Lead with the Thank You

Sometime last fall, my husband and I made our annual donation to our college alma mater.  To be honest, I felt ambivalent about it.  No doubt, we have a strong affection for our college.  It is where we met, where we learned to really think and analyze, where we literally grew up.  

But, with a limited philanthropic budget, I wondered if our relatively minor gift would actually make a difference at an institution with a budget in the millions of dollars.  Could our dollars stretch further locally, with an organization for whom they would represent a major gift? 

I wrote the check, like I have each year for many years now.  If I'm brutally (and embarrassingly) honest about it, I did so for two reasons:  1) (the good reason) because I do have a real fondness for a place that touched my life immensely and I take some personal pleasure in acknowledging that with my donation, even if it is just a drop in a very big bucket; and 2) (and here's the embarrassing reason) because I secretly like seeing our name in the Annual Report with the little number superscripted next to it showing our years of consecutive giving.  Actually, I like thinking that other people will see our name in the Annual Report with the little number superscripted next to it. 

So, the check went in the mail and I vowed to re-think this gift next year.  A few days later, we received an email from the Development Office.  In addition to the standard, but nice, thank you language in the email, I found a link to a video. The next two minutes knocked my socks off and removed all sense of ambivalence.  It was the best thank you ever—and the best way to ensure I'll give again next year unequivocally.

I thought about including a link to the video here, but I realized it probably wouldn’t have a similar impact on you if you hadn't attended my college.  Because, that was what is so perfect about it – it completely captured the quirks, the sense of place, and the values that are 100% what I associate with my college.  Those few minutes reinforced my "good" reasons for wanting to give.  It made me smile.  It helped me see it was still a place where people like me can grow up.  It made me feel like even my small gift was worth thanking.

Quick sidenote:  I am not suggesting that all good thank you's need to be videos. What grabbed me was the clever, witty, thoughtful approach to saying thank you that so fit my sense of the nonprofit.  That match is what was effective, not the format.

I have no memory whatsoever of what the college said in their solicitation letter to me and very few memories of all the communications pieces sent throughout the year.  But, as a donor, I will never forget this thank you.  Wearing my Development professional hat, I realize this is brilliant—and right.  Our giving strategies should be rooted in honest, genuine gratitude.

During my very first few weeks working in fundraising as a graduate student, a Board Member told me that we should never plan an event or direct mail effort until we could envision how we would thank people.  I now understand the full impact of what she was suggesting.

This year, as I plan my fundraising strategies, I'm going to lead with the thank you's.  I'm not just going to remember to say thank you and recognize all of our donors.  I'm going to start there – to think first about how we show the impact donors have in ways that uniquely "fit" our organization and what they value about us. Once I can envision the thanking, I suspect the rest will become clear.

I'd love to hear examples of your favorite thank you's.  When have you felt not only that your gift has made a difference, but also that in the process of saying thank you, the organization reinforces what you love most about them? Do you agree that thanking is a good place to start?