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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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TY Thursday: One Good Gift

June 30, 2016 by Dennis Fischman 1 Comment

giving-gift-love-1902073Can you write a thank-you letter so personal and so memorable that the donor will want to keep it forever? Yes, it’s possible. But some of us are better shoppers than we are writers.

Why not give a gift bag, too?

I agree: you can’t buy gifts for every single donor. It would take too much time and cost too much money.

Imagine, though, the amazement that would spread across your selected donor’s face when you presented gifts chosen especially for him or her!

The Most Personal Thanks You Can Give

It’s not how expensive a gift you choose that shows your donor how much you appreciate her. It’s the way the gift uniquely fits them.

My wife Rona and I have been going to the same doctor for twenty-five years, and every time we go, we chuckle at the classic posters on the walls. They say things like “Dr. Tanner’s Tonic Tames the Nerves,” or “Drink Coca-Cola to Calm Your Stomach.”

We appreciate the humor–from a doctor who keeps up with the latest medicine! So, when Rona and I were on vacation and saw a $9 book full of that old-style advertising, we had to buy it for Dr. Bershel. We wrapped it up with a bow, stopped by her office, and left it for her.

The doctor left us voicemail AND sent us a card to tell us how excited she was by the gift. “I’m going to blow up some of the pages in that book and make them into new posters!”

It didn’t cost very much, but to her, it was priceless.

How to Give Thanks in a Gift Bag

If you want to make a donor happy the way we made our doctor happy, you’ll need two things.

First: know your donor.

Find out what he or she really likes. Ask your staff and Board members, “Who knows this person?” And do your research online. Finding out their favorites may be as simple as visiting their Facebook page.

If they have a taste for something unusual, even better! Giving a “cat person” a gift for their cat is easy: there’s cat merchandise everywhere. Giving a ferret fancier a gift card for The Book Ferret…now, that shows that you have really noticed who they are (besides a checkbook).

Second: know where to find what they like.

If you are the letter writer and not the shopper in your office, delegate this task. Perhaps your agency does a Secret Santa or a Yankee Swap. Who is it that always looks forward to it and always comes up with the best presents?

Ask that person if you can send them on a very important mission–and give them the budget to do it. Let them do it on their own schedule, because the donor is not expecting it so there is no deadline.

For the person who enjoys shopping, the chance to put together a thank-you basket for your donor won’t be a burden. It will be a gift!

 

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