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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

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

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

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

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

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