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TY Thursday: Don’t Take Your Donors for Granted

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shut up, give me moneySometimes I think nonprofits have an invisible sign above their desks, directed to donors:

“Shut up and give.”

How else do you explain the way we keep on writing donors the way that’s most convenient for us, and not for them?

Or the way we persist in asking them for a new donation before we’ve actually said “thank you” for the old one?

For more shake-your-head proof that we are taking donors for granted–treating them like cash machines and not like human beings–consider this pet peeve from my friend Carol.

A First-Time Gift is Not a Wedding Ring

Carol read last week’s blog and wrote me:

I had an experience of giving generously to an organization and then realizing that my impulse was one of very poor judgment in terms of my financial situation.  Subsequent mail from the organization has basically asked me where I am and to send money in the same amount as soon as possible as the funds are very much needed.  Very poor form! I have been tempted to send a note but have decided that silence is the better option.

From the organization’s point of view, it seems, they’ve been jilted. Carol made them a vow of lifelong devotion, and then she left them at the altar.

But Carol doesn’t see it that way. She made a gift. Did that commit her to making the same gift happily ever after? Certainly not–particularly if she couldn’t really afford it. And she is offended that the organization is holding her to a promise she never made.

I bet you have some Carols on your list of lapsed donors. They, too, have decided “silence is the better option.” You might feel they have abandoned you, but they believe you have a lot of nerve to think they owe you.

How Not to Take Donors for Granted

Fortunately, some of us do understand how to woo our donors. Carol adds:

A different organization with similar goals has been nothing but kind and appreciative. After getting a request following my increased donation amount to another arm of the organization, I noted that I already donate to that program and had just increased the amount.  I received a note to the effect that the mistake had been corrected, with thanks for my being of such support. 

This is also a group that initiated a meeting for me with a regional director after I was unable to attend a local event for which I had registered. We had a lovely dinner with pleasant conversation, including an update on several programs–no pressure of any kind, just a learning experience and a getting to know you evening.  One certainly catches more flies with honey and the personal touch.

Taking donors for granted is destroying their good will. Treating your donors right is the best thank-you. What are you doing to make your donors feel they’ve truly been thanked?

TY Thursday: Stop Annoying Donors. They’ll Thank You!

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pet peevesWhen people find out I consult to nonprofits, they tell me their pet peeves. Most of what’s annoying them is how we ask for money.

Thanking and Asking Again in the Same Letter

More than one friend has complained to me about the dreaded “thask”: the thank-you note combined with a new ask. “I just sent a donation, and here they are asking for more. It’s like they’re trying to tell me I gave too little the first time!”

I tell them that the numbers show a certain number of donors will give right away if you ask them again. That doesn’t impress my friends. They want nonprofits to know that a certain number of donors will get that “thank-you, now give more” message and never give again.

You know we have a tremendous problem with donor renewal in our sector. The chances are that two of three people who gave to you for the first time in 2015 won’t give again this year. Could the “thask” have something to do with it?

Claire Axelrad tells us:

An Abila Donor Engagement Study found that 21% of donors say they were never thanked for their gift. Some weren’t, but my hunch is that a lot were. They just didn’t perceive what you sent them to be a thank you. Too often thank you letters sound exactly like fundraising letters.

What Donors Want You to Do Instead

Now, when you thank donors, you do want to ask them to take a next step. The “call to action” can be to join your email list, or follow you on Facebook, or even come to an event.

And you do want to give them more evidence that they made a good decision when they made their first donation. Show the impact they made.

But what you don’t want to do is ask right away for more money.  And what you really don’t want to do is what my friend who tweets under the name @thewhinydonor describes as her pet peeve:

The first thank you letter arrived today. And it contained an enormous reply envelope, bigger than the letter. COMPLETE TURNOFF.

When the first thing I see when I open your acknowledgement is a big reply envelope asking for more, my warm glow of giving is obliterated.

How are your favorite charities annoying you (and probably not even realizing it)? What’s your pet peeve?

TY Thursday: Don’t Forget the Thank-You

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Do you follow @DennisFischman on Twitter? If so, I’ve thanked you–I hope.

If I forgot, I apologize! But if you’re a nonprofit and you forget to say thank you, then you owe an apology to your donor and to yourself. Don’t forget!

Twitter thank youHow I forgot to say thanks

Whenever anybody follows me on Twitter, I make a point of saying thanks. I don’t always follow back. That depends on what you usually tweet about and whether it’s interesting to me.

But I do say “thanks”–because, out of the gazillion people on the web, you chose to spend some attention on me.

So how could I forget?

Sarah Gallo, who’s on Twitter as @5foottraveler, followed me on Sunday. I wanted to tweet back at her, “TY to @5foottraveler for following!” I copied and pasted her Twitter handle and added the “for following” part, and I was just about to schedule the tweet when I noticed something was missing.

That’s right. The “TY” part.

Fortunately, I caught it in time. But because I even came close to leaving out the thanks, I want to say to Sarah publicly, “Thanks, and safe travels!”

thank you signs

Nonprofits, Don’t Forget to Thank Donors

At your nonprofit, when you acknowledge donations, are you making the same mistake as I did? Are you leaving out the actual thanks?

You could be, if:

  • Your letter reads like a tax receipt instead of a personal note.
  • You’re talking about what a great organization you are, instead of what great things the donor’s gift is going to accomplish.
  • You’re congratulating the donor on helping you achieve your mission, instead of showing how you are going to help the donor realize his or her goals.
  • When you receive an online gift, you send out an auto-response but never follow it up with an individualized letter or email.
  • You send out the ideal thank-you letter but then don’t communicate again with the donor until it’s time to ask again for money.

Donor love means never having to say you’re sorry. Don’t forget to thank your donors in a way that’s clear, timely, ample, honest, and ongoing. You won’t regret it.

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