Saying thank you to your donors for their contribution does a lot more than just expressing gratitude for their benefaction. It helps build a solid relationship that can potentially result in many more donations—both of time and finances.
When done right, conveying gratitude can magnify the efforts of your donor base. It is always recommended that nonprofits and charities find unique and heartfelt ways to thank their donors. This article highlights the six ways you can express gratitude.
How to thank your donors
1. Send thank you notes, letters, or emails
This is the simplest way of demonstrating your gratitude to the community. Write thank you notes or letters to people who are currently supporting you or have supported you in the past with their donations. These notes or letters can be digital in the form of an email or physically written and delivered. A handwritten note directly from the donation recipients to the donors will be more impactful. We believe that creative ideas and a little bit of added effort into thanking your donors can have far-reaching effects. It has the potential to encourage donors to give back again and again.
2. Give shoutouts on social media
Social media shoutouts are yet another powerful way by which your nonprofit or charity can publicly recognize its supporters. This method can help build excitement, promote your mission, vision, and campaigns to the rest of the world.
Shoutouts also boost peer-to-peer sharing—which can magnify your reach organically, while encouraging others to join in. For projects where dozens of contributors played a role, you can create an eye-catching graphic or upload an impactful photo and tag all supporters. You could also post a special message or video on your social media to highlight select major donors.
3. Send wishes on their birthdays and anniversaries
People live busy (and sometimes frantic) lives. When your charity or nonprofit takes the time to remember and celebrate its donors on important milestones, the gesture is more likely to stay in their memories.
Make an effort to wish donors on their birthdays, anniversaries, the birth of a child, and other key milestones. This can be done by sending a letter, card, or phone call. Charities can get most of this information by simply keeping an eye on their followers’ social media channels as most people tend to share their major milestones publicly.
4. Feature donors in newsletters and on your website
Highlighting key donors on your website or the newsletter is a great way to celebrate your donors with the community at large. It is also an effective way to recognize efforts and establish a strong bond with them. Sending a ‘thank you’ after receiving a donation is common practice; the idea here is to go beyond the norm and leave an impact.
Donor profiles are another great way to share the life stories and highs and lows of your supporters with the rest of your community. Profiles are a super-effective way to make donors feel valued and also inspire others.
5. Host a donor appreciation meet-up or get-together
Inviting donors to an ‘appreciation’ party is a spectacular way to recognize their support. This is not the time to ask for additional gifts but a time to simply recognize contributions, connect, and express gratitude.
When done to the right effect, donors will come out feeling naturally inclined to give more to your nonprofit or charity. Having impactful keynote speakers or beneficiaries who were able to get out of abject poverty, graduate, or overcome an illness with your donors’ support are fantastic ways to show guests their role in changing someone’s life. The appreciation party also presents an opportunity to get to know the donors at a personal level and help them meet the staff.
6. Send a video showcasing the impact of donations
Video is a compelling tool that can stir emotions through well-formulated narration, powerful stories, and uplifting music. It is commonly used by charities and nonprofits around the globe to market themselves and communicate their message. As a charity or nonprofit, it’s a good idea to make full use of this medium and create powerful and immersive videos that capture the impact of donations. This serves as a great thank you to your existing donor base and inspires them to keep supporting your mission and vision.
Scale up your fundraising game
Questions? Curious? Let us show you how it works.
To sum up, make unique, thought-provoking and inspiring thank you’s an important part of your fundraising campaigns, and notice the difference. It will strengthen your relationships with your donor base and work as a dependable retention strategy.
