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 […]
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. […]
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, […]
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, […]
The best fundraising idea I ever stole – part 3
For much of the past decade, I worked for nonprofits that are on the smaller side. We needed maximum results from minimal staff. I’m always on the look-out for great ideas that I can copy, DIY-style. So it’s fortunate that I’ve been a fan of Tom Ahern and his e-newsletter for so long. He turned me […]