I’ve said some irreverent things about thanking donors in the past few weeks.
So I had mixed feelings about this recent post by Katya Andresen.
I agree with her main point 1000%: “The single most powerful thing you can do as a fundraiser is to take great care of the donors you have.”
Amen … Amen … Amen!
However Katya then focused almost exclusively on the ‘thank you’ process, providing an excellent checklist on what makes for effective thank you’s.
But to me, ‘caring’ for donors involves a whole lot more than thanking them after the fact. Indeed, your pre-gift behaviour might be even more important … definitely more important than any boilerplate “good manners require a thank you, so here’s yours” wasted effort.
Katya does touch upon some of the other ingredients of “caring” for donors when she talks about ongoing communications. She mentions:
- Regular reporting to donors on their impact (even better if you can wrap a story around your report);
- Asking donors for feedback (asking for feedback on something specific and meaningful is far better than a tossed off “we welcome your feedback’); and,
- Including donor voices (which signals that you indeed listen to donors and appreciate what they have to say, not just what they give).
I’d add one more, respecting what your donors have already told you — from correct spellings and addresses to contact preferences and programmatic interests.
True donor appreciation begins well before the thank you.
Tom
This article was posted in: accountability, charities, communications, Don't Miss these Posts, donor retention, fundraising, loyalty, nonprofits.
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I agree with both you and Katya. At base, it’s all about building a relationship. That’s the key. Just as with any relationship, you listen. You respond. You give. You take. You thank for gifts received. And you keep on keeping on. It never stops. When it does, the relationship ends.
What Claire said. It’s far too easy for fundraisers to see their relationships with donors as a 1:XX relationship, when they should be looking at it as a 1:1 relationship. It’s not an institution-donors relationship; it’s a relationship between two people who care about the same thing enough to want to do something about it. Donors can sniff out a canned, non-reciprocal, no-true-emotion-present communication a mile away.
And just like I’m not eager to watch the kids of the mom who can’t be bothered to learn my name, I’m not eager to give my hard-earned cash to the organization that can’t be bothered to get my contact preferences right.