5 Easy and Effective Ways to Thank Your Nonprofit’s Donors

Go above and beyond the typical thank-you letter with these appreciation ideas.

Donors provide your nonprofit, school, club, church, or other charitable organization with the funds you need to keep operating. From small monthly contributions made by recurring donors to significant gifts from a select few more affluent supporters, each gift is meaningful and deserves appreciation.

Thanking your school or nonprofit's donors helps secure their future support by letting them know that your organization appreciates their gift explicitly and that it impacts your mission. To make your efforts extra meaningful, go above and beyond the typical thank-you letter with these appreciation ideas.

1. Send eCards.

Thank-you letters are a donor appreciation staple, and you can modernize this classic donor outreach approach with eCards. eCards are essentially thank-you cards delivered to a donor's email. This makes them fast and environmentally friendly and allows them to add new points of visual interest, like animations and interactive elements.

eCardWidget's guide to charity eCards walks through the four core elements of an effective eCard:

• Image. Feature high-definition photos or engaging graphics that will grab your supporters' attention. For example, if a parent donates to your school, you might send them an eCard with a group picture of their child's class.
• Branding. Include your logo, brand colors, and other core elements to ensure supporters associate your eCard with your school or nonprofit.
• Message. Keep your eCard messages short but meaningful. Think about the type of message you would put inside a physical greeting card when designing your eCards.
• Mobile-optimization. Many people check their email on their phones, so they can also check out their eCard from their mobile devices.

If you invest in an eCard service, you can continue using it for more than donor thank-you messages. Get more value from your eCards by also using them to thank volunteers or allowing donors to send eCards when they donate in someone else's name. This can be especially useful for schools that want to thank all their students for support in a school-wide fundraiser at once—with one well-designed eCard, and everyone can feel appreciated.

2. Host an event.

You can thank donors and build a community around your nonprofit or school at the same time with donor appreciation events. These events unite your supporters, allowing them to celebrate their contributions, learn more about your cause, and connect with others committed to your mission. For schools, these events can help families build relationships and even support networks with one another, strengthening your community as a whole.

Your events can be significant undertakings or more casual affairs, depending on the donors you want to appreciate. For example, consider hosting these events for different groups of donors:

• Formal gala. Galas are an opportunity to dress up, enjoy good food and entertainment, and socialize. Formal, exclusive galas are an excellent way to thank significant donors.—schedule time into your galas for speeches thanking your major donors for giving them a little extra recognition. For schools, galas are an opportunity to speak specifically to parents and provide profound or long-form explanations of your fundraisers.
• Donor lunches. For donors who live in your local community, invite them out to lunch. This can be a more informal way for donors to get to know your staff and one another, which can help boost retention. You can host a lunch as a special occasion or on a routine basis, like a monthly get-together for recurring donors.
• Virtual event. Many of your supporters, especially parents, have busy schedules and may be unable to fit an extra event into their calendars easily. However, you can still appreciate these supporters and those who live remotely with virtual events. Play trivia, give presentations, watch movies, or allow your donors to chat with one another.

Have staff members attend events to facilitate various activities and socialize with guests. By having a team member thank a guest in person, you can put a face on your organization, helping donors build a connection with your nonprofit or school.

3. Send them merchandise.

While donors don't expect anything tangible in return, a few small gifts can make them feel appreciated. You can give out gifts as thanks for supporting specific fundraisers, reaching a donor tier in a crowdfunding campaign, or being a recurring donor for a certain amount of time.

Connect your gift-giving with your nonprofit or school by sending branded merchandise. These gifts will remind supporters of your organization and help evoke school spirit. Try and get creative with your gifts while also offering a few merchandise staples, like:

• T-shirts
• Hats
• Mugs
• Water bottles
• Bumper stickers
• Fridge magnets

Merchandise benefits organizations that want their supporters to feel a sense of team spirit. For example, branded t-shirts can mean a lot to members of a sports club or parents looking to support their children's school. Encourage donors who receive gifts to wear them to events to show off their support.

4. Give them an online shout-out.

Online fundraising has been the new normal for some time now, and your appreciation efforts can take advantage of the same platforms you use to conduct online donor outreach. Giving donors a shout-out online makes them feel appreciated while giving their generosity a little public recognition.

There are several platforms you can use to thank donors online, including:

• Social media. Social media shout-outs get posted to all your followers and are easy for supporters to share with friends and family who may not follow your account. Tag donors in these posts so they can quickly find and share them.
• Blog posts. Your nonprofit or school can post all sorts of content on your blog, from updates on your mission to news stories to profiles of supporters who have gone the extra mile to support you. Interview supporters to learn what your mission means and feature a few of their quotes in your blog post.
• Your email newsletters. Create a section dedicated to thanking donors in your weekly or monthly newsletter. This could be a list of donor names or go into depth about a few specific donors in each newsletter.

Remember that different donors appreciate different types of donor recognition. While many will enjoy the spotlight of an online shout-out, others might prefer being appreciated more quietly. Contact them before publicly thanking a donor to ensure they agree. Plus, just by reaching out to ask them about being recognized publicly, you're already showing your gratitude.

5. Invite them to a facility tour.

Some donors require a more personalized approach to appreciation. Specifically, nonprofits and schools should use more personal appreciation strategies to ensure their significant donors feel acknowledged.

Try dividing your donors into groups using a donor pyramid. Double the Donation's quick guide to donor pyramids illustrates how nonprofits and schools can visually organize their donors in terms of both numbers and importance. At the top of the pyramid are your lead donors, who are fewer in number but give the most to your nonprofit.

For these few donors at the top of the pyramid, go the extra mile to form personal relationships and thank them individually. One easy way to make them feel special is to give them a behind-the-scenes look at your nonprofit with a facility tour.

Invite a few significant local donors to visit your nonprofit's headquarters or one of your program sites. Then, give them a tour that shows the ins and outs of your operations. This makes them feel like an insider regarding your organization and provides a sense of transparency, which is especially important for individuals making significant contributions.

For schools, give them perks, such as reserved seating at events like plays and sports games. You can also give them a behind-the-scenes look at these events by inviting them to lunch with the football coach or reserve a table with the choir director at the next gala to talk one-on-one about their upcoming activities.

Thanking donors should be one of the best parts of fundraising. You've earned support, your donors feel good about their contributions, and all that's left is to show them how valuable their gifts are. Get creative with how you thank your supporters to make giving to your nonprofit or school a positive and memorable experience.

Author Bio

Tim Badolato is the CEO of eCardWidget.com an innovative platform for digital employee recognition, donor acknowledgment, business marketing, and nonprofit marketing. He has a passion for using technology to drive positive outcomes for mission-driven businesses and nonprofits.