I want you to raise more money. So I want you to fix your thank you letters.
I understand why thank you letters might seem an after-thought.
When I first started working in development, I felt comfortable around data and record-keeping. It felt neat and orderly. You plug the numbers in correctly and you get the right results. You spell people’s names right and they don’t call and yell at you. Simple, really.
I learned to write appeal letters. Hesitantly at first. But I got there. And learned to love it. The challenge, the psychology of it – it was fun!
Thank you letters, though. Thank you letters were not fun. How many ways can you say, “thank you for your generous gift of $X”?
You’re thinking: “If they bored her, imagine how her donors felt!” Exactly. Though I don’t think mine were any worse than most of what I see in my mailbox to this day.
I’ve written about some of the really awful ones I’ve received. You get them too, I’m sure. The ones you swear were written by a bored cyborg.
There are so many crappy thank you letters out there!
So this week’s best idea I ever stole?
Fix your thank you letters!
I have to thank a couple of people for changing my attitude. Lisa Sargent and Pamela Grow both showed me how effective a great thank you can be. (Lisa’s even got a whole clinic on SOFII about this). I learned how important they are to donor retention. But also how rewarding it is to write one. Now I’m a totally devoted disciple of the School of Good Thanks.
Here are some tips for writing a good thank you letter.
Start by creating a donor profile.
This will be very helpful as you try to craft a letter that’s meaningful to your donor. You’d probably write in a slightly different style to a friend or your grandmother.
Spend time on the thank you letter’s first line.
But you know this already from writing your appeals, right? You want to open your letter in a way that immediately makes your donor feel great. Considering all the dull thank you letters out there, a great opening will immediately set you apart.
Focus on your donor, not on your organization.
This isn’t about you. This isn’t about the great work your organization does. This is entirely about your donor and the great work he does – through you.
Thank the donor for something specific.
Thank the donor for the gift he gave. Mention the reason for the gift if you know. If the gift was given for a particular program, talk about the program and the impact of his gift. Don’t fall back on generalities just to make it easier on you.
Fix your thank you letter – be emotional.
Very emotional! Giving is not an intellectual, rational exercise. People give from their hearts. (They may then rationalize the gift with facts). Speak to their hearts and wear yours on your sleeve.
Be personal.
I’m not just talking about getting her name right. I mean have the letter personally signed. Add a handwritten note. Let her know how to be in touch with you. You’re working on creating a personal relationship here!
Don’t be greedy.
There is a lot of controversy about whether to ask for another gift as you thank your donor. Some very smart people can show evidence that an ask with the acknowledgment brings good results. Personally, I can’t bring myself to do it. It just feels rude. I might try including a response envelope with a request for comments or questions though.
But, you say, “how can I possibly generate letters that are warm and genuine? I’ve got hundreds, maybe thousands to do and my boss won’t OK a clone!”
This is what I do:
Plan ahead.
At the beginning of each year, or better yet, each campaign, write thank you letters for every possible kind of gift and giver. Ideally, you should write the thank you as you write the appeal. They really go together.
Set up your database.
As gifts come in, key each gift to the type of letter. Then you can use that key to create the mother-of-all-nested-merges in Word. You can run one report and still generate many different letters that reflect the gift (and giver). I’ve built 20 or more different letters into one document. It’s a bear to create. But it saves lots of time later.
Keep it up to date.
Plan to update all those letters throughout the year. Consider coding second and third gifts in your database as well. Then you can recognize your donor’s extra generosity.
Then review.
This is where you make sure names, dates and amounts are right. And this is where you can add personal touches.
A reminder:
These letters are just the “official” thanks. Don’t stop there. Donors deserve better! Think about personal notes, phone calls and other ways to show them they really matter.
I’ve found the more organized I am up front, the less work I do overall.
You don’t want gratitude to feel automated. But unless you only have a few donors, you can’t write a new letter for every gift. A little smart automation can help you avoid robotic thank you letters.
So go write some fabulous thank you letters. No more robots. My family is tired of my grumbling as I open the mail!
Clean, concise and all so true. If anyone is reading your post, Mary, and doesn’t at least make one change in this direction, they are a robo-zombie from the year 2058.
Thanks, Rickesh. I really appreciate that. Good to have so many smart people to swipe ideas from, right? (Including you, of course!)
Perfect timing as I work on updating our letters. So often donor letters are boring and corporate speak. I use the tactic – “if this doesn’t inspire me, how can it inspire my donors…”
Exactly, Sylvie! If you’re bored writing it, imagine how the reader’s going to feel. There’s technique… but I think it really all comes down to not being afraid of expressing real emotion. We tend to go in all sorts of official and officious circles trying to avoid it.
Thanks for reading – and commenting! I appreciate it!
A number of good points made. Could I add that the circumstance of the donation is also important. Don’t gush for instance when responding to an in memoriam gift and if youre writing to a relative of the deceased, try to discover the relationship: good bad, indifferent? All will inform your response. Finally, gear to your donor profile. 60+ donors were brought up in a more formal framework and can take offence at being addressed by christian name in a first communication. They are also more likely to be aware of letter writing convention: Dear Sir/ Yours Faithfully or Dear Mrs Watson/ Yours sincerely. I advise to start formal and become less so as any relationship develops but allow the donor to make the running in this respect.
Thanks again for a thoughful and insightful article
Charlie Marshall
Absolutely, Charlie! It’s not about what’s comfortable for us in the relationship, but how the donor will feel. I’m writing about using donor surveys right now – they can be useful in gathering information about how the donor wishes to be addresses, for instance. I know I bristle whenever someone assumes I wish to use my husband’s name. I’ve never been a “Mrs.” and I don’t wish to start just because it’s easier for some organization’s record-keeping!
In memoriam gifts are especially important, too. I wrote about a really great example of how not to do it a while back. The letter basically said, “we couldn’t be bothered to alert the family, so here’s a card, do it yourself”. Argh.
It all comes down to good manners in a way, doesn’t it?
Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment, Charlie. I really appreciate your insights!
A pleasure Mary. As a rule of thumb I find the bigger the charity the less personal and more wordy and empty the response. As an industry in the business of cultivating generosity, we are often sadly deficient in our manners!
Yes! Maybe with smaller orgs, you do nearly know everyone personally, and that makes a difference in how you behave. It shouldn’t, but maybe that’s it.
Another good way to segment your thank you letters is sorting by donor source, i.e. how they came in contact with your organization. They might have been a referral from another donor, a new donor from a fundraising event, an online donor who originated from your Facebook page, etc.
You can mention that in your thank you letter as a personal touch that shows you are paying real attention to your donors, not just pretending to be sending a personal note.
It also helps to keep a swipe file of all sorts of thank you letters you’ve received (or sent) over the years. That’s always a big help when the inspiration well runs dry.
And when you sort by donor source, you’ll find some segments where asking for a second gift with the thank you note isn’t such a bad thing. One example would be people who attended your fundraising event and purchased something in your silent auction or live auction. You can thank them for their support and also include a separate ask with a reply device to become a monthly donor ($10 to $35 a month range) to continue their support going forward.
Great ideas! Thanks, Kimberly.
Hey, Checkout this Blog on 10 Tips for a perfect donation letter https://whydonate.nl/blog/donatie-brief-schrijf/
¡Qué lectura reveladora! Asegurarse de que las cartas de agradecimiento sean genuinas e impactantes es crucial para las relaciones con los donantes. Gracias por los valiosos consejos sobre cómo mejorar la comunicación de gratitud. https://whydonate.com/es/blog/carta-de-agradecimiento-por-donacion/