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Fundraising Tuesday: The Money is in the Mail

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Cat waiting for mailAre you thinking of giving up on fundraising by mail? Don’t.

Direct mail is still the most productive way of asking for donations to your nonprofit organization. If you give up on direct mail, it’s like throwing money in the trash.

Sending a good fundraising appeal by mail beats asking for money by email, by text, or by social media. In fact, a lot of the time, when a generous donor gives to your organization online, they saw your appeal letter first!

Why wouldn’t you send your appeal by mail?

  • “It costs too much.” Not when the return on your investment is so great! Those stamps and envelopes will more than pay for themselves when a larger number of donors send you a larger amount of money.
  • “We don’t know how to write a good letter.” You can get all the advice you need to write the ideal appeal letter from this blog. Or, you can pay me to do it for you!
  • “Our mailing list is out of date.” No time like the present to update it! And if your list is on a database or constituent relationship management system (CRM), the tool may check the National Change of Address database for you.
  • “We don’t trust the post office.” In 2020, that is a real concern, but it’s all the more reason to send out your mail early.

The only real problem that might prevent you from using the mail is this: “We haven’t collected our supporters’ mailing addresses.” Now, there’s a problem, and one you can start to fix right away.

Ask yourself, What do we have to share, or what can we produce to share, that will be so valuable to the donors that they will be willing to give us their mailing addresses? Share on X

Is it a fact sheet about the issue they care most about?

Is it a bumper sticker (design and printing donated by another of your supporters)?

Is it artwork by children in your program? Or free admission to an online program? Is it a gift certificate for a store that supports your mission and likes to make its support known, to reach potential customers?

Give the audience something that makes them glad to share their address. Then, send them a newsletter. Follow it up with an appeal letter, and follow that up by email, social media, and phone.

When they give, make sure you do more than send an auto-acknowledgment, more than an email welcome series.

Send them the ideal thank-you letter. In the mail.

TY Thursday: Say Thanks by Telling the Story

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Look how many donors are stepping up to help meet immediate needs during the Covid-19 crisis! I’m grateful. I’m sure your nonprofit is, too. But does your donor know what a difference she made?

It’s up to you tell her–and one of the best ways to say thank you is by sharing a story.

Here’s an excellent email from Bread of Life, sent to me by one of my friends in Melrose, MA. Make sure to read the paragraph in italics!

Transaction Date:  05/06/2020

Thank You!

Dear Serena,

Thank you for your online donation. This will help Bread of Life provide COVID-19 hunger relief services to neighbors in need.

We have seen a dramatic increase in the numbers of people needing our food pantry and evening meals. Up to 70% of those coming to our food pantry are new, many experiencing unemployment, waiting for unemployment checks. We also initiated a grocery delivery program to senior citizens, disabled residents and families with special needs. We are delivering to residents of Malden, Everett, Medford, Melrose, Stoneham, Reading, Wakefield, Revere, Winthrop and Chelsea.

A senior citizen called to say she had just received the groceries we delivered to her home. She seemed stressed and we wondered if something was wrong with the grocery order. She said “I’m sorry it’s difficult for me to speak. I’m just so overwhelmed by the kindness of Bread of Life and the kindness of the delivery driver. I’m so grateful, you wouldn’t believe.”

Thank you for supporting Bread of Life.. It is through the help and generosity of people like you that we are able to continue our work. Your compassionate support truly makes a difference!

Bread of Life.

If I were advising Bread of Life, I would make only two suggestions to improve this email:

  1. Use less “we” and more “you.” Not “We initiated a grocery delivery program” but “Your gift made it possible to deliver groceries to senior citizens, disabled residents,” etc.
  2. Take that touching story and move it toward the top of the email. If you read nothing else, and I am Bread of Life, I want you, the donor, to read that!
Thanking donors is strengthening relationships--and strengthening your nonprofit. Share on X

Can I help your organization improve its thank-you letters and emails? Email [email protected], and let’s make a time to find out!

TY Thursday: Because of You

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My friend Joan reads this blog religiously, and she’s always on the lookout for nonprofits that are taking my advice. Here’s a thank-you email that Joan has shared with us all.

It’s not an ideal thank-you.

  • The “On behalf of” opening line is a waste of words.
  • The sentence that includes both donors and people who included the organization in their prayers shows that they don’t know which group she belongs to–they haven’t segmented their list.
  • And as Joan notes, the idea that she has made this particular nonprofit “a priority” is a sign that they don’t know her very well yet.

Four things make this TY stand out:

  1. The From: line is personal. It’s a message from a particular person, not an organization or, even worse, an auto-answering program.
  2. The photo is personal. It puts a face to the name, so Joan can picture Ralph McCloud saying the words that follow, directly to her.
  3. The salutation is personal. It says “Dear Joan,” not “Dear Friend.”
  4. The message is personal. “What a blessing you are to us” is the kind of thing one Catholic would say to another. By repeating that message in the Subject line, in the photo, and in the body of the email, Catholic Mobilizing Network emphasizes what Joan and Ralph and CMN have in common.

Over all, the message has a recurring motif: “Because of you.”

CMN is working hard to make Joan the hero of the story. In your thank-you letters and emails, are you telling your donors “because of you”?

Blessing you are to us

Dear Joan,

On behalf of Catholic Mobilizing Network’s Board of Directors, I want to say thank you.

Whether you supported CMN financially this Christmas season, or included us in your intentions and prayers, it is because of you that CMN is able to thrive in its mission to end the death penalty and promote restorative justice.

What a blessing you are to us.

We live in a time where it seems like human dignity is under attack on many fronts. As a community of believers, we are called to respond with justice and mercy. But this can be a challenging commission, especially when our time, energy, and financial capacity are all stretched thin.

I know there are a lot of worthy causes out there; that is why I am grateful that you have made CMN a priority in your end-of-year giving.

Your support of CMN affirms your bold commitment to upholding the human dignity of all people — including even those who might have caused or suffered great harm.

Because of you, CMN is able to pursue a criminal legal system that values life, hope, and healing. And for that, I am deeply grateful.

Thank you,

Ralph McCloud, Treasurer
CMN Board of Directors

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