Show your donors some love
Love. It's one of the most frequently used words in song titles and I bet you can name many. One of my favourites is the 1984 Frankie Goes to Hollywood song, “The Power of Love”. It bagged the band a number one and was also used in the 2012 John Lewis Christmas advert (the one with the snowman).
The power of love – the message is one all of us should be taking notice of. And, for charities, it’s got even greater meaning.
For instance, the word philanthropy literally means “love of mankind”. We all know that people give to charity for a variety of reasons, but often emotional reasons trump rational ones. Heart over head. And charities know that if you fail to make an emotional connection through your campaigns you’re not going to gain and keep donors.
It’s always about the donor. The more you can align your approach with your donor’s identity and personal search for satisfaction and purpose, the better chance you have of securing a gift.
And when you do get that gift it’s so important that you show some love back. The most important thing you’ll ever do for your donors is say thank you.
Just about every charity leader or fundraiser knows the importance of thanking donors—not just as an expression of gratitude and good manners, but as a way of building relationships. When done well, recognition can even encourage future gifts and continued involvement, whether through volunteering or being a champion for the organisation. It also helps encourage gifts from other networks. When people see their friends and family members are passionate about a cause, they might consider supporting as well.
When it comes to giving thanks, if you’re a small or medium-size organisation you may not have the resources or opportunities for lavish gifts or swanky appreciation events. However, with a little creativity, you can acknowledge donors without an increase in staff time or expenditure. The old adage “less is more” can hold true.
For a truly meaningful thank you, there are a few things you need to know about the person you’re thanking:
- the campaign(s) they donated to
- how much they donated and how frequently
- how they donated (credit card, voucher, direct debit etc)
- where the donation came from (eg online, mobile, Facebook, voucher).
And most importantly:
- your donor’s details (if the donor hasn’t chosen to remain anonymous) – including their name, email address, postal address.
You’ll also need to have information on how your donors would like to be contacted. In these post-GDPR times it’s imperative that you do what they ask (see our top tips for staying compliant with GDPR).
With this information in hand you can start thinking about how you want to thank them. Here are three ways you could do this: