Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

TY Thursday: Thanking Donors Like It’s Groundhog Day

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Should you send written thank-you’s to donors? Again?

Only if you want them to give again!

242 Cards for Groundhog Day

groundhog day cards

My wife, Rona Fischman, sends handwritten cards to every one of her past real estate clients for Groundhog Day.

Why Groundhog Day? Nothing to do with Bill Murray! It’s just that the December holidays are an emotional minefield, with some people firmly attached to Christmas, Chanukah, Yule, or Kwanzaa, and some who don’t want to identify with any of them.

Sending cards on Groundhog Day offends no one, and it tickles the Wiccans. It puts good wishes in the mailbox when everyone else isn’t flooding the recipients with mail. It also puts former clients in mind of 4 Buyers Real Estate just as the spring season is about to begin and they–or someone they know–is starting to think of buying a house (and needs a good agent).

The more important question is, why hand-written cards? That, too, makes Rona and her company stand out. It is on brand for them to show they care about each client individually, and remember their needs.

Do your nonprofit's donors know that you remember and care about them? A hand-written thank-you in the mail makes sure that they do. Share on X

Why It’s Worth Your Time to Send TY’s in the Mail

You may be saying to yourself, “We automatically email donors as soon as their check or credit card number hits our system. Why do we need to send mail, too? And is it really worth the time to personalize them?”

It’s only worth it if you want to hear from them again!

Nonprofits are having a hard time getting that second gift, according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals, “with recaptured donor retention falling almost 20% [in 2023] from an already low level.” You may be seeing that in your own database. You spend so much time and care crafting the fundraising appeal, and you get a donation from a person or household for the first time–and then, they ghost you. Why?

Okay, sometimes it has nothing to do with you. The donor lost their job and they have no money available for philanthropy. Most of the time, however, it’s because they didn’t feel their first gift was seen, or valued, or appreciated. You made your organization the hero of the story and left them out.

Here’s what you can do instead:

Will all that take time? Yes! Rona watched several episodes of her favorite police procedural while she was writing her cards. You can do something similar, if you like. Listen to music, or a podcast, if you don’t want to keep glancing up at the screen.

Will it be worth it? Yes! When you see the first-time giver become a loyal donor, with a lifetime value far higher than any one-time gift, you will be saying thank you to yourself that you took the time to thank them.

 

Fundraising Tuesday: How do you ask donors to help without exploiting clients?

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Lots of nonprofits have been discussing the question of how you focus your donors’ attention on the person who needs the help without belittling that person or exploiting their story.

Do you make the donor the hero of the story, or the client?

Today, I got a mailing from the UNCF that is a good example of how to do both, respectfully–no exploiting involved.

The letter starts:

For many UNCF students, the goal is just a few months away—graduation!

But that same goal is also a few dollars away—the money needed to pay the final bills for tuition, housing, and fees.

No matter how hard they’ve worked, no matter how high their grades, no matter how bright their futures…

…a financial shortfall now can block them from graduating and prevent them from taking their places in the world.

Unless you can help.

Not exploiting: partnering

studentSee how the UNCF both holds the students up as people to be admired–and points out how the donors can make all the difference to them?

Both of those things are true. Students are struggling to graduate against tremendous odds sometimes. They are the ones doing nearly all the work. The UNCF goes on to talk about one student, Robert Booker, and says to the donors, “Robert found a way…thank you!”

Because while the students are the ones doing the work, they’re also the ones who need a hand to make it over the finish line. That’s where the donors come in. At the crucial moment, they can make all the difference.

The UNCF is doing something noble here. It is not saying to the students, “Oh, poor baby.” It is not exploiting their sob stories to wring money out of emotionally manipulated people with checkbooks. It is giving donors an opportunity to become partners with the college students they admire.

You can do the same

I think you all can do the same thing when you’re writing about the people you serve. You can lead donors to identify with them and admire them and want to help as a partner.

For more liberal audiences, you can frame it this way: Nobody succeeds on their own. We all do our best, and we all get help along the way. For each of us, it takes a village to get anything done. Here’s a person doing their best, and here’ s your chance to live in their village.

For more conservative audiences, you could say: You’ve got to hand it to someone like this, who’s taking personal responsibility and working so hard to make it on their own. You can be the one who helps them take that final step to success. They’re not looking for a handout–just a hand.

Either way, you are complimenting the client, not exploiting them.

Heroes come in pairs

What would Batman be without Robin? How many times has Lois Lane saved Superman? How would we know about Sherlock Holmes without Dr. Watson?

Would you say any of them were exploiting the others?

Let’s give credit where credit is due. The student, the survivor of domestic violence, the formerly incarcerated woman who is using a computer for the first time, the visionary artist who’s finding ways to exhibit their art during a pandemic, the essential worker who’s trying to keep paying the rent…all of them are making heroic efforts.

But the donor need to know she is doing something great as well. One goes along with the other.

What “You’re my hero!” means

Let me tell you a personal story.

Years ago, my wife, Rona, and I were trying to figure out what to do. We were living in an apartment that we had originally rented from a friend at our synagogue, a lady in her mid-70’s, who was glad to have tenants she could trust.

Eventually, our landlord grew older. She decided she needed to live close to her children and grandchildren in a different part of the Boston area, half an hour away. She sold the house to the next-door neighbors (who had been eying the parking space behind it for years).

Our new landlords started raising the rent. We were not going to be put out on the street, but the budget got tight. Rona and I faced a choice:

  • We could stay and watch the rent continue to rise.
  • We could move somewhere else in town, but rents were rising there too.
  • We could move out of town for cheaper lodgings, but lose our friends in town and our synagogue community and add hours to our commute each day.

What did we do? We bought a two-family house. Because Rona is a buyer’s broker in real estate, she knew where to look, what to do, and how much to pay. Because of her knowledge, we made the choice that would keep us in town and (as it turned out) give us a home and a rental income for the rest of our lives.

I said to Rona, “You’re my hero!” That wasn’t taking anything away from my own worth. It was an honest admiration of her ability that let us achieve our goals, in a way I could have never have done on my own.

Don’t be afraid of telling the donor, “You’re my hero!” Because the client can be the hero too.

 

Donor Love Means Knowing When to Say You’re Sorry

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At your nonprofit, does every staff member know how to communicate with donors?

Donor communications are the “customer service” of the nonprofit world. Show the donors the love and they will keep coming back to support the irreplaceable work you do. But treat them badly, and you are treating your clients badly, too, because you will run out of the money your programs need.

What does good customer service look like at a nonprofit organization? Share on X

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that my wife, Rona, has experienced some bad customer service.

  • She’s received mail at an address she never intended to share.
  • She’s been lied to by people who tied to sell her their services (and then wondered why she wasn’t interested).
  • On Election Day, she’s been called by volunteers who had no idea why she should vote for their candidate. (They should have had better training!)

Let me tell you a story about Rona and good customer service that nonprofits can put into action.

When You’re Wrong, Apologize

Desert cockroachRona went to a professional conference in Arizona. Over the course of a four-night stay, as she tells the story:

  1. I couldn’t sleep until 3:30 AM (which was 5:30 according to my body) on the first night.
  2. It seemed like I lugged my bags a mile to get to my new room.
  3. I didn’t get the room I asked for– and was promised — after the sleepless night.
  4. I had to move my room again on night three, due to a broken pipe that flooded my room.
  5. A door fell off (possibly my fault, but I am not all that strong).
  6. I met my first (and I hope, my last) desert cockroach.

The hotel could have turned Rona into a voice for never holding that conference at that hotel again. All they had to do was treat her as the problem. (As so many businesses seem to do with dissatisfied customers!)

Here’s what they did instead, and I’m quoting directly from their email:

Good Morning Rona,

I am sorry to hear of the additional issues you experienced last night after you changed rooms from 5100.

I have to say, if I were you, I would be extremely frustrated and if you are, it’s OK with me.  What’s not OK with me is if you were charged full price for all of the issues you have experienced. 

In addition to my apology, I have posted a credit to you’re [sic] account in the amount of $300 + taxes.  It’s very uncommon for the types of issues you have experienced to occur, let alone happening all to the same person. 

I promise that we can do better and if you would like to consider a gift certificate to return and have the real Saguaro experience in the future, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Alfredo Anguiano

Assistant General Manager

When the Donor Has a Problem, Fix It

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “What could we possibly do to a donor that they would lose sleep over?”

I hope you are not letting any cockroaches crawl into your envelopes! But short of that, and unfortunately, nonprofits are doing plenty of things that make donors feel mistreated. Are you…

Calling your donors by the wrong name, or by no name at all?

Taking weeks or months to get around to thanking them?

Thanking them and asking them for a second donation in the same letter (the dreaded thask)?

Using their money for a different purpose than the one that was their reason for giving–and not even letting them know?

Taking the money and not saying anything about how you’re using it, or what impact they’re making, until it’s time to ask for more?

If your nonprofit is doing any of this to the donor, the best case is that she will call to complain. (Yes, that’s the best case! The worst case is that she will go off fuming into the sunset and you will lose a good donor forever.)

When Donors Complain, What Staff Should Do

complaintAs Claire Axelrad says: A Donor Complaint is a Terrible Thing to Waste.

A complaint is a signal that the person who’s calling cares deeply about your organization. You need to be prepared to respond to that signal.

The person who takes the complaint phone call may not be a development person. She may be a receptionist or just a random staff member who happens to be answering the phone. But everyone on your staff should be trained in what to do.

And what not to do! Quoting Claire again:

You know, that tendency we have to put down the phone after dealing with a difficult person and then launch into a barrage of derision for that person? This breeds contempt for complainers and creates a culture of condemnation rather than gratitude.

Fix the Problem, Don’t Spoil the Fundraising

There’s a difference between responding to donor complaints and being afraid of them. If you have a large enough pool of donors, you must expect complaints. If you’re doing fundraising effectively, it will sometimes puzzle or even annoy people who don’t know how fundraising works.

They’d be more annoyed if you closed your programs for lack of funds!

Jeff Brooks rightly says:

It’s important when dealing with complainers to be thankful. This person cares enough to communicate with you. She’s giving you a chance to serve her better and turn a negative feeling into a positive experience. Find out exactly what she wants — and do it.

But don’t change your entire program to fit the demands of a complainer.  Follow the much larger voice of those who donated.  Make it work for them!

 

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