How to craft a thank-you plan for your donors

Thanking donors contributes to the foundation of an effective fundraising operation. Sometimes sending acknowledgments gets brushed off as a transactional task, but without an effective thank-you plan in place it’s unlikely that your organization will retain a substantial number of donors. And that means that the success of all your other fundraising efforts will be limited. This is why it’s so important for your organization to have a thank-you plan so your donors feel appreciated and will be more inclined to support you in the future.

The good news is that a thank-you plan doesn’t need to be complicated. The most important thing is that your organization can consistently follow through on the thank-you plan.

What should a thank-you plan entail?

Acknowledgments

More good news: The first step of your thank-you plan is something you’re likely already doing on a regular basis, and that’s acknowledging gifts:

• Send every donor a personalized and accurate acknowledgment. Whether you receive a financial gift, an in-kind gift, or a sponsorship for an event, send the donor an acknowledgment that conveys your organization’s gratitude while being appropriate for the type of gift. Our guide to acknowledging gifts can help you set up templates for different types of gifts.
• Avoid striking a transactional tone, especially in automatic confirmation emails sent for gifts made online. A subject line that includes “Thank you” is more effective at expressing gratitude than “Your payment has been processed.”
• Promptness matters too, though it can mean different things to different organizations. Some organizations are able to send acknowledgments the same day a gift is received; for other organizations, sending a batch of acknowledgments once a week may be more realistic. The most important thing is that you allot time for acknowledgments on a regular basis.

A second expression of gratitude

Your acknowledgment fulfills your obligation to the donor and conveys your thanks. But to increase its effectiveness, your thank-you plan can include at least one additional expression of gratitude within a month or two of the gift. That could include:

•  A thank-you phone call (check out our resource on how to make thank you calls an integral part of your process)
•  A handwritten thank-you note or postcard
•  A personal email

What you choose to do will depend upon your organization’s volume of donors and your team’s capacity. Select something you’ll be able to implement and stick to. If you have the capacity, you could always choose more than one of the above, or brainstorm other ways to reinforce your gratitude.

Conclusion

Thanking donors is too important to be placed on a back burner. With thoughtful attention to your thank-you plan, you’ll build a strong foundation to retain donors and increase support of your fundraising efforts throughout the year.