[Anne Marie]

Howdy All

I'm looking for your practices regarding donors who are new to your organization. That is, the donor has just made a first gift to you - probably in response to an acquisition or prospect mailing, or seeing your brochure somewhere, or your website etc. These are not first-timers who are giving because someone solicited them personnally.

So, now you are thanking your donor - either by sending a receipt or an acknowledgement. Since this is their first contact (usually) with your organization, what special thing(s) do you do to recognize this?Something that will encourage a repeat gift or continued association with you and not just have this be a one-time gift.

Phone call? Special letter? Freebies? What do you find works to keep this donor on for years in the future?

Looking for all ideas - Thanks in advance!!

[Melissa Siobhan]

In my opinion, special language in the letter is great, phone call is even better and I am not a fan of freebies but in some places it works.

Some places do a basic acknowledgement letter but then follow up a few weeks later with a "welcome packet". I like that better than including a bunch of stuff in the thank you letter but it requires extra work on someone's part.

If you can't do a welcome packet then I like to stick to a letter and maybe the business card of someone they can call if they have questions.

My other opinion is to be sure to segment them in the next appeal letter you do and use appropriate language for new donors. Getting the second gift from a first time donor is sometimes even more difficult than getting the first gift. It takes effort and intention.

[Nina Williams]

One of the best practices I've seen was to have Board Members call new donors or increased gift donors. Even if the BM just left a message left on the machine. I was not at the organization long enough to see how long term this made new donors, but I did hear a lot of positive feedback. Kind of Warm and Fuzzy.

[Anne Marie]

Thank you. We basically do what you've said. Recently started with the phone calls - but staff do it, rather than board members ( by the way, an excellent idea - gets me off the hook - gulp).

Anyone find that thank you phone calls really do work? I'm not sure if I'd like to receive one.......

[Robin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anne Marie

Thank you. We basically do what you've said. Recently started with the phone calls - but staff do it, rather than board members ( by the way, an excellent idea - gets me off the hook - gulp).

Anyone find that thank you phone calls really do work? I'm not sure if I'd like to receive one.......

Phone calls definitely work at least with the donors we have, especially the older donors who tend to be lonely. They love getting the phone thank-you and will talk your ear off!

We send a welcome packet to new donors and are starting a process for our Board Members to start calling new donors. Staff will continue calling established donors as we are now.

[SLewis]

We send a "your wishes matter" card asking the donor how many times they would like us to contact them. We offer our quarterly magazine with Christmas appeal only, quarterly magazine 2 appeals, all mailings, no mail. We rarely have people request no mail. Most are thankful for the ability to let us know what they want and since the card is sent with a BRE (included in the Thank you/Receipt from first gift) they tend to send the card back with their choice and sometimes a second donation right there.

[Rachel Newell]

Recent donor research by Cygnus Applied Research shows that 86% of individual donors expressed negative views about token gifts - they see them as a waste of money and not an incentive to give. 100% of corporate donors agreed. I'm sure there is some latitude there depending on your industry, market (large or small), etc.

The best way to improve the odds of a first-time donor giving again is to 1) let them know you received the gift (either by phone or mail) 2) let them know their gift was put to work in the manner it was intended and 3) communicate the progress of the project or program in a way that shows that their gift is having the desired effect ---- before you ask for money again.

[Anne Marie]

Thank You Rachel and all - interesting points indeed, everyone. Always great to hear how others handle things.

Much appreciated.