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Twelve Ways to Say “Thank You”Your creativity in saying “thank you” will go a long way toward securing your next gift.

B Y A N D Y R O B I N S O N

y colleague Kim Klein,publisher of the Grass-

roots Fundraising

Journal, once wrote an article entitled,“Donors Are Not Water

Faucets.” If you contact your contribu-tors only to request money and ignorethem the rest of the time, she wrote, pret-ty soon they will stop contributing. Heradvice, based on both good manners andcommon sense, is nonetheless disregard-ed by many novice fundraisers.

Think about the last time you made agift to your favorite organization. Inreturn, you probably received a form let-ter or postcard. For many groups, this let-ter—brief, direct, and way too formal—istheir only effort to acknowledge donors.

You can, and should, go a lot further.By showing appreciation, you invitedonors into the “organizational family”and increase their sense of participation.Your creativity and subtle persistence insaying “thank you” will go a long waytoward securing the next gift. In otherwords, your acknowledgement strategy(how you say thank you) is a big piece ofyour cultivation strategy (how you renewdonors and increase the size their contri-butions).

Here are 12 ideas to get you started:

1Send a formal thank you. Thisis required by law for gifts over$250 and is a good idea for alldonors. Always have a real human

being sign the letter and add an informal

postscript: “Thanks for your continuedsupport,” “We appreciate your help,” orthe like.

2Acknowledge upgrades and

cumulative giving. Recognizegrowth in giving: “Thanks forincreasing your donation to $50.”

When thanking long-time donors, consid-er totaling their gifts: “Since 1992, you’vecontributed $200. Thank you! We reallyappreciate your continuing enthusiasmfor our work.” These notes can be incor-porated into the body of the letter oradded by hand.

3Have board members write

notes. At least twice a year, puttogether a list of your top donors,along with their addresses.

Circulate this list to your board members,and ask them to write thank you notes,on personal stationery, to any donorsthey know.

4Use the phone. While some peo-ple don’t like solicitation phonecalls, almost everyone appreci-ates the words “thank you.” You

will surprise and delight your donorswith a quick, painless acknowledgementcall. “Thank you—we appreciate yoursupport” also works well on answeringmachines. If you’re nervous about thecall, or want to limit your time on thephone, try calling when no one will behome and leave a brief, upbeat messageon the answering machine.

5Acknowledge donors in your

newsletter. Many organizationspublish names of contributors intheir newsletters and annual

reports. Before doing this, give donorsthe chance to remain anonymous. Add acheck-off box to your donor responsecard: “Please do not publicly acknowl-edge my gift in your newsletter.” Ifdonors don’t check the box, it’s okay toprint their names.

6Invite donors to tour your

facility. The best way to engagepeople in your work is to showthem, first-hand, what you do all

day. If appropriate, have them meet theclients or beneficiaries of your programs.

7Invite contributors to your

activities. Ask them to join youat your annual meeting, rally, per-formance, press conference, com-

munity workshop, whatever. Use everyopportunity to showcase your group inaction.

8Encourage donors to become

volunteers. Some will refuse—lots of people give moneybecause they can’t give time—but

will appreciate your desire to involvethem in the work. (By the way, don’t for-get to solicit your current volunteers forgifts. People who donate time are themost likely group to make financial con-tributions.)

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9Send special program updates.

Two or three times a year, writereports specifically for your topdonors, including foundation and

corporate grantmakers. Keep thesereports brief—no more than two pages—and informal. Create a sense of intimacy;make the reader part of your “inner cir-cle” by sharing information about emerg-ing strategies and opportunities.

10Send “comp” tickets to

your next benefit event.

While it doesn’t make senseto give away too many tick-

ets, consider “comping” your best donorsand prospects. For example, NativeSeeds/SEARCH, a cultural restorationorganization in Tucson, organizes a big“Chile Fiesta” each fall. All $100+ donorsreceive a pair of admission tickets (worth$5) to encourage their attendance andreinforce their relationship with the orga-nization. Once at the festival, they alsospend a lot of money on food, crafts, and

other items, so this strategy actuallyincreases income.

11Share the good news:

send press clippings. Ifyou receive substantial cov-erage in a newspaper or

magazine, clip the story, paste it up withthe publication’s masthead, and makephotocopies. Send these to your topdonors with a note such as “Thought youmight enjoy this” or “Thanks for yoursupport.”

12Send photos of your

group in action. Everyoneloves snapshots. Takeaction pictures—planting

the community garden, picketing cityhall, repairing the abandoned house—andshare them with your contributors. Put anote on the back: “Your gift makes thiswork possible. Thank you!” ■

Selected References

Bierman, Fran, ed., Nonprofit World Funding

Alert.

Bergan, Helen, Where the Money Is.

Grace, Kay Sprinkle, Beyond Fundraising.

Krit, Robert, The Fundraising Handbook.

Muehrcke, Jill, Are You Sitting on a Gold Mine?

Fundraising Self-Assessment Guide.

Muehrcke, Jill, ed., Fundraising and Resource

Development, Leadership Series.

Myers, Walter R., “Why People Give: Pride ofAssociation,” Nonprofit World, May-June 1990.

Robinson, Andy, Grassroots Grants: An

Activist’s Guide to Proposal Writing.

These publications are available through theSociety for Nonprofit Organizations’ Resource

Center Catalog, included in this issue, or contactthe Society at 6314 Odana Road, Suite 1, Madison,Wisconsin 53719 (800-424-7367).

Andy Robinson (PO Box 3015, Tucson, Arizona

85702)is a trainer and consultant. His book,

Grassroots Grants: An Activist’s Guide to ProposalWriting, is available through the Society’s

Resource Center (800-424-7367) or from Chardon

Press, PO Box 11607, Berkeley California 94712

(510-704-8714).

Nonprofit World • Volume 16, Number 6 November/December 1998 Published by the Society for Nonprofit Organizations 6314 Odana Road, Suite 1, Madison, WI 53719 • (800) 424-7367

CREATIVE FUNDRAISING IDEASUse Preauthorized Donation

ChecksNonprofit organizations are discovering the

advantages of preauthorized checking as afundraising device. With this approach, the orga-nization receives a packet of special checkswhich the donor has preauthorized for payment.The organization holds the checks, then depositsthem into its bank account on the date the moneyis due. There’s no billing, no waiting for payment,no computer software or hardware to invest in.Cash flow can be projected accurately. Thechecks cost 9 to 26 cents each, depending on vol-ume—lower than any other payment method typ-ically available to small nonprofits, includingEFT. For more information, contact MICR DataSystems, 304 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y.10013 (212-255-5688, www.micr-data.com).

Make It Easy toGive

When someone donates toyour organization, send them acoupon book along with yourthank-you letter. On eachcoupon, include your organiza-tion’s and your donor’s nameand address. Also provideenvelopes addressed to yourorganization with the donor’sreturn address. To give again, allthe donor has to do is fill in thedonation amount, write a check,and mail it in. The easier youmake it to give, the more oftendonors will do so.

Switch Colors toBoost Response

When you repeat a mailingto the same people, use a differ-ent color the second time.People will be more likely torespond. Savvy marketersswitch colors as soon asresponse falls off. It works!

For more information, see63 Very Profitable Ways to

Boost Your Direct Marketing

Response, 130 Garden Street,Santa Barbara, California 93101.