It’s personal. Fundraising, that is.
Picture this: you walk to your mailbox. Inside, you find an envelope with a return address you recognize. “Real mail!” you think.
You open that envelope first and in a hurry. Then you begin to feel confused. Disappointed.
“Dear Ms. LastName” it begins.
“Because I am a caring person, I have been wondering how you are.
I have been well. In fact, I have accomplished a great deal since we last spoke. Let me tell you all about what I have been doing.
My family is doing well. In fact, our community just recognized us as upstanding citizens of the year! We all enjoyed the ceremony. And of course, my children continue to excel in school and at their sports. As for me, I recently earned a big raise. Everything is grand!
Oh and thanks very much for that nice holiday gift.”
Not so excited now, right?
I hope you never really get a letter like that from a friend.
But I’ll bet you get more than a few from nonprofits you support. Formal. All about them. A hurried “oh, yeah, thanks” and a sign-off. Information about taxes front and center.
WHY?
It’s not hard to write a warm, personal, grateful letter. The trick is to remember it’s not about you. It’s not about your organization. It’s all about your donor. All of it.
Now think about the personal note you hoped you would open.
Friendly, warm, even chatty. You’d be eager for news. You’d want to know your friend had been thinking of you. And you would have smiled to read she remembered something nice you’d done for her.
You wouldn’t have dumped the note right in the recycling bin.
You might have tucked it into your nightstand drawer with a smile. You’d pull it out and reread it a few times because knowing you mattered made you feel wonderful.
That’s what you need to write.
Why bother? It’s just a form letter, anyway. Just the end of a transaction, right?
No. Really, truly, no.
You’re probably reading a lot about donor retention these days. That’s good – though a lot of the most successful fundraisers knew its importance all along.
It’s never too late to get on board. Because the truth is that keeping your donors is all about how you make them feel.
Tell them – and show them – they’re doing something wonderful. Make them feel like they matter. Treat them like you would a good friend.
Read your letter out loud. If it doesn’t sound like something you’d be excited about receiving, start again. You’ve just taken a huge step toward keeping them around.
Well worth it to give some thought to that thank you letter, isn’t it?
Resources:
I’ve written about thank you letters a few times, here and here.
Check out Lisa Sargent’s clinic on SOFII
Rory Green and the Agents of Good show you how it’s done here
And Pamela Grow even has a free e-book you need to download!
Mary,
Considering how many checks I watched my mother write for various charities (at least 24) and causes before Christmas and how few thank you notes, including form letters, (three form letters and one personalized) I would be thrilled to see a couple form letters sent to her. Obviously, I would like to see more personalized notes, but no such luck. One couldn’t even use her name in the salutation (Dear Member), yet it had her tax information on the second page. Is it any wonder the attrition rate for donors is 70%?
Exactly! How rude is that, really? What always gets me is the small orgs tend to get the letters out. Always the big ones that don’t seem to bother. It’s really worth bothering!
Thanks, Richard.