Good Job!

So now that you’ve done your job and convinced Jane Doe to give to your non-profit organization, you’ve just processed the payment - now what?

You could move on to other “important” things like making sure the coffee machine is stocked with fresh grounds and Jimmy has the new mechanical pencils he requested OR you could do something small that will make a huge impression on the new donor.

Now Is The Time

The most important time to make an impression on someone is right after they give to your nonprofit. There could be donors-remorse (not sure if your charity was the “right” one to give to) or they could be approached by another nonprofit (stealing future donations from your nonprofit). To increase the chances of future gifts, joining your membership, yearly gifts even estate gifts – you should send the donor a quick email (or snail mail) letting him/her know that you appreciate what they just did.

Sample Letter
Here is a sample letter that thanks the new donor for their donation, look for TIPS throughout the letter to help you:

============ START OF SAMPLE LETTER ============

Sunday, April 08, 2007

(TIP insert today’s date here)

Jane Doe
123 Main Street
Any City, ST 55555
(TIP insert actual donor information here)

Dear Jane (TIP insert actual donor name here),

Good day. We just received your kind donation of $123 dollars (TIP insert actual donation amount here). You won’t believe how much this will help us. It is my job to disperse new funds to the activity that will do the most good for saving St. John’s Bay water resources (TIP insert your actual nonprofit mission here).

One of the things your donation is going to do is provide funding to the underwater scientists that analyze the supply of water coming in from the lakes to the west. Every time you see St. John’s Bay you should be proud of the fact that YOU directly contributed to its preservation. As you know our battle to save the bay has been going on for years, ever since the illegal dumping took place (TIP give a few lines of where the money will be going and how that helps the mission). We have a long road ahead of us and we look forward to making a positive difference with your help.

Your name will be added to the “Wall of Hope” at our main offices for all visitors to see – please come by anytime (TIP let the donor know if they get any benefits/promotion from the gift).

We are truly blessed to receive your gift, thank you.

(TIP If you are snail mailing a printed letter, sign here)

John Doe, Executive Director of Save St. John’s Bay
(TIP add your name and title here)

============ END OF SAMPLE LETTER ============

Why This Sample Letter Works So Well
A. Personalization
This correspondence contains specific information, such as the donors name and donation amount. This shows that this was not just generated by some database email marketing program – an actual human had to create this.

B. Donation Purpose
The donor now knows exactly how the donation is going to be used. There is no confusion; the recipient can feel good about the contribution.

C. Timing
If you sent this out right after (within 1 week of) receiving the donation, it feels more genuine. Timing is important. Do not send this out 6 months after collecting the funds, it will not be effective.

What To Do With The Sample Letter
With your mouse select all the text between the start and end of the sample letter, right-click your mouse and choose “Copy”. Open Microsoft Word (or any other text editor) and choose “Paste”. Once the text is in your text editor, change the example text with actually text and remove all TIPS. Email or print and snail mail. If your nonprofit website can accept donations, make sure you add a link to your website in the email. If your website cannot securely accept donations, membership and event registrations, get a free 7 day trial now and see how easy it can be!

Ian Anderson is co-founder of Intersection360. Ian specializes in hosted application architecture and GUI design. Intersection360 offers a wide range of non-branded web applications for the small business/non-profit markets. Some of Intersection360 products include: CharityHelper360 - secure forms processing for non-profits (Get a 7 DAY FREE TRIAL - limited time offer simply visit http://www.intersection360.com/ for details), WebEdit360 - an online website editor and more.

Learn more about how you can sell Intersection360 products as your own with the Intersection360 Partner Program at http://www.intersection360.com/partners/index.htm