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TY Thursday: Your Favorite Posts of 2021

January 13, 2022 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Thanking your first-time donors turns them into repeat donors.

Thanking your repeat donors turns them into loyal supporters.

Thanking your loyal supporters makes the lifetime value of their donations multiply. It’s the most important thing you can do to improve your fundraising!

Here are your favorite posts from 2021 about expressing an attitude of gratitude and #DonorLove. Please write me back and tell me which of these you are going to put into practice in 2022!

TY Thursday: How to Thank Recurring Donors

Recurring donors give automatically. When you thank them, though, it should be anything but automatic. You need a deliberate and thoughtful approach to showing donor love to this special group.

TY Thursday: Your Board Will Thank You for Doing This

Getting thanked by a Board member helps donors think, “I made a good decision when I gave.” But it helps your Board of Directors, too.

TY Thursday: A Toast to You, Generous Donor!

The essence of a toast is not the liquid you drink. It’s the words you say. What can you say to make your donors feel extra special–right now?

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.” What should go into a welcome kit?

TY Thursday: The Ideal Thank-You Letter

I have seen the ideal appeal letter.  I haven’t yet seen the ideal thank-you letter.  But it went out today.  Did you send it?

 

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TY Thursday: When an Apology is a Thank You, Too

September 16, 2021 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

Oops! Your nonprofit organization did something wrong to a donor.

I’m sure you didn’t mean to. Surely, you want to strengthen your relationship with that donor, not hurt her feelings nor make her angry with you. But sometimes, inadvertently, you just stumble into a bad place with your donor, and it feels awful–to both of you.

Please take a deep breath before you go on.

Offending a donor isn’t the end of the world. It doesn’t even have to be the end of the relationship. If you handle it right, you could even make that donor remember you more fondly in the future.

Yes! Oddly enough, the donor who gives you negative feedback is like the donor who gives you money.

Each  of them has shown they care what you do (or you wouldn’t have heard from them in the first place!).

Each of them is waiting to hear back from you.

Each of them is giving you an opportunity to reaffirm the relationship: by sending thanks, or by sending a heartfelt apology.

Don’t waste the opportunity!

When to offer an apology

You made a mistake

Sometimes you’ve really made a mistake, and you recognize it as soon as it’s pointed out to you. That could be:

  • Calling the donor by the wrong name.
  • Sending them a letter or email message they weren’t supposed to get.
  • Phoning someone who specifically asked, “Do not call.”
  • Interrupting them during their religious holy day.
  • Asking to speak to a person who’s recently died.

If you have done any of these (as I have!), you know the sinking feeling when a donor calls, writes, or posts on social media to point it out. But I can tell you that the feeling when you’ve healed the injury is just as deep, and more lasting.

The donor just disagrees

Sometimes you think what you’re doing is perfectly reasonable, and the donor just doesn’t see it that way.

It might be that you sent them mail and email regularly–which most people appreciate, but this donor doesn’t like. Or it might be that you asked them for money more often than they wanted.

Sometimes, it’s even something that seems like a nice gesture to you but strikes them as a waste of time or money. “Why did you send me a self-addressed stamped envelope when I’m going to go online to give anyway?” Or, “I only gave you $25 and I got a call from the Executive Director. Doesn’t he have anything better to do with her time?”

You might feel defensive when you hear this. You might want to argue with the donor, or educate them about best practices in fundraising. But don’t! An apology costs you nothing, and it may mean everything in the world to the donor.

As Mary Cahalane advises:

You can be pretty sure that when a supporter calls or writes with a complaint she needs to be heard. So don’t jump in with excuses or explanations right away. Just listen. Listen without judgement. Try to understand the real reason she’s upset.

How to make your apology

“In direct response membership development nothing says ‘I love you’ like ‘I’m sorry.'”    –Moira Kavanagh

Remember, your purpose when you respond to an upset donor is not to win an argument: it’s to win back the trust and affection that made them a donor in the first place! So, follow these three tips from Moira Kavanagh:

  1. Act quickly. (Within hours, whenever possible!)
  2. Be transparent. When you make a mistake come out and say it.
  3. Be positive. Take the opportunity to let your donors know how much you appreciate them, and remind them how important their support is to the work you’re doing together.

And remember this helpful advice from Mary Cahalane:

  • No BUTS. An apology followed by “but” is no apology at all. Ever.
  • Take responsibility. “I’m sorry you feel that way” is not an apology.
  • Promise to do better next time when you can.

That last point, “when you can,” is an important qualification to the general rule. Allison Gauss cautions us:

Your first goal should be to satisfy this person if it’s at all possible…

Your second objective in this situation is to maintain your nonprofit’s autonomy and independence. Everyone knows that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but the time and money you put into pleasing that wheel can distract you from getting to your destination. This is why you need to balance donors’ demands and opinions with your organization’s mission and plan.

Your Apology Speaks for the Organization!

Yom KippurToday, when this post goes live, I will be celebrating the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

One of the central themes of the holiday is asking to be forgiven for the sins we have committed, deliberately or even unintentionally and unknowingly.

In the Jewish tradition, however, we do not confess our sins individually to God. For things we have done wrong to a specific person, we make an apology and try to make things right with that person.

For wrongs we have done toward our own best self, toward the natural world, or toward God, we confess collectively. “We have abused, we have betrayed….”

When your nonprofit has done wrong to a donor, it is the we–the organization–that the donor resents. It is not you personally.

You are not guilty, but you are responsible–and you have the wonderful opportunity to be the voice of your organization and say, “I’m sorry. You matter so much to us. How can we make things better?”

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TY Thursday: Gratitude–It’s a Gift

June 3, 2021 by Dennis Fischman Leave a Comment

The first step your nonprofit ought to take to show your gratitude to donors is sending out the ideal thank-you letter, within forty-eight hours of receiving the donation. That will already make your donors happy.

The second step is to make a plan to thank the donors throughout the year. Beginning with a welcome packet, and continuing with reports that show the impact of their donations throughout the year, you can make donors glad they gave and eager to hear from you again.

What about sending donors a gift in return? Is it a good idea to include a premium when you ask (or to reward their donation afterward with something tangible)? Or not?

premiums express gratitude

The Gifts I Got For Giving

Judging by my mail, many nonprofits think including a good way to say thank you–sometimes, in advance–is by giving me something I can use.

I’ve received:

  • Return address labels from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Hadassah, Amnesty International, and even from AAA
  • Bumper stickers from the National LGBTQ Task Force, Keshet, and Planned Parenthood
  • A recipe for Iced Hibiscus Tea with Dark Spices from UNRWA
  • Sticky notes from Partners in Health

Women to Women International has plied me with multiple gifts: a notepad, a set of cards and envelopes, and even offered me a handmade friendship bracelet made by a woman in Rwanda (in return for a gift of $20 or more).

Women for Women premiums

It’s worth noting that I’ve only ever given to about half of these good causes! Clearly, for my wife and me, expressing gratitude through premiums is not a useful fundraising tactic.

But are we typical that way?

The Psychology of Getting Paid

There’s a famous psychology experiment in which two sets of participants are asked to do exactly the same tasks. The only difference: Group A are told they’ll be paid a small amount for doing the work. Group B are doing it for free.

After the task is done, the psychologists ask: How interesting did you find the tasks? Do you think they were useful? Would you be willing to do them again?

The answers are extremely relevant to us as fundraisers!

The paid group found the tasks less interesting and less useful than the group who did the work for free. The paid group were also less likely to want to do the work again in the future.

Why did getting paid make a difference? The psychologists believe that Group A told themselves a story about the tasks: “I’m just doing it for the money.”

Group B wasn’t getting paid, so they had to come up with a different explanation. They found something interesting and worthwhile about the tasks–because surely they wouldn’t be doing something that was boring and without purpose!

Do donors look at giving the way these participants looked at their tasks? And if so, which story do you want donors to be telling themselves about your organization?

I gave for the note cards (or bumper sticker, or bracelet). I don’t really support the organization all that much. I might not give again unless they make me a better offer. or

I gave because something about this organization moved me. They’re the kind of group I support, and so I might give again, the next time they ask.

The choice seems clear. But what do the experts say?

Do Premiums Help You Get & Keep Donors?

“Organizations believe that offering thank-you gifts increases charitable donations, but they actually reduce donation amounts,” says George Newman, assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management. (Therefore, Jay Love of Bloomerang recommends you spend your money on staff time to call and say thank you, instead!)

On the other hand, “Premiums can drive significant, incremental fundraising success in donor acquisition, reactivation, and retention programs,” according to Michael Kulpinsky of Innovaire Communications. “Premiums that offer strong mission-based tie-ins worked the best.”

Neesha from Causevox wants you to remember that last point. “Extrinsic fundraising gifts make people feel selfish,” she says, and you want them to feel generous. “Don’t use them as an incentive for first-time givers or to people who are not actively involved. You’ll be encouraging a bad habit.”

Instead, if you do use premiums to show gratitude to donors,  give them “goods that reflect the direct impact of your work.” Like that friendship bracelet from Women to Women I mentioned, or “a personal letter from a child who you sponsored for her education.”

My expert opinion? If you are a smaller nonprofit, there are other ways to express your attitude of gratitude that you should start doing today.

Gratitude Can Be a Gift in Itself

The message on the outside of the bold blue envelope read, “Your Certificate of Appreciation is enclosed.”

Look at what I saw when I opened the envelope.

GBFB gratitude

It’s an actual certificate, like one you might put up on your wall. It’s signed by the President of the Greater Boston Food Bank, Catherine D’Amato. It uses a photo of three smiling faces to make Rona and me feel good about what we gave.

And right under the title, it actually says, “With deep gratitude.”

Even if I don’t hang it on a wall–even if it goes into the recycling bin–this piece of paper makes a greater impression on me than all the return address labels in the world.

And it doesn’t make me feel like I got paid for giving. It makes me feel I was thanked.

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