How To Show Some Love. Donor Love, That Is.
Let’s talk about how to show some love.
Love for your donors, that is! Why do they deserve your love?
• They care about your mission,
• They have invested in your organization,
• They provide valuable feedback on your operations and messaging,
• They tell other people how great your organization is, AND
• They might invest in your organization again.
You might be thinking, okay you’re right, donors deserve my love. But, you already thanked them when they last donated…
That’s not enough. You have to show your donors love all year long. Donor love is also known as donor stewardship – you’re thanking the donor for a previous action they took, telling them that it is recognized and appreciated by the organization, showing its impact, and encouraging them to take that action again.
You might be thinking, I get it! But I don’t have the time or budget to do more to properly steward my donors…
You’re in luck. I’ve compiled ten ideas for you to show your donors love that will cost you practically nothing and take minimal effort. Do a little every day and build it into your routine.
All this donor stewardship will lead to increased donor retention. Increased donor retention will lead to increased revenue! So you can’t not do it. Let’s start now!
Need help in implementing these stewarding ideas or have other fundraising challenges? Let’s talk.
10 Ideas To Show Your Donors Some Love
That Cost Practically Nothing
Run a report in your CRM database of donors who have given 5, 10, 15, etc. years. Call each of them – no matter the giving amount – to thank them and let them know they have been giving for that number of years. Ask them about their experience with the organization and how it has changed since they first became involved.
Call your donor to wish them happy birthday or happy anniversary.
Publicly thank a group of donors at an event or in an email newsletter.
Encourage your board to get involved! Share a list of donors for your board members to call or send handwritten notes to personally thank for their support.
Speak with your colleagues who work with the beneficiaries of your nonprofit. Ask to have a recipient/student/beneficiary of your work write a thank you note about how the organization has helped them personally.
Invite your donor to come to an event early to see the work behind the scenes or tour the facility privately.
Seek out your donor for advice on something they have some knowledge on and listen to what they say.
Connect two donors together who have some type of connection or have a potential business commonality.
Share an interesting news article with your donor, and say you thought of them.
Take a picture of something that happens at your organization, get it printed, and send it in the mail with a note on the back to your donor to thank them for making this happen.
What other ideas do you have to steward your donors? Need help with where to start?
P.S. Stay tuned for next month where I’ll share some ideas to stewards your donors if you have a little larger budget!