The triage of thanking your donors

Telephone calls to thank donors for giving are a powerful investment. Research shows shows calls can increase first-year retention by 30%. The impact of calls on ongoing retention, upgrading, and likelihood to give a charitable bequest is huge.

You should call and thank every donor, every time they give.

But what if you don’t have the staff or resources to do that?

Then you have to apply a sort of calling triage, focussing your efforts where the impact is greatest. Here’s some help on making those decisions from the Bloomerang Blog, at If you can’t call and thank every donor, who should be priorities?

Must-call donors:

• Major donors
  
• New $100+ donors
  

Good-to-call donors: Mid-level, ongoing donors.

Start at the top of the list and work your way down. Call as many as you can. If you hit the bottom of the list and still have some capacity for calling, add to it by extending calls down the donation amounts: Call more new donors. Dip below your typical definition of mid-level.

Get as close to the goal of all donors, every donation as you can get.