SEVEN WAYS TO THANK A DONOR
brought to you by David Mersky

What is the difference between congregations that acknowledge and recognize a donor once or twice after receiving a gift vs. seven times or more?

Thousands and thousands of dollars.

Before you say that you don't have the time to thank someone seven times, please know that we do not mean that you, personally, should call this person that many times. In fact, that might be considered stalking.

Instead, we want your congregation to determine seven high impact, personal messages of appreciation and/or forms of recognition for each donor that the donor will also value. While this may seem intimidating, think about the letters, the calls, the listings and updates to the marketing materials and other tasks that can, and should, be spread among the entire leadership of the congregation - both staff and volunteer.

This is the point where you say, "if you think it is hard for me to make phone calls and write letters, getting anyone else to do it will be seven times as hard." This may be true at first, but leadership must be invested in the long-term success of the organization, and there is no better way of nurturing that investment than through the creation of personal relationships. Creating such long-term relationships, including establishing a series of ways in which the donor knows that a gift was greatly valued and enthusiastically appreciated ensures the development of life-long relationships. Brainstorming to find ways that the donor can be publicly recognized in a monthly bulletin, email newsletter, signage at an event and even in your Annual Report, will provide more than just a way to let people know who has supported you in the past year. It is a way in which a donor's peers can see exemplary, generosity that they would do well to emulate.