When I first started fundraising years ago, the golden rule was to call donors to say thank you whenever gifts came in. At the end of each calendar year, I would spend hours on the phone, calling donors to either ask for a gift or thank them for a gift.
But, times have changed. Does anyone pick up their phone anymore?
If you do a Google search for advice on donor acknowledgements, you’ll find a lot of information about “best practices” and all the steps you “should” take. But some of this advice is conflicting and little (if any) is grounded in evidence.
So, should you continue to call donors? If not, who should you call and who should receive a thank you note? Moreover, does every donation require an acknowledgement?
Find out what the latest research says on this episode.
HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS EPISODE…
⦿ Why some donors are affected by acknowledgements and others are not
⦿ Whether thank you calls are an effective acknowledgement method
⦿ How to approach an acknowledgement strategy for your donors
SNEAK PEEK AT THE EPISODE…
⦿ [2:56] So for today’s discussion, let’s set the scene. You’re a busy fundraiser during the busiest time of year for a fundraiser. You know you need to acknowledge donations as they are received by your nonprofit.
⦿ [4:55] Reciprocity could be as simple as a thank you. So, when you thank your donors, you are reciprocating their monetary gift with the gift of appreciation.
⦿ [7:55] There did appear to be a relationship between frequency of giving and acknowledgements.
⦿ [12:05] However, when donors receive an online appeal such as email campaign, and they give online and receive an instant acknowledgement, then perhaps the acknowledgement has a greater effect on increasing positive and decreasing negative emotion- similar to what the researchers found in their experiment.
⦿ [12:57] Their literature search found that there does not seem to be a clear predictive link between donor recognition and future giving. It’s not as if more recognition or acknowledgement is correlated with greater giving.
⦿ [17:31] Assuming our primary motive behind thanking donors goes beyond simple politeness to strengthening the donor-nonprofit relationship with future engagement and future giving, are phone calls effective for this purpose?
⦿ [21:00] Okay so on a broad level, the thank you calls didn’t seem effective. However, the researchers did have data on each phone call so they knew who picked up and whether the interaction was positive or negative.
⦿ [23:50] First, the data suggest that it’s important for fundraisers to understand how donors prefer to communicate.
⦿ [26:49] As one final point, I just want to add that just because something has been done for a long time at your nonprofit or just because someone says it’s the gold standard or best practice, doesn’t mean it’s right for your nonprofit or even that it’s right.
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LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
⦿ Article: Do thank you calls increase charitable giving? Expert forecasts and field experimental evidence
⦿ Article: ‘Don’t forget to say thank you’: The effect of acknowledgement on donor relationships
⦿ Article: When does recognition increase charitable behavior? Toward a moral identity based model
⦿ Article: The science and practice of persuasion
⦿ Download “The SIGNALS Framework” e-book
