Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

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.

 

Fundraising Tuesday: Don’t Sleep on Your Donors in December

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Following up on your fundraising appeal letter is the most important thing you can do to raise money this year.

I know you put a lot of work into writing an excellent letter to donors—even the ideal appeal letter. It was even more work to lay it out, produce it, and get it into the mail. (Especially in 2020, when we are doing everything remotely and the post office has been buried in ballots.)

It would be so tempting right about now to take a nap. Just hit the Snooze button and wake up on December 31. But there’s a reason for the saying, “If you snooze, you lose.”

December 2020 is a wake-up call

alarm clock DecemberThere are so many other worthy causes competing for those donations in the middle of the pandemic. Donors have already dug deep in 2020 to help people in their communities meet their basic needs.

By the end of the year, they may have spent their whole budget for charitable gifts on other organizations—unless you follow up with them now.

So, wake up! And read Three Powerful Ways to Follow up Your Fundraising Letter in 2020. It’s my guest post on Robin Cabral’s blog…and it may save your end-of-year appeal.

TY Thursday: Thank YOU, Nonprofits!

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Thank you.

My regular readers (whom I appreciate!) will know that on Thursdays, I’ve been giving advice to nonprofits on how to express their “attitude of gratitude” to their donors. Thank-yous can go far beyond a letter. They can include videos, gifts, and even acts of kindness that make the donor feel you are truly grateful and truly friends.

You can see all those TY Thursday posts by clicking on the link.

Today, I’d like to turn it around. Instead of advising you on how to thank your donors, I want to send you my thanks.

I’m Grateful to You, Nonprofits

Thank you to the nonprofits that help my neighbors meet basic human needs.

Thank you to the nonprofits that help people worldwide appreciate art and literature.

Thank you to the nonprofits that give free legal advice to people in a jam.

Thank you to the nonprofits that work to change policy so people won’t need legal advice so often.

Thank you to the grassroots groups that are mainly friends and neighbors with a 501(c)(3).

Thank you to the huge corporations with big budgets and complex organizational structures who don’t forget that they’re there on a mission.

Thank you to the nonprofit organizations (called synagogues) that gave me my Jewish education, a place to worship in community, and a way to continue the 4,000-year-old tradition that has shaped my life.

Thank you to the nonprofit organizations (called universities) that changed the way I think and taught me life lessons, inside and outside the classroom.

To the people who spend their days working hard for these agencies, way beyond what nonprofits can ever afford to pay them to do, thanks!

To the people who spend their evenings and weekends volunteering for these agencies, whether they lick envelopes, serve meals, or serve on the Board, thanks!

To the receptionists, the face of each organization…

the frontline staff, who see the faces of the people they serve…

the interns passing through, who may remember their time there life long…

the Executive Directors, carrying too much weight on their own shoulders…

and especially, to the fundraisers and communicators who make sure that donors hear about the great difference the work of your organization makes (as I did), and become grateful (as I have), so they continue to support you with their creativity, time, and money…THANK YOU.

I know for many of you, life is about to get harder–again–as it did during the Great Recession only eight years ago. Please know that every day, I will be thinking of you.

It’s your job to thank the donors, and I will keep on sending you tips on how to do it well. But once in a while, you deserve some appreciation too. Thank you. And you’re welcome.

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