The Month of Thanks

Bookkeepers are busy closing off 2011 and you area likely trying to set organizational goals for 2012. Budgets are being approved, plans solidifying and the year is about to take off. December was your biggest Give Season yet right? Make January your biggest Thank You month ever. January is time to lay the foundation of Thank You’s in your organization. A well planned Thank You Strategy can increase your donations by 39% - which makes it a hard to ignore.

A solid Thank You campaign has 3 core tenants, with a 4th “bonus points” tenant for those really wanting to knock it out of the park.

1.  The auto thank you email after an online donation. Simple text based email, customized to your cause with a compelling quote or statement of impact.
2. A call from a Board Member within 24 hours of when your organization receives the gift. This may be too hard to achieve initially, so start small (within a week of receiving the gift) and get better as you go. Gail Perry talks about how to implement this in an older article HERE.
3. A handwritten Thank You card within a month. This could be a simple statement of Thanks from a fellow volunteer or donor, it could be a picture from a child, a note from the Executive Director. Whomever, just a sincere note saying how your organization will use the gift and how much it means to the people your organization serves. Gail has some great tips on Thank You letter content HERE.

BONUS ROUND

   4.  Create the ___ Club. A separate ‘tier’ of donors and treat them like royalty. The word will spread. This doesn’t have to be based on income or giving levels. Perhaps it’s that you reward monthly donors with a certain “status” or gift, or maybe it’s just the long time donors. Whatever it is, it is worth exploring this as a way to encourage those to keep giving. While this may sound gimmicky, people want to belong - that’s the whole reason they give to your organization: purpose. Offering people another way to engage in the purpose of your mission will foster further financial investment into your cause.

There are a host of other options for your Thanking Strategy, but the point is - you have to build something in place, and January tends to be the best time to do it. Don’t focus on the ‘pretty-ness’ of the campaign - direct always works best. It’s not about “the ask” (in fact - don’t) and it doesn’t have to be over the top. Build a system and begin a pattern of ‘thanks’ and you will see donations grow.