Most development professionals I know understand the need to provide personalized and meaningful gratitude to donors. Most understand that extending thanks is both the right thing to do and also helps encourage future giving from donors.
Most think a lot about saying thank you to donors. But what if we made the donor experience so consequential that they sought to thank us? How would you engage your donors differently in the life of your institution? How would you cultivate them differently? What would you do to enhance the solicitation process? And what would your stewardship program look like?
I believe that giving is a major component of a healthy, full, richly-lived adult life.
Instead of thinking about what we can ask for next, how might donors respond if we approached them with a life enhancing opportunity – the opportunity to give? Over time, some of them just might thank us.