[BOOK REVIEW] Finally, a go-to reference for amazing thank-you messages

Thankology: How to keep your donors longer, and giving stronger, through gratitude by Lisa Sargent

The thing our fundraising industry is worst at: thanking donors.

You’ve received the robotic notes thanking you for you contribution without giving you any idea that it was appreciated or that it makes a difference.

You’ve received thank-you letters that comes weeks or even months after you gave.

You’ve read thank-you letters that are just brag-sheets about how amazing the organization is — not really bothering to thank you for what you did.

And how many times have you simply not been thanked at all?

Everyone knows that thanking is good.

But a thank-you message rarely generates immediate and trackable revenue. Success is indirect, and it shows up later in the form of stronger donor retention or more donor upgrading.

These things are hard to measure.

So they don’t get measured.

And that means thanking is done poorly or often just don’t get done

Short-term, you’ll get away with bad thanking.

Long-term, bad thanking will torpedo your fundraising program.

We really need help in the area of thanking: How to do it well. How to think clearly about it. What really makes a difference in what we do and how we do it.

Well, good news: There’s a new book just out by the acknowledged Wizard of Thanking, Lisa Sargent.

Every fundraiser should get Thankology right now. And read it. And read it again a year later, and every year after that.

This book will inspire you and energize your organization to care about thanking. That’s how you transform your donor relationships.

Here’s something that will give you just a taste of what you’ll find in Thankology: Nine qualities of the essential thank-you letter…

1. It uses donor-friendly language. Just like appeals, you need to be hyper-aware of the donor. What they know, what they want. And speak to those things.
2. It considers the audience. Your donors are older people, tilt heavily female, and know a lot less about your cause than you do.
3. It uses acronyms with care. Acronyms can be a real time-saver. But not if they aren’t understood. Your donors don’t know your acronyms. Not even the “obvious” ones.
4. It applies good tone and pacing. A colloquial, personal, friendly tone.
5. It attends to the letterhead. Keep it simple and straightforward.
6. It defeats dehumanizing details. As much as you can, avoid or downplay donor ID codes and other tools your computer wants you to use. Your letter should feel as close to a real letter from a real person as possible.
7. It respects the rules of readability. Keep the reading ease level to grade 7 (Flesch-Kincaid). Don’t use type any smaller than 12 point, black ink over a white background.
8. It looks after page architecture. Try not to make it look exactly like an appeal letter!
9. It makes it personal. Use the donor’s name in the salutation at least. And please make sure it’s spelled correctly!

Thankology is both a how-to and a why-to book about thanking donors. It’s written with heart and it practices what it preaches, using a breezy, readable style like a great thank-you note. It is destined to be one of those must-read books for smart fundraisers.