Thank You Effectiveness!

Previously in this blog I've talked about the importance of saying thank you to your donors.  I believe there are a few keys to keep in mind.  Make sure you thank:

1.  Quickly.

2.  Meaningfully.

3.  Often.

It seems like sending a proper thank you letter with any applicable tax information as quickly as possible would be a no-brainer.  In fact, it is one of those gold standard, best practices that everyone knows.  I think it's probably safe to say that most organizations attempt to do this.  Some do it very well.  Others... well, there's room for improvement.

Do you thank your donors within 24-48 hours of receipt of their gift?  I hope so!

What do you do next?

One of my recommendations, and I've said it before in this blog, is to call your donors just to thank them.  It's a great thing to do!  It helps build relationships with donors and encourage future giving.  However, it's also an easy thing to put off, and put off, and put off...  Believe me, I know.  I've lived it too.

You get busy with whatever the next thing on your list is.  Maybe it's the next newsletter, or appeal letter, or proposal for a major funder, and making those thank you calls falls to the back burner.  Then those calls are moved off the stove and onto the counter.  Then they even fall off the counter into an abyss.  We never mean for it to happen, but it does.

Well -- take a second and rethink that.  Make those thank you calls a high priority.  Here's why:

The Nonprofit Times reported earlier this week on a study on donor behavior.  Over 6,000 donors were involved.  Some received a thank you phone call.  Others received a thank you note.  A third group received no acknowledgement at all, just normal communications.  (I have no idea why you wouldn't even send an formal acknowledgement letter to a donor, but that's besides the point!)

Bottom line:  Donors who received a thank you call were 47% more likely to give again, and gave gifts 8.3% larger than those who did not get a call or a note.

Donors who received the call were 22% more likely to give again, and gave 3.5% larger gifts than those who received a note.

Read the full story here.

Those are meaningful numbers!

So next time you are tempted to push those thank you calls to the bottom of your pile, just pick up the phone and make a couple.  Then do a couple more.  It will make a difference you can see and measure!