Thanking your supporters is one of the most important things your charity should do as part of your fundraising strategy.
A good thank you shows supporters that you know who they are, that you care about them, and that you understand why they wanted to help in the first place. It turns your charity into something they feel part of, rather than something they simply give money to. Together, you are making a difference for the people your charity is there for, and a thank you is where that feeling starts.
Further down the line, that connection can lead to more donations, more engagement and further gifts.
In this blog, our response handling and fulfilment experts at Woods Valldata share their top tips on how to build the best charity thanking campaign for your supporters.
Fundraising researcher Professor Adrian Sargeant has spent years studying why donors stay loyal and why they quietly drift away, and thanking comes up near the top of the list every time. So, thank your donors as often as they would like to hear from you, unless they have asked you not to.
It is worth thinking about how you thank them too, based on their preferred channel, how long they have supported you, and what they give now or have given before.
We've broken this down into two main types of support: one-off gifts and regular giving.
Key takeaways
- Be timely. A fast thank you makes donors feel noticed rather than processed.
- Personalise everything you can. Use the donor's name, their donation amount and the cause they care about.
- Match the method to the gift. Letters, emails, phone calls, a thank you video or a small tangible gift all have their place.
- Start regular givers with a welcome package. Our campaign analysis found a 40% reduction in cancellation rates once a welcome pack and triggered communications were introduced.
- Never make it a sales message. A thank you is about gratitude, not the next ask.
- Measure it. Control cells, comparisons against previous strategies and supporter surveys will show you what's working.
Two things to get right before you start
The first: As tempting as it may be to make it so, your thank you is not, and should never be, a sales communication. It's about showing gratitude for a donor's generosity and making them feel valued and special.
This, in of itself, is a powerful way of building loyalty, fostering positive relationships, and enhancing stewardship - I.e., looking after your supporters and ensuring they have a positive supporter journey experience.
The second: You should also make sure that any data you use to personalise your thanking materials is covered by your UK-GDPR policy and privacy notice.
So, with all that said, let’s get into how to make your supporters feel fantastic with the best charity thanking procedure possible!
How to thank your one-off gift supporters:
As mentioned above, you should thank your one-off gift donors after they donate as often as you can, as soon as you can. However, depending on the size of their donation, this will generally take a more straightforward/simple approach.
That includes anyone who sponsors a fundraiser at a marathon or gives through a collection, not just people who respond to an appeal.
Here are just some of the ways you can thank supporters when they send you a one-off donation:
1. Send a thank you letter
As we talked about in our direct mail blog, letters can have a real impact on the results of your fundraising strategy and long-term fundraising income.
For most charities, the thank you letter is the most important communication a donor receives after they give. It sets the tone for everything that follows.
There are varying levels of complexity and personalisation that can go into a thank you letter, and you can dial this up or down depending on what you know about the supporter.
This can go from a generic “thank you for your donation” note through the letterbox through to more complex triggered communications based on a detailed matrix and multiple data variables.
However you decide to do this, though, ensure that you include personalisation, such as the supporter’s name, their donation amount, and what their money will go towards based on their particular interest in your charity.
You could also include a message from the CEO with their hand-written signature printed at the bottom. A note from one of your front-line workers, or from a beneficiary, can be just as moving, and sometimes more so.
For a higher value donor, or where the thank you is the only way you can communicate with them, you could even make it a fully handwritten letter.
The more personalised your communications, the more valued your supporter will feel!
The possibilities for tailoring your charity thank you letters are almost endless, particularly if you partner with a dedicated charity support services team like Woods Valldata.
We can implement a number of personalisation methods with the use of data through our bespoke SmartThank platform, and include effective design elements in the letter, which can be printed on demand in full colour duplex.
2. Follow up with a thank you email
If your supporters have indicated that they prefer to receive communications via email, then a thank you email can be especially powerful.
Again, this is something that can make the most of your supporter data for personalisation, and also opens lines for additional, well-thought-out communications.
For example, should a supporter make a second one-off donation in the future, you can use the data previously collected from their first donation to acknowledge that they’ve donated before, and you’re delighted that they have again.
This will ensure they feel noticed as an individual, paid attention to and are important to you, rather than if you sent the same email as the first time, which might make them feel as though their first donation was forgotten about.
This may seem complicated, but with the data collection and automation processes we have in place using the SmartThank platform as part of our response handling service here at Woods Valldata, it couldn’t be simpler!
3. Give them a call
It's amazing how far phone calls can go.
During the first coronavirus lockdown, for example, some charities chose to use their telemarketing budget to simply call supporters and see how they were.
As shared by Jo Stone from Battersea in our first Covid webinar, this non-ask strategy actually led to some sizeable donations!
So, if a supporter has given you a large donation (and have given permission to be called), it's worth picking up the phone to say thank you sooner rather than later.
4. Send a gift
In some cases, sending a relevant thank you gift for a one-off donation can also be impactful – perhaps a keyring, wrist band or supporter pin.
Not only will it give them something tangible to show friends and family, thus raising awareness of your charity, but it will also give them something to look back on with pride.
There is something deeper going on here too. A small token gives supporters a sense of belonging, and it quietly affirms the kind of person they are. Research into identity motives in charitable giving shows that donors choose particular causes, from medical research to animal welfare, depending on which part of their identity they want to express and reinforce.
It's a small surprise and delight moment that they'll associate with your cause for a long time afterwards.
How to thank your regular giving supporters
Saying thank you to your regular giving supporters will vary somewhat to thanking one-off donors.
As well as keeping stewardship at the forefront, your thank you should also be relevant for the type of support they’re giving. So, as well as considering all the above thanking methods, you should also include the following:
1. Start with a welcome pack
As the first line of communication from your charity, a welcome pack is probably the best way to thank regular giving supporters at the start of their journey with you.
In fact, Woods Valldata’s amalgamated campaign analysis across all our regular giving programmes found a 40% reduction in cancellation rates with the introduction of a welcome pack and subsequent triggered communications (such as update letters and emails)!
Some examples of things you can include are a personalised thank you letter, as above, and a leaflet with more information about the charity and what you will be able to achieve with the amount of money they are giving each month.
You can then add some charity branded extras, such as address stickers, pens, badges and wrist bands.
It is worth testing different additions over time so you can build up to the welcome pack that works hardest for your particular supporters, rather than guessing at it in one go.
2. Keep the thank yous coming with triggered communications
Following the welcome pack correspondence, in line with your stewardship approach, you should also ensure you continue to thank your donors at key milestones throughout their supporter journey.
At Woods Valldata, we can help by setting up triggered thank you emails or letters, depending on your donor's preferred communication method. These can be sent when their donation comes through, or at key points in the supporter journey plan.
It is worth refreshing the content each time so the message keeps speaking directly to the donor. Regular updates on the impact of their support will always land better than the same words on repeat.
3. Shine a light on the impact of their donations
Donors give because they want something to change. Showing them exactly what changed is one of the strongest thank yous you have.
Share short case studies, photographs and stats that shine a light on the work their money has funded.
That kind of transparency builds trust, and it makes future asks easier
4. If they’re playing your charity lottery...
In our experience at Woods Valldata, it’s actually best to thank your lottery supporters before their first payment is taken to reduce the number of no-shows or cancellations.
You can do this via the welcome pack and automated communications methods outlined above.
You should also consider phone calls at key times during their time playing the lottery to thank your supporters for playing.
We’ve found that retention can be improved by as much as 25% by calling donors to thank them, as it provides them with a positive experience (you can find out more about this in our Prize Led Fundraising Webinar).
How to track the impact of your “thank-yous”
Just as important as thanking your donors, whether for one-off gifts or regular giving, is tracking the impact of those “thank-yous”.
While the impact of thanking is notoriously difficult to measure, it’s not impossible (as some of the stats from Woods Valldata above show).
Some things you can try include:
- adding a control or fallow cell to your thanking strategy
- tracking against previous thank you strategies
- supporter satisfaction surveys/survey around communications
This will ensure you understand the true impact of your activity, and enable you to continue using the methods that perform well whilst improving on those that don’t.
How to organise the best charity thanking campaign for your charity
As you can see, there are a lot of different variables to take into consideration when it comes to creating the best charity thanking procedure.
However, due to the phenomenal impact that thanking can have, it’s essential that you start including thanking as part of your programme strategy, testing to find the right balance and approach for your supporters.
This is where our response handling team at Woods Valldata comes in.
They work with you to identify the best approach for your charity and programme and take the implementation of it wholly off your hands so that you can focus on bringing in new donors, knowing that your current ones are being thanked properly and, as a result, feel truly valued.
In fact, our charity clients have achieved some incredible outcomes as a result of our services!
For example, when working with Alzheimer’s Research UK, sending thank you letters to donors was one of the most impactful parts of our service, as it helped negate any concerns from donors over delays in processing their gifts. In turn, this minimised the need for any query resolution in the charity’s supporter services team.
If you too would like support with your charity’s supporter journeys, or any other aspect of response handling and fulfilment, arrange your free consultation with us today.
Frequently Asked Questions
How quickly should you thank your donors after a donation?
As quickly as your processes allow, ideally within a few days. A timely thank you tells the donor their gift arrived safely and is already being put to work, which is often the reassurance they're quietly looking for.
Should you send a thank you note to every donor, even for small gifts?
Yes, unless a donor has asked you not to contact them. The format can scale with the value of the gift, so a smaller donation might get a simple email while a higher value gift gets a call or a handwritten letter, but everybody should hear from you.
What should a charity thank you letter include?
The donor's name, the amount they gave, and a clear line on what that money will do. Align the message with the reason they gave, so the letter reflects the affinity they already feel for your cause rather than reading like a receipt.
How often should you thank your regular giving donors?
Thank them at the outset with a welcome package, then at key milestones through the year. Monthly automated messages work well when the content changes each time, because repeating the same wording is what makes people stop reading.
Is it ever OK to ask for another donation in a thank you?
It's best not to. Charities across the sector see stronger results when appreciation stands on its own, and the trust you build makes it easier to fundraise from that donor later.
