Dear Fundraiser,
Some things you do really bug me. As your colleague, I’m cheering for your success. So in a helpful spirit, I offer you my list below.
I wish you wouldn’t:
- Send me an automated thank you message for an online gift and assume that’s enough
- Forget to thank me at all
- Send me a buck slip receipt and a generic postcard instead of a real letter
- Phone me when I’ve asked not to be called – repeatedly
- Robo-call me – if it’s important enough to interrupt me, it’s important enough for you to call personally
- Forget about me when you write
- Spell my name wrong
- Address me as “Mrs.”
- Squeeze the font size down so small I can’t read it so you can fit the letter on one side of the page
- Spend a lot of time talking about yourself
- Hide your contact information on your website
- Make me talk to a call center rep when I have a question for you
- Trade or sell my information without my permission
- Tell me about your budget needs, not the people I can help
- Send me a Twitter auto dm when I follow you, asking me to give or like you on Facebook
- Call me “Ms. Cahalane” if I’m a former employee or volunteer
- Ask me to fill out a form online if I want to email you or someone on your staff
- Send me a nickel
- Use the same generic response envelope for every mailing
- Send me the same package every month
- Write crappy letters
- Write bloaty email messages
- Treat me like an ATM, not a valued partner
Love,
Your Donor
P.S. I’ll bet you have a list, too. Maybe some things I do bug you, too. Help us all out – add yours in the comments, please!
aregularcupofjo says
May 28, 2013 at 9:00 pmLoved this post and was cracking up reading. I think a lot of people can relate to this. Thanks for sharing and keep up the awesome work 🙂
Mary Cahalane says
May 28, 2013 at 9:14 pmThanks very much! Every once in a while, it’s sort of cathartic, right?
I appreciate you reading – and commenting!
aregularcupofjo says
May 28, 2013 at 9:15 pmYou’re welcome, if you ever want to read some funny and inspirational stories, you are more than welcome to come by my blog and have a Cup of Joe 🙂
Mary Cahalane says
May 28, 2013 at 9:16 pmI was just about to do that!
Beth Ann Locke says
May 28, 2013 at 9:51 pmNice post, Mary! It could be called, it’s not about you… 🙂 Keep them coming.
Mary Cahalane says
May 28, 2013 at 9:52 pmThank you, Beth. We ought to print signs saying that, right?
Charlie Marshall says
May 29, 2013 at 7:12 amVery useful, Mary
I would also add that mass thank yous are a bigger turnoff than week old haddock. At the very least, top and tail by hand and add a handwritten PS. If you have enough donors to have to resort to production line TYs, you should invest some of the returns in employing more staff to handle replies individually and sensitively. The increased response rate will more than pay for the investment.
Yours aye
Charlie
________________________________
Mary Cahalane says
May 29, 2013 at 12:25 pmCharlie – I replied earlier, but apparently it didn’t “take”. Thanking people seems to something of a lost art. I agree, it’s so important!
So thank YOU for commenting. I appreciate it!
jenjenott says
May 29, 2013 at 7:45 amGreat list! Another might be sending asks (or anything!) to dead people (bad enough in any case, but worse by far if they are received by a grieving spouse). Equally, identical items addressed to me with slight variations in my name make it crystal clear they don’t care who I am (and that their database is a mess!).
I can think of more but I won’t spoil the fun for those who want to add their own 🙂
Cheers and thanks, Mary!
Jen
Mary Cahalane says
May 29, 2013 at 9:13 amYes! I cringe every time I’ve missed an obituary and done something like that!
Donna Caputo (@donna_caputo) says
May 29, 2013 at 8:54 amHow about this: don’t send me a thank you a month (or more) after I send you a donation.
Mary Cahalane says
May 29, 2013 at 9:14 amYou’d think it’s just common courtesy, right? There are some (national) organizations I never get a thank you letter from. They’re not saving time, they’re missing opportunities!
pbfhpunk (@pbfhpunk) says
May 29, 2013 at 9:25 amSending me a direct mail pack asking for a one off gift when I already give monthly.
Mary Cahalane says
May 29, 2013 at 9:55 amACK! Oh no. Do they at acknowledge your monthly when they ask for a gift? I could see a special need or situation. Or do they not keep their lists well?
myersbowman says
May 29, 2013 at 12:09 pmGreat list. I’ve been working on my list for years and it’s way too long!
Mary Cahalane says
May 29, 2013 at 12:23 pmHa! Sometimes you need a good rant. Especially if it might possibly do some good.
Xan says
May 29, 2013 at 1:22 pmThe “Ms. Cahalane” thing is generational, I think. I would never presume to first-name a donor I hadn’t interacted with in person, and am offended when I get “Dear Alexandra” or, worse “Dear Alex” letters.
Mary Cahalane says
May 29, 2013 at 1:33 pmWell, my point is that it makes sense to treat a former employee like “family”, not a stranger. But other than that, Ms. Cahalane is fine. Just Do. Not. Use. “Mrs.”! I hate the assumption that because I’m married, I have my husband’s name or wish to be identified as Mrs. But more than that, either is a sure sign that you don’t know me.
Beth says
May 29, 2013 at 1:46 pmExactly! Ask how they want to be recognized or take what they say and enter it in the database! It could be another engagement point. My alumni association calls me Mr. and Mrs. Nick Locke. Really? Guess who attended: ME ONLY! Get in the 21st century. I’ve written in but apparently it never gets to the right “processing department.”
Mary Cahalane says
May 29, 2013 at 2:05 pmI hate that! It took a little while to get our school to stop sending us two of everything. But they have. Of course, we still get two, because now there’s my daughter, too! But they didn’t ever assume I’d be Mrs., which I appreciated. Seems like a weird step to address it to you that way – just logically, that’s a step away from you, right?
Rachel T. says
May 31, 2013 at 1:59 pmI have one – Please don’t send me address labels. I have enough address labels to last me the rest of my life, and sending them to me does not make me any more or less likely to donate. It’s more likely to annoy me that you’re wasting my donation money on things like that. It’s even worse when they send seasonal ones (read Christmas, because that’s about the only season they seem to single out) because then I can only use them for a couple months out of the year!
Mary Cahalane says
May 31, 2013 at 2:44 pmYes, we’ve got quite a stack of those, too. I suppose they’re used because they work. But with our donor hats on that doesn’t mean we have to like it, right?
Kayza says
September 10, 2013 at 10:46 pmI’m not so sure that they work. Most organizations probably have no idea of what really works. If they think they do, it’s probably NOT based on any data, since that requires a certain type of culture, and resources that are generally NOT invested in fundraising.
Mary Cahalane says
September 11, 2013 at 4:28 pmLots of truth in that, unfortunately. Fundraising as a distasteful but necessary evil makes me nuts!
Prabhu Loganathan says
June 1, 2013 at 9:18 pmGreat post. It will be nice If you can come up with do’s for a thank you letter. How do we send individual letters when we have large donors and less staff. Please guide. Thanks.
Mary Cahalane says
June 1, 2013 at 9:22 pmPrabhu, I wrote a bit about that a few weeks ago: https://mcahalane.com/2013/04/30/the-best-fundraising-ideas-i-ever-stole-part-two-fix-your-thank-you-letters/
See if that helps some and let me know.
Michael Farrell says
June 3, 2013 at 9:17 amGreat post…but frightening. We are all guilty. It is just a matter of degree. Great reminder that we are not dealing with a list. We are dealing with people!
Mary Cahalane says
June 3, 2013 at 9:55 amThat’s so well put, Michael! Thank you.
Mary Cahalane says
June 7, 2013 at 4:11 pmMerci!