Most First-time Donors Never Give a Second Gift

Studies tell us that out of 100 first-time donors your nonprofit will get this year, only 19 will ever give a second gift. Confident fundraisers who know how to celebrate donors and their generosity obliterate that statistic!

 

Saying thank you excellently is a large part of that winning strategy. A donor who receives an excellently written thank you within 48 hours of her/his gift is 400% more likely to give a second gift.

 

If you want to have a long-term relationship with your donors, better get the thank-you right! Too often the thank you is delegated to the jr staff or worse the accounting team and not a lot of thought is given to it. Collateral gets churned out that is dull as dishwater and does not talk to the donor about what they achieved.

 

Through the years I have collected great thank-you notes. When a thank-you made an impression on me or impacted me, I saved it. Today, I study thank-you's and try to understand why some move me and others don't.

 

To help you, I have put together this cheat sheet to help you write more excellent thank-you's that result in better relationships with your donors, which in turn, results in more money for your cause.

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David