How To Efficiently Convey A Thank You Donors Message For Your Charitable Organization?
Nothing is more crucial for a charitable or non-profit organization than ensuring a warm relationship with its donors. Failing to do so can significantly impact the organization, leading to cash flow problems or worse issues. One of the best ways to cultivate a warm relationship with your donors is by effectively conveying a thank you donors message.
How To Write A Thank You Letter To A Donor
Writing thank you letters for donations is vital in establishing good relationships with your donors and retaining them. It is relatively easy to write a thank you letter for business organizations because they already provide a product or service to their customers.
On the other hand, donations often offer nothing of monetary value to the donors. Most people make donations for the gratification it gives them and to make a positive difference in the world. You can consider hosting a gala to thank your donors, but that’s only possible for some donations you get. The least you can do is to convey the thank you donors message, and the best way to do it is with a thank you letter.
Here is how you can write an effective thank you for your donation letter to communicate your gratitude to the donors.
Mention The Good Work You Do With The Donations
The good thing about communication in non-profit organizations is that it can use the same strategy before and after conversion. By conversions, we mean gaining the support of your donors. The thank you letter from your charity shouldn’t just say “thank you donors” because that may not impact the reader.
Instead, try to make the donor understand the bigger picture and how their contribution is helping a more significant cause. You can focus on the specifics of your current projects in your thank you donation letter. It adds credibility to your organization and makes the donor feel good about themselves for participating in the project.
But that does not mean you can copy-paste parts of your promotional materials to the donation thank you letter you send. It is best to highlight your current or future projects in the letter. You can go further by specifying the specific part of the project for which you intend to use the donation.
Send The Thank You Letter For Donation ASAP
It is best to send your donation thank you letter within one or two days of receiving a contribution from the donor. The sooner you send the thank you letter, the better its effect on the recipient. It is an excellent way to let the donor know you received their donation. Moreover, it shows that you use their contribution to good use.
Ensuring a prompt response with a donation thank you letter is vital in enhancing the donor’s experience with your brand. It also allows you to engage with the donor while their memory remains fresh. Getting a prompt reply lets the donor know that your organization is actively monitoring its donations and ensures the appropriate use.
There is also a biological side to this. Whenever we receive a thoughtful thank you note can create a chemical high. As time passes, this chemical high slowly fades away. So, the later you send the thank you message for the donation, the weaker the effect will be on the donor.
Don’t Ask For The Next Donation Right Away
One common mistake non-profits make with a donation thank you letter they send to ask for subsequent assistance. As you know, the purpose of the thank you letter is to show your gratitude to the donor. The last thing you want to do is stray away from this purpose and use it for something else, like pitching for another donation.
Your donation thank you letter must not sound like you are trying too much to get more contributions from the donor. It can take the focus away from your thank you message, and the donor may misinterpret the goal of your business organization. The rule is to keep it simple and avoid your letter sounding like marketing material.
Personalize Your Thank You Letter For Donation
Personalization is crucial to ensure your thank you letter for donation has the desired effect on customers. There is no point in sending a cold and emotionless thank you letter as it can hardly impact the recipient. You must personalize the thank you letter with the donor’s name and not address them with generic terms like “donor.”
Non-profits don’t necessarily have to use the donor’s first name in the donation thank you letter. However, a general salutation is a strict no-no. A vague opening can harm your thank you letter more than you might think. As the relationship builds, you can start using a more casual introduction, such as addressing the donor by their first name.
Personalizing the donation thank you letter is quick and easy with automation. The best thing is that you can even automate printed media like direct mail with advanced solutions like PostGrid. You can connect PostGrid’s direct mail API with your non-profit CRM to quickly personalize your letters. All you need is a template. PostGrid also gives you access to its template gallery and editor to create notes, postcards, Etc.
Special Acknowledgement For Recurring Donors
Non-profit organizations need recurring donors just like for-profit organizations need loyal customers. It is in your best interest to build a rapport with donors who repeatedly make donations to your organizations. You can do this by giving special acknowledgements to such donors in the donation thank you letter you send them.
Include a simple sentence or two, such as the following, in the donation thank you letter you send to your recurring donors.
“We greatly appreciate the support you have shown us over the years in accomplishing [specify accomplishment/goal]. Your continued support is what sustains our goals and makes a positive impact on the world.”
You can use the same two sentences for a group of donors repeatedly donating to your organization. Create a separate template and bulk mail the donation thank you letter using an automated solution like PostGrid.
You can take it a step further by using customized stories for donors who donate significantly to your organization. However, you can only do this for some of the donations thank you letters you send. You can use it on an exclusive group of donors and target them with highly-customized or handwritten notes.
Keep It Short
The safest approach to writing a donation thank you letter is to keep it short and sweet. It is worth remembering that the purpose of the thank you letter is to express your gratitude and how the donor is making a positive impact on the world. Any unnecessary detail you include in the thank you letter will only dull it, and the donor may stop reading it in the middle.
You must realize that the thank you letter for a donation does not need details like the donation amount. Even if you send the letter to a new donor, your contact information is the only additional detail you must include.
Include A Real Signature
Non-profit organizations do not have the time or resources to write the donation thank you letter by hand. The best and most practical alternative is to sign all your thank you letters with an authentic signature. It is an excellent way to add a personal touch to your thank-you letters with minimal effort. It shows that a person took time to sign and send the letter.
The rule of thumb to follow here is to write anything that comes after the signature by hand. It allows you to add a p.s. note at the end of the letter. Doing so is an effective way to personalize your letter without using multiple templates for your donation thank you letter. Using the signature of high-ranking personnel in the organization can better legitimize your thank you letter.
Separate Thank You Letters And Donation Acknowledgement Letters
One of the worst mistakes you can make as a non-profit organization is to combine your thank you letter for donation and acknowledgements. You must understand that these letters have two very different purposes, and one can not replace the other. And if you combine the two letters it can make the donor feel like you sent the letter because of the donation’s size.
As we discussed, the purpose of the donation thank you letter is to express gratitude and show how their contribution is making a difference. Moreover, an acknowledgement letter may seem like a requirement rather than a choice. As a result, your letter may have a negative impact leading to minimal or negative ROI.
Top 6 Ways To Convey Thank You Donors Message For Your Organization
Developing innovative ways to write your donation thank you letter can make them more impactful. Numerous charitable organizations send thank-you letters to their donors, and you must make your thank-you letters stand out.
Here are some creative ways to write your donation thank you letter and make it more impactful.
#1 Use Direct Mail Automation
The most efficient and error-free way to send your donation thank you letter to all your donors is with the help of automation. Direct mail marketing tools like PostGrid enable you to quickly and efficiently personalize the thank you letters and mail them. You can promptly bulk mail your thank you letters using PostGrid’s web interface or by integrating its direct mail API into your website.
Connecting PostGrid with your non-profit CRM lets you quickly and accurately personalize your letters with zero manual error. PostGrid offers a free template gallery and editor to create postcards and notes for your organization. Additionally, you have the option to use unique templates that you design yourself for the donation thank you letter you send.
That’s not all. Advanced systems like PostGrid enable you to incorporate your offline letter into your online or digital campaigns. For instance, you can include a QR code when writing the thank you letter for donations you receive. The QR code can lead to a video of your projects and show how you spend the donor’s funds.
Sign up today to automatically send your thank you donors message using PostGrid’s direct mail automation solution!
#2 Send A Handwritten Letter
The most effective way to show gratitude to your donors is to use a handwritten thank you letter for donations you receive. It shows that you care or appreciate the donor enough to spend time and effort to write the letter by hand. But there may be better practical options in such situations, including automated bulk mailing.
It is best to write a thank you letter for donations you receive by hand from your most prominent donors. A more practical approach if you want to bulk mail your thank you letter is to use an automated direct mail solution like PostGrid. You can print personalized letters and just put your signature by hand. Alternatively, you can also use PostGrid for printing the signature too.
#3 Call The Donor
Phone calls may only sometimes be the ideal choice for marketing a product or service. But it is an effective communication channel for conveying your gratitude to donors. We are not saying that you should not send a thank you letter for donations you receive. You can add phone calls for quick and efficient communication.
The ideal time for making the phone call is soon after receiving the donation. Remember how we discussed chemical reactions in our brains in the section above? You can use the phone call to maximize the effectiveness of your thank you message for donation and show your gratitude.
The not-so-attractive aspect of this is that it can take up a significant amount of time, and not everyone likes receiving a phone call.
#4 Invite The Donor Over For A Tour
One way you can quickly gain the trust of your donors is by inviting them over to your office or project to witness their donation at work. Moreover, using such an invitation in your donation thank you letter makes the invitation more official and improves your relationship with them. You can enhance the donor’s experience with your charity by organizing a cup of coffee or a casual lunch.
Executing such a strategy requires more time and effort, and you need not target donors. As discussed in other cases above, you can extend the invitation to an exclusive group of donors. But you can use the same approach for your other donors by offering them a virtual tour. You can use a QR code in the thank you letter for donations you receive for the donors to attend your time conveniently.
#5 Send A Small Gift
You can significantly enhance the impact of your donation thank you letter by including a small but thoughtful gift. It can be a flexible refrigerator magnet, a small keychain, or something else. Receiving goodies always make people happy, and it is the same for your donors. Moreover, the gift can be a proof of your donor’s contribution and a reminder.
For instance, you can send a photo booklet of your current project. Similarly, charitable organizations such as orphanages can include pictures of kids benefiting from the donor’s contribution. Sending such a thank you letter for donations you receive is highly likely to impact the donor emotionally.
#6 Feature Specific Stories In Postcards
One of the best ways to enhance the effectiveness of the donation thank you letter is to humanize them. Suppose yours is an animal rescue organization. In that case, you can feature the picture of a dog or cat your organization rescued. You can even feature a profile of the animal or pet in the postcards you send with details such as the following.
- Name
- Breed
- Rescue situation
- Etc.
Besides that, you can include details like the animal’s favourite toy or cute details such as “loves cuddling.” Such information and animal pictures in the donation thank you letter will generate a warm feeling in the donor. You can use any details you have on the donor, such as their favourite animal and personalize the postcard with that pet or animal.
An advanced direct mail automation tool like PostGrid can help you with this. You can print personalized postcards with your brand colours and tailor-made content to enhance the effectiveness of the donation thank you letters you send. Postcards are ideal for generating a positive response from your audience and have a high response rate of 4.25%.
But wait, there’s more. With PostGrid, you can access a free template gallery for creating attractive charity thank you messages for your organization. It makes sending a thank you note even more efficient for your charitable organization. Furthermore, direct mail automation also minimizes the delivery time for postcard bulk mail.
Click here to learn how to convey your thank you donors message for your charitable organization and send personalized postcards and letters.
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The post Ways to Write a Thank You Note for Donations appeared first on PostGrid UK.
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