You probably learnt the value of manners at a pretty young age. How many times have you held a door for someone, or let someone go in the parking lot, without even a thank you? I bet you noticed when they didn’t.
And you can be sure that if you aren’t thanking your donors for their gifts promptly, they’re going to notice too. And just like that unappreciative driver in the parking lot, you’re never going to see them again if you don’t.
We’ve written a number of times (here, here, and here) about the value of thanking donors and ways to do it properly, but some charities aren’t getting the message. One of my colleagues made a significant donation (of $250) about 2 and a half months ago, and has only JUST received a very stale thank you with a donation receipt.
This just isn’t good enough. And what an opportunity wasted! So here’s some small tips from Leah Eustace’s article “The gift that really counts: it’s not what you think” to help ensure you don’t make the same mistake:
1. Get tax receipts and thank-you letters out FAST. I think three working days is an appropriate target for this critical step. By doing this, you’re telling the donor that she matters!
2. Take some time to write a decent thank-you letter. Talk about where the money is going and the impact it will have on advancing the cause. Tell a story to show how a recipient’s life is affected by the gift. Have the signatory show some emotion – and passion – for the organization and the cause. Connect at a human level. This is a relationship you’re building – not a series of transactions.
3. Have the person opening the envelopes phone the donor immediately with a 30-second call to say “Your cheque arrived today and we just wanted to say thanks.” Leave a voice mail if no-one answers. Email those people you can’t call. (You DID ask for email addresses on your reply coupon didn’t you?)
4. Put together a new donor welcome kit to send a couple of weeks after the original thank-you letter and tax receipt. Include a well-written cover note and perhaps your latest newsletter or annual report. This is a great time to offer donors the opportunity to fill out a survey form that outlines how they want to hear from you.
5. Always encourage donors to talk to you. Invite them to write, to call, to email or to drop by. In my experience, few ever will. But they sure appreciate knowing that they’re welcome to get in touch.
This is your chance to really take your donor relationships to a new level – and keep those gifts coming in!
Great article, this is exactly why I am cutting all ties to a charity I have been supporting for about four years. I started just giving $100 a year and would get a prompt thank you letter. However, when I decided to donate every month and asked them to take out the money from my credit card, I got thanked for the first $20 and then never again. I even chose to become a life member because at the time they were sending out quarterly newsletters. I thought it would be easier to be a life member than renew my membership every year. This turned out to be a big mistake because they never acknowledged my $495 cheque that I sent to them in July 2010, nor have I ever received any benefits of being a life member. I think I’m going to stick to donating to World Vision and make them the sole charity in my will. The other charity is mentioned but I will be updating my will in the near future to remove them entirely.