Fundraisers: Let's Get Hungry Again

“I personally call each donor over $50 to thank them and get to know them a little. I also do the same for new donors of any amount … I recognize that as we are a smaller organization I am able to do that, but for sake of clarification I made over 500 calls in 2014.” (Wow! I don’t think I ever called 500 donors a year — that’s hunger in action!)

“If a gift comes in today, the receipt/thank-you goes out tomorrow. It would probably be same day except that our mail person delivers quite late. I have to say that I owe this diligence to a development associate who is obsessive in completing this task in record time.” (Great strategy — hire people who are as passionate as you are.)

What’s the 2015 focus?
Not surprising to me, most of the people who took the time to email me weren’t satisfied; like all passionate people, they had goals to make receipting donors even more of a priority in 2015. While everything may not be accomplished, it was exciting to see how many fundraisers are not settling for today’s good work; they want tomorrow to be great. For example:

”This upcoming fiscal year, we will be spending MORE time on speed and also a significantly larger effort to provide ongoing stewardship/cultivation to donors below the $500 level (en masse, but heartfelt) and also making sure that our staff AND board do thank-you calls/emails/notes for every gift of $500+, in addition to getting the receipt letter out in a speedy fashion.” (You go, girl!)

“I wrote a comprehensive plan that segmented our donors and included a new donor welcome kit as well as a strategy to reach donors who have donated one time but not again. We also segmented 100 major donors and enlisted the board to help reach out to them.” (It’s a cliché, but “plan your work and work your plan” matters — great strategies!)