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Ten Tips for Donor Thank You Letters

You Can Never Say Thank You Too Well or Too Often

By , About.com Guide

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Your thank you letter to a donor concludes one transaction but, more importantly, it is a bridge to future support and deeper engagement. Say thank you well, and you are on your way to future fundraising success.

Here are 10 tips for saying thank you just right.

1. Get your letter in the mail fast

Dog delivering mail.Janie Airey/Getty Images

Within 48 hours of receipt of the donation is ideal for getting that thank you letter in the mail. If that is impossible, aim for under a week. The sooner, the more impressed the donor will be, not to speak of being reassured that the donation got to you safely.

Timeliness is just as important when you're thanking a donor for an online gift. If you use a third party donation system that collects personal information for you (Network for Good, for instance), be sure to check into that system frequently to get the donor information so you can send a better thank you.

Send a mailed letter even though the system has automatically kicked out a simple emailed thank you and acknowledgment. Multichannel thanking is just as important as multichannel asking.

2. Make your letter personal

Personal letter writingDan Burn-Forti/Getty Images

Personalize your thank you letter with the donor's name (double check the spelling and never call a Ms a Mr), and write directly to the individual. Use personal pronouns and include information about the donor that you may know, such as how long they've been a donor, or that you enjoyed seeing them at the last annual event. Perhaps the donor has received an award or gotten a promotion. Feel free to add something about these events to your letter.

3. Coordinate the letter with campaign themes

Coordinate thank you letters with direct mail themesGetty Images

Coordinate the thank you with the appeal or campaign that brought in the donation. Really, you should draft a template letter when you write your fundraising materials. Think of it all as part of one campaign package. If the donation is in response to some other stimulus...perhaps an event you staged...relate the letter to that event. Think continuity for the donor. Coming full circle back to the appeal is reassuring to the donor and shows that you are organized and taking the time to get it right.

If the donation is in response to an email appeal, do develop a landing page on your website specifically for those donors. Generic is out. Specificity to what the donor saw that compelled him or her to give is a must. Tie your thank you into that theme, both the emailed acknowledgment that is sent immediately and your mailed letter as well.

4. Use stories to connect donors to results

Want to do good in 2012?Getty Images

Help donors visualize how their money will be spent. Include a sentence such as: "Your gift comes at a crucial moment, and will allow us to install personal computers in the dormitories for the children in our residential community. The computers have been anticipated eagerly by the children for the last six months. Now, thanks to you, they will become a reality."

Always keep the focus on how the donor helps achieve fabulous things that couldn't be done otherwise. Use stories and make your donor the hero of those stories. Keep an inventory of stories about the good things your charity accomplishes. then set up blocks of copy using those stories and drop them into your thank you letters as appropriate. Changing up the stories frequently will keep your letters fresh and make it easier to send out many letters without having to make each of them completely new.

5. Have a real person sign your letters

Have a real person sign your thank you letters to a donor.Getty Images

Try to avoid digital signatures unless you're sending literally thousands of letters at a time. Even then, reserve letters that go to donors giving significant donations for your executive director, the board president, or a volunteer fundraising chairperson to sign. Use real first class stamps for these letters.

6. Add a personal, hand-written note

Include a handwritten note to your thank you letter.Getty Images
If appropriate, ask the Executive Director or Board President to add a personal note to the letter. This is especially gratifying if it is a long time donor who knows the leaders personally. Mentioning a recent event that the donor attended will both remind the the donor of a pleasant experience and add authenticity to the note. Consider having a note writing party with volunteers who write notes on letters or attach post-it notes with handwritten messages.

7. Include a reply envelope

Jan Stromme/Getty Images

I don't recommend asking for another donation in a thank you letter. Honestly, that turns people off more than you think. However, just including the envelope might remind the donor that future donations are welcome. Many donors will keep these envelopes and use them for a donation later...or even right away. For a different view of including a reply envelope, see How to write a better thank-you letter (and why it matters)

8. Use the letter as a tax receipt

Use the thank you letter as a charitable giving tax receipt.Elizabeth Simpson/Getty Images
Your donor thank you can also be a receipt. You must provide a receipt annually for tax purposes if a donor gives $250 or more, and you can include that disclosure with this letter. Thank you letters today typically include the proper disclosures each time a donor gives, whether online, by check or through recurring giving. It is good practice as well to provide a summary of giving for the year at the beginning of the next year, just at the time when donors are typically preparing their tax returns.

9. Invite more engagement

Use the thank you letter to create engagement through social media.Getty Images
It's always nice to include an invitation to visit your agency and see your work first-hand. In today's world where you might be soliciting donations from people all over the world, engagement can be attained through social media. Encourage your donor to follow your organization on Facebook and Twitter or any other social networks that you participate in. Since there are no hyperlinks in a mailed letter, give your webpage address and then make sure that your social media buttons are easy to find. Include a specific invitation to visit the website and click on those buttons, and to sign up for your email newsletter.

10. Provide contact information

Provide emails and telephone numbers in thank you letters so donors can contact you.

Provide the name, telephone number and email address of someone in the organization that the donor can contact with questions. Be sure that the person named is really available and knows that they might be contacted. Customer service is just as important for nonprofits as for businesses, so make it easy for a donor to find a real person to talk with.

More about thanking donors:

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