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Donor Love

Your donors want to know: will you still love me tomorrow?

Tell the truth: does your organization love them and leave them? I’ve noticed a few situations where gifts to large, national organizations – even memorial gifts, no less – have resulted in truly bad donor care. These are organizations that spend tremendous resources on acquisition and “awareness”. Like fancy television campaigns and a constant stream […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donors Tagged With: donor love, donor retention, thank you letter 1 Comment

The case of the disappearing donor

The disappearing donor. There I was. In my kitchen, minding my own business. And the envelope appeared. Oh, I’d seen its like before. Always brought me heartache. So if I knew what was good for me, I would have put that newsletter down and walked away. Guess I was looking for trouble. And there it […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donors Tagged With: donor focus, donor love, donor newsletters 4 Comments

12 ways you can thank your donors

Saying thank you is a critical part of fundraising. Sometimes, we can focus most attention on getting a gift. But great thanks are key to getting the next gift. Here are 12 ideas of how to thank your donors. 1. A prompt, personal, sincere thank you letter This is the least you should do, of […]

Filed Under: Blog, Thanks Tagged With: donor love, donor retention, thank you 5 Comments

Is our donor focus hurting or helping our nonprofits?

Or, why donor focus might not mean what you think it means. Vu Le of Nonprofit AF recently wrote a long, very thoughtful piece about donor-centrism. He hoped it would generate conversation. And I hope so, too. Vu is an amazing dynamo who is making change happen, not just in his organization, but across the […]

Filed Under: Blog, Fundraising Tagged With: donor love, donor-centered fundraising, donor-focused 14 Comments

How this thank you is the winning move for loyal donors

You call it demanding, I call it discerning. OK, I will admit it: I can be the El Exigente of donor communications. Picky, picky, picky. If a family member happens to be standing nearby as I open the mail, I drive them nuts. “This is a thank you letter? It’s all about them!” “My annual […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor love, loyal donors, thank you letters 7 Comments

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