A majority of first-time donors to nonprofits never give a subsequent gift. There are a lot of reasons for this unfortunate and expensive fact, but one of the big reasons is we simply don’t give them enough of a reason to repeat the good deed.
So treat donors — especially new donors — like their gift mattered. And a great way to do that is to send a special welcome pack.
The Fundraising Detective blog recently shared some good stuff on this, at 5 Things That Make a Good Donor Welcome Pack:
- Make it about the donor.
- Tell stories and anecdotes
- Use interesting and relevant stats or graphs
- Express your gratitude and thanks.
- Make it easy for donors to get in touch.
Done right, a welcome mailing can help turn a one-time donor into an ongoing friend who sticks with you for years. It can cement the fact that their gift made a difference and that’s she’s known and appreciated.
The most important piece of advice I can give about a welcome pack is this: Don’t create it to “educate the donor”! Create it to thrill the donor.
If you try to made your donor into a better kind of person, your meddling and condescending attitude will show. Instead, make the whole thing a paean to the donor. That’s how you win hearts and minds.
Jeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 35 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com.
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