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TY Thursday: Your Donors Need to Hear “Thanks” Right Now

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It’s always a good time to say thank you to your donors. Right now, in Fall 2020, it’s the best time. Because your donors need to hear from you.

Why Donors are Worried

worriedConsider how much uncertainty we are all confronting in Fall 2020.

  • We are still facing a worldwide pandemic that has killed over 200,000 people in the U.S.–and the numbers continue to rise.
  • Flu season is upon us, too, and while the vast majority of us get our shots, the few who don’t are a danger to themselves and all of us.
  • We may see another major shutdown of businesses and public facilities.
  • Millions of people are out of work. The first stimulus package helped many of them, but not all and not enough…and we will not know about a second stimulus until after the election. Possibly after the Inauguration in 2021.
  • The world is holding its breath for the results of the election, but we don’t and can’t know ahead of time how long it will take for those results to be official and what legal or extralegal challenges they will face.

In times like these–I’m not going to say “unprecedented” because that has become a cliche–donors are worried.

People who give money like to feel they are (more cliches coming here) changing the world, making a difference, having an impact. Right now, it’s hard to feel any of those things, and easy to feel out of control.

Why Your Donors Need to Hear “Thank You”

By thanking your donors, you help restore their sense of control.

By telling them stories about people they helped, you bring it down to a human level.

By making them the hero of the story, you make them feel powerful, instead of powerless; caring, instead of careless. You make them feel good to other people–-and you make them feel good about themselves.

Thanking donors gives them the best gift they could ask for, and it makes them want to keep on giving back. Click To Tweet

So, throughout October, on Giving Tuesday, on Thanksgiving, and any chance you get, make sure to thank your donors. You will feel better about yourself when you do! And you will build loyalty among your donors that will last beyond 2020.

TY Thursday: Thank Donors by Keeping Them Informed

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Why do donors give? Because they want to know they made a difference.

Sending the ideal thank-you letter is a good start. You can ward off donor’s remorse and make the person who pulled out their credit card or checkbook feel immediately, “That was a good decision. I did the right thing.”

But if that’s all you do to say thanks, chances are very high that the next time you ask, they won’t give again. They may not even remember they gave the first time!

So, one of the best ways your nonprofit can say “Thank you” to donors is to give them what they want. Show them the difference they made: the impact of their donations.

How do you do that? Who’s doing a good job of it now that you can emulate?

Example: The Welcome Project

The Welcome Project logo

Back in May, I asked my friends on Facebook:

Question for my friends who donate to their favorite charities: which organizations are doing an especially good job right now of letting you know what your donations are doing for people in need?

More than one person mentioned a local organization that I’ve supported for years, The Welcome Project. The Welcome Project builds the collective power of immigrants to participate in and shape community decisions.

Since the November 2016 election, TWP has pushed the city government and schools of Somerville, Massachusetts to serve the needs of all its residents–no matter what is happening in Washington. Since the start of the pandemic, it has created a fund to help immigrants who aren’t eligible for other kinds of relief.

What is TWP doing to tell its story…and to let donors know they are making a difference?

  1. On its website, TWP has helped immigrants to find the help they need during the pandemic, from food to small business loans. It provided the information in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Kreyol.
  2. By email, the Executive Director issued a strong and personal statement about the death of George Floyd. He also spotlighted the need to enforce the mask wearing ordinance without giving police an excuse to target people of color.
  3. By social media, TWP invited its friends and supporters to:
    • Advocate for efforts to clean up air pollution that’s affecting communities of color more than anyone else.
    • Stand up and be counted in the U.S. Census.
    • Assist TWP in analyzing the Mass. police reform bill being considered in the state legislature.
    • Lobby for a state law making drivers’ licenses easier to obtain. (One of Somerville’s state reps is the sponsor of the bill.)

TWP also presented useful information about events affecting immigrants at the local and the national level, from Covid testing to DACA.

As a donor myself, when I see and hear all this news from the Welcome Project, I feel:

  • Gratified that the organization I supported is so active.
  • Included in its efforts, almost as if I were there.
  • Informed about issues I care about.
  • Empowered to take action, from attending demonstrations to lobbying the legislature.
  • Identified with TWP. They make me feel, “This is my organization–I am a part of it.”

And although I have already donated to the organization and to the immigrant assistance fund, the next time they ask, I will be more likely to make an additional gift. Because I know it makes a difference when I do.

Does your nonprofit say thank you by keeping donors informed and involved? Look at this example to learn how. Click To Tweet

Fundraising Tuesday: How to Ensure Donors Read Your Letter

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Yes, you can raise funds this summer.

I’ve been showing you how asking for donations in the middle of a pandemic and an uprising against racism is actually doing your donors a favor. One of the things donors want most in times like these is the feeling of making a difference, and you can give that to them! (If you don’t, other nonprofits will.)

I’ve also been explaining how to raise funds even if your nonprofit works on issues that have very little relation to Covid-19 or to murders of Black people and other people of color by police. Take the A-B-C approach to fundraising: Acknowledge the crises. Be responsive. Continue to pursue your mission.

 

 

 

 

Direct mail works–better than asking by email, and much better than fundraising online. Sure, the best approach is a multichannel fundraising campaign. But it all comes back to the letter. And job #1 is to make sure the donor actually reads it!

So, how do you give the donor everything she needs to want to open and read your fundraising appeal?

Here’s how to make sure that letter you worked so hard to write gets read:

Envelopes Make Donors Want to Open Your Mail.

Once your donor opens the envelope, the postscript is the most important part of your appeal letter. (So important that here are four more ways to use postscripts!)

If you want a donor to read your letter, “Dear Friend” won’t cut it. Get their name right.

“But how do I know what the donor likes to be called?” Ask their name.

Use photos that tell the story.

Ms. Marvel hero

How your donor should see herself

Tell stories in words, too! And be sure to make the donor the hero of the story.

Follow these six steps and donors will be intrigued by the envelope, attracted by the letter, moved by the story, and motivated to give.

 

 

 

 

 

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