8 BOO BOO’s! Are You SCARING Nonprofit Donors Away?
Your donors mean the world to you. How do you show them?
How did your #GivingTuesday go? I’m hoping it was a great success from your perspective, but what about your donor’s perspective? What can you do to assure your donors feel like the heroes they are for making your mission possible?
Right off the bat, make sure you have a robust gratitude program in place. Thank them. Then thank them again. All through the year. The more consistently you practice gratitude, the better. If you don’t have a documented donor acknowledgment program in place, now’s the time to begin.
Whatever you do, don’t just stuff your “#GivingTuesday donors into your database, send out automated receipts, smack your lips and count up the results to report to your board. Really, truly make sure these folks feel thanked for having done something selfless and special.
Then, next year…
What about using #GivingTuesday as the pièce de résistance of your donor acknowledgment program? I wrote recently about making this a day to give back to your donors. Rather than ask them to give to you, why don’t you give to them? I noted that I also like the idea of shining a light on giving “help” and “service” rather than “stuff” or “money.”
I was happy to see two nonprofits who did this, and I want to share these examples with you.
Let’s begin with the Imagine Bus Project in Northern California, which provides experiences in the visual arts for at-risk and adjudicated youth (they used to send an actual bus to low-income schools that was filled with arts supplies and teachers; now it’s more virtual – can’t you just imagine?). They went the pure thank you route, and I bet they blew folks out of the water. In addition, at the end of their email was an invitation to a free event where they’ll have hors d’oeuvres, music and an opportunity to purchase some of the children’s art. What a nice way to demonstrate gratitude, and also potentially draw in some folks who may wish to become more invested in the future.
Giving Thanks on #Giving Tuesday
My next example is from JVS in San Francisco, which provides vocational services to help people build skills and find jobs to achieve self-sufficiency. They went the engagement route, listing ways folks can become involved with them other than by giving money. It shows they care about their supporters for more than just their wallets. And it’s a creative way to build stronger relationships that will hopefully lead to increased investment the next time they make an ask.
A different take on #giving Tuesday 
What do you think? If you have examples to share, I’d love to see them! And if #GivingTuesday was a great fundraising event for you, please share how you plan to evaluate your results to find out if the money raised was additional, or merely substituted for annual giving you’d have received anyway.
Learn what your donors really want, and how to give it to them
Your Key to Getting a Next Gift – and More After That!
What are You Doing for Donor Gratitude Season?
Are you ready to respond promptly and personally to the onslaught of gifts you’ll receive this season? If not, you’re shooting yourself in the foot. Because your thank you is what sets you up for your next gift. And it’s much cheaper to renew an ongoing donor than recruit a new on. So… get a leg up with my Attitude of Gratitude Donor Guide and learn how to put in place a full-blown acknowledgement program (Grab it here). And/or get my 48 Hours: Donor Acknowledgement Solution Kit (Grab it here). You’ll find both guides well worth your while – and worth much more than the few bucks you shell out for them now. If not, I’ll make a donation to your nonprofit!
3 Comments
I’m surprised you were so taken by the Imagine Bus Project’s email. I glanced at it, saw WE, WE, WE three paragraphs in a row, and assumed the email wasn’t about ME. Which it isn’t, so it doesn’t interest me. Am I being too devoted to the word YOU?
Also, where in the example you posted is the invitation to an event? I missed it. And there IS an ask for cash in the email post script. As well as in the sentence “May you be inspired… to give your wealth.” Which makes the email feel like it actually is a solicitation, just one poorly disguised as a thank you.
I think just few tweaks to replace WE with YOU would make this really fly (and I added in an ask, cause I couldn’t resist!):
“We give thanks to YOU for being a part of The Imagine Bus Project family.
You inspire our young artists who share their lives and stories, and who dare to be brave with their creativity and self-expression.
You are a partner and community collaborator who works with us to create solutions that move our students toward success.
You and our fellow Bay Area organizations are working to improve the lives of our youth and communities here and beyond.
We hope you are inspired to give thanks today as well. If so, we invite you to make a gift to The Imagine Bus Project in honor of someone who has inspired creativity and self-expression in your life. Just as you do for our students each semester.”
Words of wisdom there Claire, great post.
I feel like to some extent Giving Tuesday is becoming the Black Friday of fund development. So we made made a decision to NOT wade into the #givingtuesday solicitation fray at all. Instead, we declared it Gratitude Tuesday, and messaged robustly to our community. The centerpiece of our various communications were images of the teens we support holding up hand-made signs that said, “Thank you.”
This is great to hear Matt. I love calling it Gratitude Tuesday. Kudos to you for taking this wonderful opportunity to thank your donors for the heroes that they are