Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Fundraising Tuesday: Readers’ Choice!

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Here are the blog posts about fundraising and building solid relationships with donors that you, the readers, liked best in 2020.

  1. Fundraising Tuesday: What Do You Call a Donor? (Hint: ask them!)
  2. Fundraising Tuesday: Remember the Postscript. Donors Do! (And when you do, you raise more money for your cause.)
  3. Fundraising Tuesday: Greetings and Salutations (Because “Dear Friend” just won’t cut it. Not in 2021!)
  4. Fundraising Tuesday: A Letter to Nonprofits which I hope you’ll read–it’s from my heart.
  5. Fundraising Tuesday: Envelopes Make Donors Want to Open Your Mail

A lot of the lessons about postal mail apply to email too. It’s worth doing an email merge to personalize the To: line, and the Subject: line is the envelope of the email world. So, read, enjoy, and make more donors happy and generous in 2021!

TY Thursday: Looking for Ideas on How to Thank Donors?

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Thank You, LauraWhy is it so important to thank your donors? Because you want them back.

The first time a person makes a gift to your nonprofit, it’s a test. Deliberately or unconsciously, they are asking, “Will you notice that I gave? Will it make a difference? Did I do the right thing?”

Thank them early and often, and you will move in the direction acquiring a loyal donor for life. Ignore them, or send them a perfunctory acknowledgment that looks like a receipt, and the next time you ask they may not even remember you.

Top Five Ways to Thank Donors

Here are the most popular posts on this blog in 2020 about thanking donors. How many of them can you use right now and in 2021?

  1. TY Thursday: I Wrote This Poem Just for You: Here’s one way to say thank you that you might not have thought of. Send them a poem!
  2. TY Thursday: The Ideal Thank-You Letter: So much more than “Your gift is tax deductible.” The thank-you letter is the start of a beautiful friendship.
  3. TY Thursday: Your Board Will Thank You for Doing This: Every thank-you matters, but an expression of gratitude from a Board member to a donor matters more.
  4. TY Thursday: A Toast to You, Generous Donor! (Because the essence of a toast is not the liquid you drink. It’s the words you say.)
  5. TY Thursday: Thank You, Donor–You’re Welcome!: A welcome kit (also called a packet or package) tells the donor, “You matter to us. You’re not just a cash cow. We’re in this together for the long haul.”

Give these tips a try, then write us back and let us know how they worked! (Thank you in advance for writing back.)

TY Thursday: Thank Donors by Showing How to Discuss Issues

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What did you discuss around the dinner table this Thanksgiving? Yes, in 2020 it had to be a Zoom dinner table, but some of the difficult issues that divide your family members might have cropped up anyway.

How did you discuss those issues? Did you use the mute button to shut up people you didn’t want to hear? Or did you sigh and wish you knew how to say something constructive back to them?

Now, suppose a nonprofit organization you had previously given a donation gave you great advice on what to say at that table. I know I would be grateful for that advice. When I was thinking about donations again at the end of the year, I would remember it. And your donors would, too–if you were that helpful organization.

A guide on how to discuss immigration

discuss immigrationRAICES always does a great job thanking donors, as we have seen before on this blog. My friend, nonprofit veteran Joan Hill, shared a thank-you letter that RAICES sent to her. It included this paragraph:

But the holidays can still bring up uncomfortable conversations that can be more challenging than usual this year. Many of us may be confronted with speaking up on behalf of those who continue fighting for their safety, like many in our immigrant communities.

We would like to support you in discussing issues close to your heart, like immigrant rights. Included in our thanks to you, we would like to share our Family Guide and an invitation to browse the RAICES Immigration and the Arts page highlighting the intersection between artistic expression and political action. Let this guide open the minds and hearts of conversations stuck in political rhetoric instead of the human impact.

The Family Guide is an easy download. Any donor who clicked on the link would find suggestions on how to discuss immigration issues with family members of all ages and all opinions.

That’s how RAICES is “giving back” to its donors–and at the same time, making them feel more grateful to RAICES. They’re rewarding generosity and creating loyalty at the same time.

What can your nonprofit do to help donors discuss the important issues that are the reason they gave to you in the first place? Whatever you can do, it will make them more likely to give again.

 

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