I have seen the ideal appeal letter. I haven’t yet seen the ideal thank-you letter. But it went out today. Did you send it?
Write the ideal thank-you letter
If you wrote the ideal thank-you letter, you:
- Called me by name.
- Confirmed how much I gave you.
- Told me how my gift would make a difference.
- Illustrated my impact with a story. (Not the one you told me to persuade me to give. Another story. You have more than one, right?)
- Included a photo or image to make my impact real.
- Told me about how else I can help: by volunteering, or liking you on Facebook, or spreading the word to my friends.
- Signed it by hand, and wrote something just for me.
Most important: it’s the ideal thank-you letter because it went out today.
The sooner you acknowledge my gift, the more likely I am to remember it, and give again. Within 24 hours of your receiving my check is ideal. Within a week is acceptable. But no matter how long it’s been, don’t put it off any longer. Send that thank-you letter today.
[…] appeal. You sent a thank-you letter to each donor back then. (In fact, maybe you sent the ideal thank-you letter.) But have you been ignoring them since […]