The quickest way to lose a new donor is to go silent on them after they give. The best way to cement the new relationship is to have a plan for what follows a donation.
Here’s an easy 5-part email welcome series for online donors, from the Impact Communications Blog, at Don’t Follow Donations with Silence:
- 0-24 hours after gift: Simple message of gratitude.
- 1-3 days after gift: First-person story about the impact of the donation.
- 1 week after gift: Ask the donor to take another action, such as complete a survey, sign a petition, attend an event, or share on social media.
- 2 weeks after gift: another first-person story.
- 3-4 weeks after gift: ask the donor to become a monthly donor.
You’re lucky if you retain 50% of your donors year-to-year (and retention of first-time donors is under 20%). A ready-to-go series is one of the best ways to improve those numbers.
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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