Can we talk about donor care?

You know taking care of your donors is one of the most important things you can do

I’ve recently written about thank you letters and donor retention. Yes, they’re very much connected.

But it’s now that time of year… tax season. And your donors are likely going through the drudgery of pulling together their records, including their donations.

Have you made that work easier?

Step one is a timely thank you that includes the information they’ll need. The gift amount and date, of course. And also anything that might need to be deducted from the gift amount – like gifts they received in return. (Promise my husband a Springsteen t-shirt, and he’ll bite!)

Take it one step better and send them something at year-end that includes all their giving for the past year. Like this:

They’ll bless you, I promise!

How you might be making things harder

If you send a lot of mail or email appeals, some will likely find their way right to your donors’ recycling bins.

So make it easier – on your staff and your donors – by making the contents of a thank you or receipt mailing or email obvious. Say so in the subject line or on the outer envelope. (And who knows? If you’ve enclosed a return envelope and reply slip or the digital equivalent, they may send a gift. Win-win, right?)

If all fails, and they don’t have that receipt?

You can make things easier at this step, too.

Is it easy to find the person they should call or email? Or are you hiding behind layers of web pages, hoping not to be found? I just did this for a few organizations we’d given to. Some were right there, under “contact us”. Others were nearly impossible to find. (I’m stubborn, though.) One responded with an email giving me the secret email to get a receipt…

Why should that be a secret?

Donor care is about all the steps you take to bring donors closer to your cause

Put yourself in your donors’ shoes. What could you do that would make connecting with you easier? What can you do to make giving to you easier… all the way through dealing with their taxes?

Donors who feel seen and heard are donors who start thinking of you as their charity. And that’s the goal. So try to make giving as easy as possible, from the first contact on.

All this is best if it’s part of a plan. But if it hasn’t been, there’s no reason not to start now.

Emotion matters in fundraising. But frustration with your organization isn’t the emotion you want to trigger!