Effective New Donor Communications

Inspire. Captivate. Motivate.

I hesitate to describe them as welcome or conversion or cultivation or informational, etc.

You be the judge as to whether these will be good for your donors!

• The handwritten note gets me every time! I always open it. The newest twist I love is when an organization paper clips a custom first-class stamp to the note or the reply device instead of affixing it to the return envelope. Using the services of stamps.com anyone can print an image strongly associated with your brand.
• Confirm that the use of funds met the donor’s expectation. This is becoming a mandatory requirement to donors, especially those under 60 years old. You don’t need to be business-like in stating how much was used in each way. Look at what many food banks do. They acknowledge the amount of the gift made and simply state… your gift was used to feed hungry people.  Period.  As a donor, that’s what I want to hear. The money was used to do some good right away. The elegant or natural benefit of this message… it confirms my last gift has been used up and they need another one!
• Not too many mailers are using high-velocity packages. What are these? They use a front-end premium that costs more than the average mailer would initially consider good stewardship. However, they produce such dramatically higher response rates that they are a good option and are cost-effective for large mailers.  So some of the mailers are using them in their new donor communications and are achieving very high retention metrics.
• Lastly, don’t waste a good newsletter contact. Craft an appeal for another gift along with the newsletter; turn what is sometimes considered a soft contact into a real solicitation. Remember the mindset of your new donor. You have a new friend who enjoyed helping you once and is looking for affirmation she did the right thing. Give her that with pictures and inspire her to make another gift that will help someone like those in your pictures.