and thank your donors.  If this sounds impossible, find other staff or recruit volunteers to help you.

Kick it up a notch with a handwritten note or phone call

This will mean so much more to your donors than the usual generic letter. 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.

Get everyone involved. Find board members, staff, and volunteers to make phone calls or write thank you notes. Come up with sample phone scripts and notes. You may also want to conduct a short training.

Is this coming from a human?

If you can’t send handwritten cards or call all your donors, send them a personal, 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’re incredible, or Thanks to you, Gina won’t have to sleep in her car anymore,  or one of these 22 Delightful Ways to Say Thank You!

I’m amazed how many thank you letters sound so stilted.  Just because it’s generated by a computer, doesn’t mean it has to sound like one.  The same goes for thank you landing pages and thank you emails.

Make it personal. Write as if you’re having a conversation with a friend.

This is the beginning a beautiful friendship

You want to keep thanking your donors all year round.  One way to make it easier for you is to create a thank you plan, which you can incorporate into your communications calendar.

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 at another time of the year when your donors  are less likely to expect 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.
  • Always thank your donors in your newsletter and social media updates. Emphasize that you wouldn’t be able to do the work you do without  their support.
  • Create a thank you video and share it on your website, by email, and on social media. A Few Great Thank You Videos
  • Hold an open house at your organization or offer tours so your donors can see your nonprofit up close and personal.
  • Keep thinking of other ways to thank your donors.

This Thanksgiving and throughout the year, be thankful for your donors.  Treat them well so you can ensure a long-term relationship.

This post was in included in the November 2014 Nonprofit Blog Carnival  November Nonprofit Blog Carnival | An Attitude of Gratitude