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TY Thursday: A Personal Letter is Better Than a Personalized One

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Laura Rhodes

Laura Rhodes

A guest post by Laura Rhodes, Third Sector Consulting

Are your thank you letters personalized, personal, or both?

Putting your donor’s name in the letter and referring to the gift amount? That’s personalization.

Thanking your donor for something specific that they did? That’s personal.

Let me give you a couple of examples of how I recently made some thank you letters personal. Then I’ll share some ways you can make your own thank you letters more personal, too.

You see, my thank you letter writing skills were put to the test late last year. My mother passed away in October.

While her death was unexpected, the outpouring of love and support that followed was not. As you might expect, our family received cards, calls, food, flowers and more after her passing. Many people sent memorial donations to her church and other charities.

It all added up to a lot of people who needed to be thanked, for a lot of different reasons.

Would it have been easier to send a generic thank you note, along the lines of “Our family appreciates your thoughtfulness during this difficult time.” Yes, absolutely.

Is that what I did? Absolutely not!

Just like your donors, my friends and family members are special people. And I wanted them to know that. To feel my genuine appreciation. To feel special when they received and read their thank you note.

So, for instance, in one letter to a friend, I told him how his was one of the first sympathy cards I received and how much his handwritten note meant to me. Then I thanked him for his memorial donation.

In a letter to one of my cousins, I told her that her hug was the very first one I received on the day of my Mom’s Celebration of Life and how it gave me strength. Then I thanked her for her family’s role in the service.

sympathy flowersAnd for the neighbor who couldn’t attend the Celebration, but sent flowers, I sent a picture of those flowers along with a copy of the service program. Then I thanked her for being with us in spirit that day.

 

I can hear you saying, “But that’s different. I don’t know my donors like that!”

You might be surprised at what you know about your donors. And with that information, you can make your thank you letters more personal.

First, pay attention to your donors’ giving habits.

For instance, did your donor make more than one gift this year? Did she give more this year than last? Has she given for 3, or 5, or 10 years in a row? Is she a first-time donor?

Acknowledge her gift, tell her that you noticed that it was an extra gift (or an increased gift, or a milestone gift, or a first-time gift, etc.). Then tell her what her donation will do and give a specific example of how it will make a difference.

Second, pay attention to your donors’ actions.

For instance, did she attend your fundraising event this year? Sponsor a table? Buy an auction item? Volunteer on a committee? Volunteer within your program?

You’re going to write a thank you whenever a donor makes a monetary contribution. When you do, look for and recognize the other ways that she supports your organization.

Making it personal is about letting your donor know that you noticed what she did. It also means telling her, very specifically, why her contribution (of time, talent, treasure or all three!) was meaningful.

One last tip to make your letters personal: Handwrite as many notes as possible.

In today’s digital age, where so much seems so impersonal, a handwritten note will stand out. Your donor will appreciate that you took the time to write. It shows that you really care.

At a minimum, pen a personal P.S. on your computer-printed thank you letter. Folks will read what’s handwritten, even if they don’t read the rest.

Bottom line: When you “Wow!” your donors with a prompt and personal thank you, you’ll be well on your way to giving your donors what they want – and what they deserve.

WANT MORE THANK YOU IDEAS?

Check out these posts from the Let’s Talk Nonprofit blog:

How Your Thank You Letter Can Put More Money in the Bank

Anatomy of a Stellar Thank You Letter

What a 10-Year-Old Can Teach You About Thanking Your Donors

P.S. If you liked this article, you can receive posts like these each month in your email. Topics include fundraising, grant writing, board development, and best practices.

Sign up today, join the conversation, and Let’s Talk Nonprofit.

Fundraising Tuesday: Boost Donations with 4 Storytelling Strategies

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Lisa C. Dunn

Guest author Lisa C. Dunn

A guest post by Lisa C. Dunn of TechnologyAdvice

Everyone has a story to tell. And good digital storytelling connects with your donors in a powerful and impactful way.

55 percent of nonprofits surveyed for a recent Network for Good whitepaper reported that storytelling had improved their fundraising results.

From the donors’ side, another study by Georgetown University showed that more half of people who engage with causes via social media have felt inspired to take further action: mainly, to donate money.

That makes a compelling case for strong storytelling. Because the human brain connects to storytelling about relatable, emotional experiences, your nonprofit organization (NPO) must harness the power of storytelling–and inspire donors to give.

4 Storytelling Strategies for Social Media

Here are four social post strategies to capture the essence of a compelling, moving story that will pull on your donors’ heartstrings.

Go for a micro-audience.

Instead of appealing every donor with every message, aim to connect with a particular set of marketing personas within your donor base. The key is to understand what stories you should be telling to a specific type of person or segment of people.

For example, look at all the types of donors that have only given one gift to your organization. The story you’ll tell them should differ from the story you tell donors who have given gifts consecutively for many years.

Your aim shouldn’t be to find the perfect story to tell everyone.  It should be to find the right story to tell to the right people.

This is where a robust customer relationship management (CRM) solution for non-profits comes into play. Accurately identifying these audiences and keeping track of your contacts with them is crucial. So, too, is the ability to look at your micro-audiences in aggregate to ensure you’re delivering messages consistently.

Only pick one or two ‘storylines’ to promote in showcase-style tales.

Rather than attempting to feature countless smaller-scale success stories in one post,  focus each social post on one specific person or story.

Diving deeply into one story can generate more significant results. This strategy also allows you to provide more details of a person’s backstory, and to show precisely how your organization has made a real difference in his or her life.

Also, be sure to tell stories about real people with real challenges—no Jane Does here. Social followers will feel more empathetic to your cause if they can put a real name and a real face on an issue. Try to highlight community members who benefit most from your organization and your donors will be much more likely to feel a strong connection.

Do more than ask.

Instead of constantly asking for donations in every social post, strategically introduce, engage and incorporate different Calls-to-Action  over the course of several posts. Repeat this pattern throughout the year.

One helpful way to think about this approach is with the 80/20 rule: No more than 20 percent of your social posts should make a direct appeal for donations. Then, strive to make the remaining 80 percent of your posts emotionally driven content that informs followers about your cause or specialty area.

Transform posts into connected, visual content.

Whether it’s via Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter or any other platform, social media storytelling is much more effective with images. According to a Skyward study, the brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than text. Also, content with relevant images tends to get 94 percent more views than content without visuals.

Images and videos are key to successful social media storytelling today. When they can see an individual or family that your organization is helping, donors draw parallels to their own lives, which can ultimately motivate them to give.

The bottom line?

Just like a for-profit organization, NPOs need an active, social media presence to maintain an emotional connection with prospective donors and supporters.

NPOs have a strategic advantage in a crowded space – meaningful, moving stories about real people that are personal and emotionally compelling. Telling these stories makes it easier for donors to remember, care about, and support your organization.

Lisa C. Dunn is a writer for TechnologyAdvice.com and a freelance writer, copywriter and ghostwriter who develops high-quality content for businesses and non-profit organizations. For over 20 years, she has worked with numerous PR and digital marketing agencies, and her work has been featured in well-known publications including Forbes, VentureBeat, Mashable, Huffington Post, Wired, B2C, and USA Today, among others.

Moving to Mobile Fundraising: Five Tips to Help

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Lisa C. Dunn

Guest author Lisa C. Dunn

Did you know that an estimated 51 percent of people who visit nonprofit websites visit from a mobile device?

And according to a recent Nonprofits Source report, mobile giving donations have increased approximately 205 percent in the last year.

The move to mobile giving is growing by leaps and bounds. There are several reasons why mobile is a trend that’s  going to stick around for years to come:

  • It’s easy for donors and nonprofits alike. Whether it’s mobile email donation buttons or text-to-give, making donations via a mobile device is intuitive for donors, and it’s also easy for nonprofits to manage the process.
    ● It’s a secure method to donate. With a wide range of security measures built into mobile fundraising platforms, both donors and nonprofits have peace of mind that it’s a safe way to conduct donation transactions.
    ● Mobile giving is not generation-specific. While you might think that
    making donations via smartphone or tablet is more common among the Millennial generation, the practice spans individuals of all ages.
    According to a recent report, people ages 65 and older donate online just as much as younger generations.

So, whether you already incorporate mobile giving into your fundraising strategy or you are considering implementing it soon, here are five tips to help with your mobile fundraising efforts:

  1. Check that You’re Ready for Mobile. To unveil a successful mobile fundraising campaign, you first must ensure that your donation forms are fully functional and easy to use.

Take the time to revise or adapt any existing online donation forms to make sure they are mobile-responsive. Ask staff members to test your mobile donation website on their mobile phones and tablets to see if it’s intuitive. You also can run a beta test of the technology with trusted stakeholders, board members or long-time donors to generate useful, constructive feedback.

Your goal during each testing stage is to make sure there are no technical difficulties. If there are issues, it’s important to address them sooner than later.

2. Set Realistic Goals. With mobile fundraising, if you develop a precise goal amount, it can boost your chances of attaining that goal more than if you merely circulate “standard” solicitations.

For example, if your organization is a religious group, you are probably already raising funds. However, by setting a realistic, specific mobile fundraising goal – like raising $10,000 to build a kitchen that can provide meals for the homeless – it may prompt members to pay serious attention. And when they know they are helping you reach a tangible goal, they will be more inclined to donate to your cause.

3. Confirm You Have Accurate Data. It’s essential that you have accurate information about your donors when launching a mobile fundraising program, starting with what they prefer to be called. For starters, send out an email to your existing donor base, asking people to verify whether their data is correct. If you have the bandwidth, you can also ask donors to verify their phone numbers and offer them the chance to be some of the first participants in your organization’s new mobile fundraising efforts.

The next step is to determine a way to gather accurate, new data. Perhaps you already have an effective method to capture leads, or maybe you need to establish a new system. If you do not already have a process in place to obtain and enter new donor data into your CRM, then it’s an ideal time to research ways to manage your donor and supporter relationships better. It might be time to find a new CRM that fits your nonprofit’s requirements and can handle list segmentation (find recommendations and read reviews here ). Either way, it’s
crucial to have a strategy in place to quickly update and store new data as you collect it.

4. Spread the Word. When launching a mobile campaign, the transition can be daunting, especially if it’s your first time. The key is to reassure current donors that if they do opt to receive messages from your organization via mobile, that it is indeed coming from your nonprofit.

To give them peace of mind, tell them that your mobile fundraising campaign is safe and secure. Also, let them know that if they do receive a text message from your organization, that it is indeed from you (and not a robot). Finally, in all communications about your mobile campaign, always emphasize that each text or email will be relevant and personalized specifically to them.

5. Understand It’s a Process. Similar to any other process that involves numerous stages, you must be open to making adjustments and tweaks along the way to be successful with a mobile fundraising strategy. As you venture through the various stages, track everything and determine what works well – and what does not.

The key is to take your time to improve your approach of seeking mobile
donations on a regular basis.

The Bottom Line

As you work to implement a mobile fundraising system that works well for your organization, understand that harnessing the power of advocates and influencers can enhance your campaign success.

Make a goal of focusing on your nonprofit’s “power players,” or leaders and supporters who you know will help spread the word through their own families, friends, colleagues and social media networks.

Remember, launching a mobile fundraising strategy is not a one-and-done project. It is a continual process, and, with a solid approach, it will become more intuitive and more manageable over time.

Lisa C. Dunn is a writer for TechnologyAdvice and a freelance writer, copywriter and ghostwriter who develops high-quality content for businesses and non-profit organizations. For over 20 years, she has worked with numerous PR and digital marketing agencies, and her work has been featured in well-known publications including Forbes, VentureBeat, Mashable, Huffington Post, Wired, B2C, USA Today,
among others.

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