Does your institution care more about its donors or their gifts? Before you answer, let me ask the same question in a more practical, perhaps more helpful way. After you receive the gift, how long does it take, on average, for your institution to thank and extend a gift receipt to a donor? In the…
Tag: thanking donors
Gratitude Is Not Enough
A regular annual fund donor sends in a gift – a check for $1,000. Your organization promptly produces a gift receipt and sends a letter (either hard copy or electronic) expressing gratitude signed by the appropriate staff person. Is that it? Is that all that happens? Despite all the talk about “engaging donors,” I’m afraid…
When Donors Say Hello
“Hello??!!??” We’ve all heard that word – used in that way – before. You, perhaps, have used it yourself. You’re at a store and the teenage clerk doesn’t stop the personal call on her mobile phone long enough to scan your items on the belt. You may feel the urge to say, “uhh, Hello??!!??” As…
Donor Stewardship – The Integrative Way
Saying thank you to a leadership donor – and doing it well – is not always easy. First, you have to say it in a way that is meaningful for the donor. Second, you have to do it in a way that doesn’t break the bank! Recently, I was visiting with a donor stewardship director…