It’s January 2019 which means - if you are like me - you just made all of your charitable donations. To be honest, my end of year gift giving is equal part contributing to causes I support (what’s up, There With Care, ManifestWorks, Wags and Walks and others!) coupled up against research. As a consultant who is always trying to be on the cutting edge of what works best across organizations with various missions, budget size and staff - I’m often looking for 1) who catches my attention 2) who is smart or especially thoughtful about their ask 3) and do I feel like my gift matters?
What’s changed over the last few years is that organizations have for the most part figured out how to make giving online easy (trust, it didn’t always used to be that way!). With minimal clicks and a scan of my card - boom - gift made. I think everyone of them sent an auto generated thank you note or tax receipt.
Eleven gifts and three weeks later - I have yet to receive ONE thank you phone call. Full disclosure, I received one personalized text message thanking me, but it just doesn’t ring the same as a call or a handwritten note. I mean, if someone sent you a birthday gift, would you wait over three weeks to pick up the phone and say, “Thank you so much for thinking of me!”? Not if your parents raised you right you wouldn’t.
The Agitator posts about this mind-blowingly simple, yet rarely done form of saying thank you to donors. In their post they reference Penelope Burk’s research in Donor-Centered Fundraising that shows that 95% of donors say they would appreciate a timely thank you call and that by doing so increases first-year revenue by 40%. 40%!
When I worked as a major gift officer at Chrysalis or the Director of Development at LIFT, I would routinely block the last 45 minutes of my day for thank you calls and/or handwritten notes (also a dying art form that stands out in a huge way). Besides this being the best way to end a day, it often played out to be an opportunity to seek important feedback from the donor. A donation can be so transactional, but when you call to say thank you, you are creating a space to 1) learn more about your donor (ala how did they hear about your organization? Why are they drawn to the mission? Have they been to visit in a while - if not, maybe they would like to) and 2) seek feedback in real time (do they like the communication channels you use? Are they enjoying the stories you tell?).
You can’t pay for that type of information - it’s invaluable to keeping your donors. Plus, it’s fun. My favorite thing that used to happen was calling donors who are in the 80+ age range and then they would write me a handwritten note back thanking me for me call. #adorable
So pick up the damn phone soon - it’s worth it.
——————
Here is a sample of what I would say on my thank you calls or handwritten notes:
Hi! Is (DONOR NAME) available? Hi (NAME) - I’m (YOUR NAME) from (ORGANIZATION NAME) and I’m just calling quickly to say thank you so much for the gift you made (yesterday/date/etc). (IMPORTANT TO JUST PAUSE AND LET THEM RESPOND). I’m not sure if you know this, but (INSERT A SHORT STORY, IMPACT STAT) and because of donors like you we are able to (INSERT MISSION). *Truly, we couldn’t do this work without you (DONOR NAME) so a million thank yous from everyone at (ORGANIZATION). Take care! (YOUR NAME).
*If you have an upcoming (free) event/tour/opportunity to see your organization in person, you might take a moment to invite them. Also, notice how many times the word “you” is in the text above vs. “I”. Keep more “yous” compared to “Is”.
What ways do you thank your donors?
“My favorite thing that used to happen was calling donors who are in the 80+ age range and then they would write me a handwritten note back thanking me for me call. #adorable.”