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Don’t break my heart.

Don’t break my heart. Remember that fundraising is always personal. You might think I’m writing about the one that got away. The donor we courted and counted on. And then disappeared. We’ve all been there, right? It’s frustrating… sometimes, it breaks your heart. But today I’m writing as a donor. And about communications that reduce […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications, Thanks Tagged With: appeal writing, communication, donor retention, Donors, emotion, Fundraising, thank you letters 1 Comment

Are you available to donors?

Are you available to donors? Can they reach you when they want to connect? I’ve written about a few badly done gift acknowledgments, here and here. I didn’t want to shame the organizations, so I omitted their names. But after each post, a colleague urged me to contact the offending organization. These organizations deserve to […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor retention, Fundraising, stewardship, thank you letters 8 Comments

Say thank you like you mean it

Don’t settle for a boring, emotion-free thank you. I picked up my mail the other day and opened an envelope from a well-respected advocacy organization. It was an acknowledgment of my recent gift. And it was so disappointing! Mentally, I went through a list of failures in one letter: My husband’s name was spelled incorrectly. […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications, Thanks Tagged With: donor retention, Donors, Fundraising, Nonprofit, thank you letters, Thanks 13 Comments

Your killer advantage: great customer service

A customer service story Do your donors feel like this? The other night, my husband called my cell phone. “Are you home?” he asked, puzzled. “Yes”, I answered, just as confused. Apparently, he’d been trying our home line and getting no answer. I checked, and yes, our line was dead. I tried to call AT&T, […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: Customer service, donor retention, Donors, Nonprofit, relationships, writing for donors 2 Comments

I can’t thank you enough! (Or can I?)

Can you thank someone too much? I wrote (ok, ranted) about the things I wish we fundraisers wouldn’t do. A commenter asked a question I’ve asked myself over the years. I thought I’d explore it a little further today. The question was basically “how can you say thank you to donors, over and over again, […]

Filed Under: Blog, Thanks Tagged With: donor care, donor relations, donor retention, donor-focused, gratitude, stewardship, thank you letters 10 Comments

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