Gratitude Pays It Forward in Fundraising

How a Thank You Strategy Can Boost Monthly Giving

From David Stolberg, Sr. Account Director/Strategist

For too many nonprofits, sending a thank you to donors who give is more of an afterthought vs. a strategic way to nourish the relationship with them.

Whether you have a timely “thanking operation” in place or not can mean the success or failure of your organization. I’m not just being dramatic: thanking your donors for their gift has direct effects on your overall retention and engagement.

The ability for a donor to send back an additional gift has a tremendous impact on overall fundraising income for an NPO. With this in mind, a thank you strategy for donors is absolutely necessary.

Here is the thank you strategy BDI recommends:

• Send out thank you receipts within 24-48 hours of the gift being received.
• Mail a thank you receipt first class.
• Send a thank you receipt in the mail for all gifts received through traditional channels such as direct mail, as well as gifts received through online/digital channels.
• Make sure the thank you receipt has a way for the donor to send back a second gift, whether with a double-buck slip device or with a traditional remit and reply envelope.

A successful and healthy thank you program should see response rates from donors anywhere between 8-12% with an average gift around $85 – so not only does thanking your donors in a timely manner help with your retention, it also results in a financial windfall to your organization!

But a thank you receipt can be used as a vehicle that can offer so much more to your organization. We recommend adding a Monthly Giving Invite to your thank you receipt to increase recurring revenue. After all, the best person to ask for a gift is the person that just gave you one!

Every organization wants sustainer donors and is constantly searching for better ways in which to grow their sustainer program. Think about the long-term benefits this could have to your sustainer program if a Monthly Giving Invite gets in the hands of someone who is committed to your organization and has just given you a gift.

Let’s break it down…

If an organization sends out 1,000 thank you receipts and they get a 10% response rate, that is 100 responses from a thank you receipt. 

If those donors are also asked at that time to join the organization’s monthly giving club, and of those 100 responses 8% decided to become a monthly donor with a modest average monthly gift of $50, that’s an additional $4,800 to an organization that was simply thanking their donor. 

Result: Over time this giving is compounded, and the organization is dramatically increasing their retention rates through building!

Adding this small campaign to your thank you strategy for donors is an easy and affordable way for you to help build committed sustainer donors to your organization. 

If this is something your organization does not take advantage of, reach out to BDI to learn how to best implement this into your current fundraising strategies. And make sure you check out this article on best practices for crafting meaningful thank you letters for further info on how to make your thank you receipt program shine.