Gail Perry-Show Your Donors Some Love in the Holiday Season

By Gail Perry

It's the season of gifts, giving and celebrations. What a wonderful time for you to remember your donors and show them some love!

Why do you want to love your donors a lot? Because you want them to feel deeply connected to your organization. You want them to understand th work they are helping to underwrite. And if you do these things, then they'll probably keep on giving and funding your wonderful work.

Be sure to send your donors a meaningful holiday card. Please don't send a card that has a picture of all your staff smiling and saying hello. Instead, send something that is about your organization and your work. Send them a picture that shows happy people that your organization helps. Maybe a crayon picture drawn by a kid that says, "Thank you." Or a note from a scholarship recipient, if you are an educational institution. Or have some fun and send a holiday note from a turtle or a fish if you are an environmental organization. You don't have to be so buttoned up and formal all the time, you know!

I know personally that I'd be thrilled to receive something that connected me to the cause I am funding. All those cards signed by the staff are pretty boring.

Make your holiday greeting relevant. Make it work for you and your cause. And make it warm, fuzzy and touching to your donors.

Show your donors some love in the holiday season.

Or don't send it at all, OK?

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Gail Perry Author's page Gail believes in parties first, rabble-rousing second, and having fun while changing the world. Gail Perry CFRE is an international fundraising coach, speaker, trainer and thought-leader. She is a leader in a new breed of fundraisers who are on the cutting edge of fundraising today. Her Fired-Up Fundraising approach, developed over the past 25 years as a nonprofit philanthropy expert, has helped organizations raise hundreds of millions in gifts. Gail's practical and refreshing approach to raising money in today's world is based on the very latest innovative fundraising strategies. An inspirational and popular speaker, she leads energizing fundraising workshops and board retreats around the globe. She particularly enjoys working with nonprofit board members, introducing them to a new perspective on fundraising and ways they can be successful at it. Gail's book, Fired-Up Fundraising, has been called the "gold standard guide to building successful fundraising boards." Gail got her start in fundraising at Duke University, and then went on to lead fundraising at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can read Gail's weekly blogs at FiredUpFundraising.com, and also find her provocative articles at FundraisingSuccess, Guidestar, and Capital Campaign Magic.