January is almost done. Have you thanked donors?
Today is the fourth Thank-You Thursday since the end of the year. If you’re a nonprofit, have you sent a thank-you letter to all your December donors yet? If not, how long will it take?
Donors, how many gifts did you give that still haven’t been acknowledged? How does that make you feel?
December Matters
Nearly one third (31%) of annual giving occurs in December. In fact, 12% of all giving happens in the last three days of the year, according to our friends at Neon CRM.
So it’s no surprise if December feels like a blizzard at your nonprofit. You love watching the white envelopes swirl in (or your online totals mount), and you dread clearing them off your desk.
Thank-You’s Matter
Clearing those donations, by sending thanks to each donor, is like shoveling your sidewalk. You have to do it if you’re ever going to get anywhere!
Every donor that you can call is a donor you’re likely to hear from again. Penelope Burk, author of Donor-Centered Fundraising, has proven donors care about promptness. In one test with board members calling within 48 hours, those called gave an average of 39% more than those not called – and they gave 42% more after 14 months!
If you can’t call every donor, you can still send the ideal thank-you letter. One element of the ideal letter is promptness. Yet here it is, four weeks later, and many of the organizations my wife and I gave to in December have still not sent that letter–or any letter at all.
Are you one of those organizations? Then you are putting next year’s donation at risk.
Donors, Your Voice Matters Most
Fellow donors, do you agree? Tell your favorite organization what it feels like when you give online and get an automatic email and then…crickets. Or when you put a check in the mail feeling a nice warm glow at making a difference…and then find out the organization didn’t bother to thank you for months at a time.
You can use the comments section below, or you can get in touch directly. Or you can use Twitter, like @thewhinydonor does.
The Whiny Donor
Seriously. How long are you going to make me wait for that thank you letter?
But whichever medium you use, please do let nonprofits know how much it matters to hear the words “thank you”!
Leave a Reply