People often ask me how important it is to thank donors who contribute monthly to nonprofit organizations. In fact, the answer primarily depends on how donors make their contributions as follows:

Monthly donations outside the online network:

When donors contribute monthly in an indirect manner, a thank-you message should be sent to them immediately via mail, ensuring that it is a one-time message, and this type of message is not sent every month so as not to annoy the donors. Additionally, thank-you messages sent by regular mail are somewhat costly, which conflicts with the reason a person might want to donate regularly. Thank-you messages for donors should also be included regularly in the nonprofit's annual brochures.

Online monthly donations

For online donations, these are responded to with automated thank-you emails sent each time a donation is made, in addition to sending messages via regular mail or making phone calls to thank them for joining the monthly giving program, which will be appreciated by the donors.

In this context, you should be cautious about repeating the same thank-you messages to the donor each time they contribute. Therefore, you need to put in extra effort and work to diversify the content of these messages, so the donor feels special.

Although donating through PayPal and Network for Good is easy, their thank-you messages tend to be very boring, so you should not rely on external sources for your monthly giving program thank-you messages, and instead create a version that is specific to your organization, allowing you to control the quality of your messages.

How to Make a Better Impression

There is a simple solution that doesn't require much time or additional resources, which can add more distinction to the donation process, thereby ensuring the retention of donors and increasing their contribution levels. You need to encode your donor list in your email list, or use other software that allows you to benefit in the short and long term.

Here are some simple recommendations for addressing the issue of donor thank-you messages on a monthly basis:

1-Work to diversify your newsletters to include thank-you messages to donors monthly.

This means making some adjustments to the thank-you messages directed to donors and avoiding repeating the same messages by writing distinctive content at the beginning of the email, thanking the donor for their contribution so they feel special. After that, complete the rest of your newsletter while ensuring not to mention details regarding the amount or date of their donations, but rather focus on the fact that they are loyal donors to your organization.

Additionally, ensure to include stories about the difference their monthly donations make.

You can also use interactions and testimonials you receive from donors monthly, as people love to learn about the interactions of other donors, which increases their confidence that they made the right decision to join your organization's monthly giving program.

2-Send at least four distinctive thank-you emails

If your organization does not regularly send emails, you should ensure to send at least four emails to your donors throughout the year. Donors are likely to pay attention to distinctive thank-you messages if they are sent personally and contain appreciation for their efforts.

On the other hand, many organizations tend to change the thank-you messages sent via regular mail once every three months, according to their annual donation schedule. So, you can make a simple change in your email based on a customized reference for monthly donors.

In general, try to keep things direct and easy, so utilize your resources and make small adjustments to accommodate your monthly donors. Additionally, it is very important to treat this unique group, which you hope to continue benefiting from month after month for many years to come.

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Source: The Balance

Author: Erika Vasdorff