The nice thing about donating online is that the thank you comes almost immediately. Here is the emailed thank you I got after signing up for quarterly donations to Room to Read. Room to Read sends me a similar email thank you every time my quarterly donation is processed. That keeps me in the loop, lets me know that all is well with my recurring donation, and gives me an opportunity to further engage.
Notice the financial information within the text of this email and the info about the org's rating with Charity Navigator. There are also many statistics and facts. All of that is reassuring, but it would be more effective if there were also a personal story that would connect with me on an emotional level. Appealing to both the heart and the head is more effective than just a rational approach.
Dear Joanne:
Thank you for your generous gift to Room to Read!
Your investment allows us to continue to set bold goals in 2011, reaching millions of children in Asia and Africa with educational opportunity. With over 10 years of experience working in the field, monitoring our results and honing our model, Room to Read is applying lessons learned in significant ways to promote literacy and gender equality in education. This year, we will reach an additional one million children by establishing 1,900 bi-lingual libraries, publishing 157 local language children’s books, building over 140 schools, training thousands of teachers and librarians and providing continuing education to over 13,000 girls through secondary school. We strongly believe that there is no more valuable investment than education and the life change it provides.
Our efforts are focused in nine countries, all with a desperate lack of educational resources: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zambia. With the generous support of investors like you, we plan to reach six million children through our educational programs by the end of 2011. We recognize you have many choices of where to direct your philanthropy and take our role as stewards of your gift extremely seriously. We are proud to be among only 6% of NGOs who have received the coveted Charity Navigator four-star rating for sound fiscal management for the past five years.
Thank you for your support as we continue to scale and reach out to more communities providing educational access and opportunity. Your partnership allows us to plan with confidence that six million children will gain access to our programs this year. Your commitment to help create world change through education makes this possible.
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Thank you for joining us on this inspiring journey to provide the lifelong gift of education to millions of children in the developing world!
Warm regards,
Erin Ganju
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
finance@roomtoread.org
