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Published April 16, 2024 • Reading Time: 9 minutesYou can’t underestimate the value of personalized interactions and community-driven philanthropy.
Modern donors want acknowledgment for their actions and advocacy for causes they support. A donation thank-you letter that appeals to their growing desire to participate in philanthropic movements is a great place to start.
Building donor loyalty through gratitude pays off in return donations, recurring donors, volunteer support, and corporate sponsorship opportunities. So how do you show personalized appreciation as your community grows?
Below is a comprehensive guide to help you transform a standard thank-you letter into a pivotal moment in creating strong relationships that last.
The key to effective donor stewardship is ensuring each supporter finds value in their relationship with your nonprofit organization. Proving you care about people as individuals, despite their capacity to give large amounts, builds trust and a deeper connection .
A moment of gratitude reciprocates donor support when it’s consistent and intentional. Your thank-you message can strengthen the link between your donors, timely goals, and long-term mission.
When information overload and uncertainty make it hard to activate supporters, going the extra mile matters. Making people feel special and valued is a great way to stand out.
Regular communication with donors isn’t just about boosting visibility. While gratitude fundraising starts by thanking donors early, it’s also the first step in a relationship that keeps you top of mind.
The giving experience includes how you make people feel after completing a transaction. Helping donors immediately see the impact of their actions can entice them to give again.
Nonprofits who raise a lot of money get really good at thanking and reporting. They thank people a lot. But too many organizations neglect these two steps
Otis Fulton
Vice President of Psychological Strategy at Turnkey
You get it—thanking donors is a valuable way to keep your community connected and engaged before, during, and after each campaign. Maybe understanding the reason for gratitude was never an issue, and you’re more curious about the practical side. Well, we’ve got you covered there too.
Your thank-you note reinforces the passion and emotion that drove someone to donate while thanking them for their dedication. Here are some components that influence donors to continue supporting you in the future.
One of the most essential things about saying “thank you” is when you say it. No one wants to feel ghosted and see a generic thank-you note come through a few days or weeks after their feel-good energy of taking action has passed.
Send your thank-you letter promptly after you receive a donation. That may include an automatic online donation receipt and a second touchpoint with a more personalized “thank you for your donation” follow-up.
Automation, a solid customer relationship management (CRM) integration, and a thoughtful message can help you avoid losing a passionate individual or first-time donor without taking up more time in your day.
Donors want to be involved beyond their donations. Your thank-you note is like opening the door and inviting them to engage with your nonprofit, feel invested in your fundraising results, and connect meaningfully with your mission.
Whether you thank new donors or existing advocates, celebrate what each individual did and what they helped you accomplish. Don’t build an experience that feels like another tax receipt or donor contribution summary. This is your opportunity to tell your story and show supporters how they’re helping bring your mission to life.
Whenever you can highlight the campaign or project someone specifically supported, you can help donors see and feel the real-world implications of supporting you.
If possible, feature a specific community, place, or person they’ve helped. For inspiration, use Classy’s fundraising email templates .
It’s not only what you say but also how you say it. While your donation request letters and formal appeals may benefit from tones of sympathy or urgency, a thank-you letter should have a celebratory and uplifting feel.
Thank-you letters should mostly make the donor feel good about their decision and show that their generous gift makes a difference. While you can still note the urgency or seriousness of your cause, this message should be one of hope and action.
Think about the emotions you want to evoke in your recipients and how you want them to feel about being a community member.
Your nonprofit’s website is an excellent platform for donor and volunteer appreciation . Dedicating space on your site to showcase your community members sends a strong message of appreciation.
Think about supporter pages, blog posts, newsletter features, and leaderboards celebrating the people who make a difference for your mission daily. Putting faces and names to the impact you can achieve simultaneously supports donor retention and acquisition efforts while showcasing your organization’s success.
What better place to spread messages of gratitude than where people are most likely to see and reshare them?
Appreciation posts are great content to add to your seasonal social media calendar. Even if you don’t name specific donors, you can give a general thanks with some impactful statistics about what your community accomplished together.
Technology has advanced significantly, making it easier to balance personalization and branded appeals that leave a strong impression on recipients.
Consider how your message might change when considering data on a donor’s gift size, generation, location, giving frequency, personal preferences, or engagement patterns. These personalized elements can help your message go from another email in someone’s inbox to a reminder of how good it feels to give to an organization that genuinely cares.
One personalized thank-you email example we love is from To Write Love On Her Arms . The organization continues to evolve its outreach around popular trends like the famous Spotify Wrapped list to show donors they’re worth a big display of appreciation.
A donor thank-you video can emotionally impact your supporter base and show them who’s behind the words they’ve received. Its effective format can help you make a lasting impression through email, social media, website, or campaign pages.
Ronald McDonald House’s library of YouTube videos powerfully brings this idea to life. The videos feature several messages of thanks that emphasize the Ronald McDonald House community’s critical role in reaching its goals.
Imagine a donor receiving a call from your team after an event to personally thank them for attending. Or maybe they see a text checking in on how their weekend was and sharing a spontaneous thank-you for being a member of your community.
These are both opportunities to connect with that person in a more relaxed, organic way.
Consider asking for a donor’s phone number and an opt-in to calls or texts from your organization on your donation forms . This small interaction can make a donor’s day and help build a lasting connection with your organization.
The rarity of direct mail and physical letters makes it even more special to connect with donors in this way after a big donation or milestone. What if you followed up on your emails, texts, or calls with a handwritten appreciation note from your leadership team?
Since your letter would arrive sometime after the charitable donation, stewardship letters to donors can serve as the perfect touchpoint to re-engage your supporters with a reminder of their impact.
Your donors’ anniversary of their first gift is a great time to say thank you outside of a transactional email. Get creative here to celebrate their involvement and show that their presence is felt at your organization even when it’s been a while since their last interaction.
CRM or donation management tools can help you track a donor’s first gift and automate a thoughtful thank-you message that touches on their actions throughout the year. A physical or online anniversary card is a fun way to celebrate their loyalty and commitment to your cause.
It’s common for organizations to include a running list of donors and sponsors in their nonprofit annual reports . Consider how you can use that list to emphasize each donor’s critical role in fulfilling your mission.
Send donors a physical letter to thank them, along with a print copy of the report or a digital copy when it’s ready, to let them know they’re part of something bigger. Also, consider how to promote the report to your larger community to elevate your loyal and committed donors even more.
We all know how exciting a simple T-shirt or branded swag item can feel when you least expect it, so why not apply it to your donor appreciation efforts? A thank-you package can help welcome new donors in style. This package could include apparel, a water bottle, a canvas tote, stickers, and resources to learn more about your organization.
Also, if you give out something that creates a natural Instagram or TikTok unboxing moment, you might encourage donors to share photos or videos of their swag online.
Your next fundraising event is a timely opportunity to call out major donors or individuals who created a big impact. Invite them to stand up and receive recognition from all attendees or speak about their experience with your organization.
Before publicly recognizing donors at your next event, ask whether they’re comfortable being honored in front of an audience. If they politely decline, have your staff thank them privately at the event. You could also send a free entry ticket as another form of appreciation and ask for testimonials to share instead.
Nonprofit donors don’t give to get something in return. At the same time, providing incentives doesn’t hurt in converting more donations and bringing people back to give again.
To streamline donor management initiatives, create giving levels to thank donors with specific items or opportunities matching their gift size. This presents another opportunity to share some swag with your community so they can publicly promote their support of your cause.
A spontaneous thank-you message, well after someone has taken action, is a great way to support donor retention. Think about sending a message to thank someone for sticking with you and reiterating their continued support’s value on your greater mission.
Strong data on donation activity, giving levels, and recurring donation history will help personalize your messages and acknowledge past generosity.
Your thank-you messages can also introduce the next step in your relationship with a donor. Where appropriate, use a donation or event follow-up to invite supporters to the next opportunity to get involved.
Offer a simple call to action like signing up for a nonprofit newsletter or following you on social media. By staying in touch and engaging donors, you can secure your next major gift, turn a one-time donor into a recurring donor, and help your donor retention rate.
By tracking what makes a quality thank-you email or note, you ensure every communication you send showcases this sentiment genuinely and has the desired effect. There’s no perfect thank-you for every organization, but knowing your donor community will help you stand out to those who feel connected to your mission.
Consider varying the format, style, or content of your thank-you messages to keep them fresh and genuine. You can look at donor communications analytics to see what results in high open rates, high click-through rates, and increased action.
Sometimes, crafting your thank-you message is easier when you have somewhere to start. Below, we’ve added two examples you can build on using the best practices we’ve discussed and a personal touch that will speak to your donors at any stage in their journey.
Dear Jessica,
On behalf of the entire team at the Good Days Animal Shelter, I want to express our gratitude for your donation.
You might have heard about some of the recent work we’ve done to reach our goal of increasing shelter capacity to care for 100 more animals each month by 2025. The good news is your donation helped us get one step closer to changing the lives of those animals.
We can’t wait to share the details of our upcoming fundraising campaigns and events with you so we can continue working together toward our goal. Until then, catch our daily updates on Instagram and Facebook.
I also want to personally invite you to our circle of monthly changemakers who strengthen the impact of their generosity with an automated monthly recurring donation. If you’re curious about what it means to become a recurring donor or want to learn more about what your monthly gifts could do for our animals, I’d love to guide you through the experience.
You’re part of our close-knit community, and we couldn’t have this positive impact on our furry friends without you.
Talk soon,
John Johnson
Chief Executive Director, Good Days Animal Shelter
Dear Nicholas,
I hope you feel our deep gratitude. I just got word that our education program reached 50% more students because of the generosity you and our community collectively showed over the past few months.
I want you to know that every time you donate, share our cause with a friend, share a social media post, or volunteer matters. We don’t take these actions lightly, and I know how hard it is to find the time when life gets busy.
But you do and continue to show up. It means the world to us, and I can’t wait to see what the coming months hold.
Thank you for being you.
Talk soon,
Linda Larson
Chief Executive Director, Schools Project Worldwide
Donor relationships that can sustain your nonprofit for the long haul are all about appreciation and human connection with individuals who unite to become a community you can always rely on.
But don’t just thank donors to check off the box—show your gratitude because you mean it. Help people feel your sincerity in a heartfelt thank-you and hear from you consistently after that.
With so many ideas, we’re eager to see how you’ll add your creativity and inspiration to these thank-you note best practices to make a lasting impression.
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