Thank You Cards for #GivingTuesdayNow

Now that #GivingTuesdayNow has arrived, your marketing team is creating the inroads and online experiences to make it easier for donors to contribute.

And that’s never been more important. All of us are in the throes of the recent pandemic as consumers, business people, parents, children, teachers, students, nurses, doctors, patients, volunteers or beneficiaries.

There might be a groundswell of charitable giving and community-mindedness, making this one of the strongest giving days. Or there might be uncertainty and nervousness about the economy, jeopardizing contributions.

We simply won’t know until the day is done.

Your preparation and planning to make the most of the time leading up to that big online day will be worth it. But what after the day? After #GivingTuesdayNow is over, what are your plans?

One plan should include an extremely powerful, personal, direct touch that speaks right to the contributor: the thank-you card.

It might seem trite, but believe me — a hand-written thank-you card to your donors will go a very long way in cementing your nonprofit in the hearts and minds of your donors in the aftermath of #GivingTuesdayNow.

And yes, thank-you cards are a time-tested direct mail tactic that falls under the budget line item of customer outreach and donor retention. I mention that so the marketing team adds this as a budget and time item.

Prepare the team — and your cards — now, like you would for a marketing campaign:

• Write a script that’s universal enough to be written en masse, but has an opening for personalization. 
• Buy enough pens. 
• Get the cards. 
• Have envelopes and a roll of stamps ready. 
• Schedule the time for your team to block this out as a marketing activity. 

Instead of an afterthought, make sending thank-you cards a concerted, marketing effort. In a couple of hours and with a handful of people, you can send hundreds of thank-you cards to your donors — each one personal and each one written by a real staff member.

It’s a rare thing to receive a personal thank-you card these days, and with the right kind of card and a meaningful message, you’ll be surprised as to how many folks will keep them on their mantle, kitchen table or fridge.

And who knows? They might even take a pic and post it on social media, turning your physical thank-you card into a digital social media post, integrating all the marketing channels in one fell swoop.

As always, I welcome your comments.