How to Write "Thank You Donors" Letters For Your Audience?
In 2020, the total revenue of nonprofit organisations in Australia rose to $176 billion. Sending effective letters saying ‘thank you donors’ can help increase donations further by making people feel that their contributions make a difference!
But it is not simple to capture the donor’s emotions and pen down an engaging letter. Nonprofits must customise their messages based on personal interactions and other factors to make their donors feel special.
This blog covers the best ways to appreciate your donors via a donation thank-you letter and celebrate their contributions. Let us dive right in!
Primary Reasons to Send a Thank-You Donation Letter
Charitable organisations have numerous reasons to send a charity thank-you message to donors, like
It Depicts You Also Care About Them
By donating to your nonprofit, donors show they support your institution. A thank-you letter is like a response to their gifts, which says you also care about them and are genuinely grateful.
It Helps You Stay On Top of Your Donor’s Mind
Sending a ‘thank you for your donation’ letter to your donors now and then helps you remind them of your organisation. It allows you to boost brand visibility and remain on top of their minds.
Such thank-you letters for donations create a positive impact among your audience and showcase the significance of the donor’s gifts to fulfil your mission!
It Increases Your Chances of Retaining Donors
Communicating your appreciation messages helps you retain more donors by congratulating them on making a difference in society and rewarding their effort.
Charitable organisations that send donation thank-you messages highlight themselves in a positive light, enabling donors to trust them and continue donating!
How to Write a Thank-You Letter to a Donor?
Below are the steps and tips to help you write an effective and responsive letter for your donors:
Include Real-Life Stories to Form an Emotional Connection
Always add real-life examples of how you help uplift specific communities or people to provide value using a thank you for your contribution letter. Your donors would love to hear from the people that benefit from their donations, and it can encourage them to follow your organisation for years.
You can also include statistics regarding your work to add credibility and be transparent. Avoid getting too much into the numbers, and try using these details to form an emotional bond with your audience.
Use Relevant Images and Custom Envelopes
Using relevant imagery to demonstrate how your services work is an excellent way to engage people. You can print them behind your donor thank-you letter or insert picture postcards separately inside your envelope.
These images help you give donors a gist of how you help and how. You may also use custom envelopes with bright colours and teasers to entice readers and differentiate your thank-you letters for donations from other items.
These details help grab your audience’s attention and ensure they receive your message. They might also share your donation thank-you letter with their family and friends, allowing you to increase brand awareness.
Use a Personal Tone
Like fundraising letters, adopt a personal and warm tone for writing your thank-you messages. It helps your audience connect with your organisation better and resonate with your mission.
Your thank-you letter for donation must not sound like another appeal. Instead, it must help you express gratitude for the gifts you have already received!
Highlight the Impact
Be specific about the reader’s gifts in your thank-you donation letter to highlight the impact of every single donation. It depicts that their contribution influences your goals, irrespective of the amount.
Include phrases, like
- “Your donation helped us feed 50 children on Christmas” or
- “Your $100 contribution helped us achieve our mission of establishing a training centre for unemployed people.”
Send Your ‘Thank You Donors’ Letter at the Time
Nonprofits can increase their campaign responses by sending their ‘thank you for the donation’ letters on time. Try to be proactive about responding to a person’s contributions to make them feel valued and prioritised.
Typically, charitable organisations send a donor thank-you letter within two to three business days of getting a donation. You can set up a triggered campaign via direct mail services like PostGrid to automate your campaigns and ship your letters promptly.
There is no rule to only send a thank-you message for donation after a person contributes something via cash, kind, or another way. You can create many other opportunities to stay in constant touch with them, including
- Send them heartfelt wishes on their special days, like birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, etc.
- Congratulate donors when they complete one year, two years, and so on from the first time they donated to your causes.
- Invite them to donors-only events and exclusive fundraisers, etc.
Redirect Donors to Your Website Via QR Codes
Integrating your offline thank-you letters for donations with online channels can benefit your company in many ways. You may include links to your website and social media pages or add QR codes that redirect readers to custom web pages.
QR codes help you get more engagement because they are easy to scan. Alternatively, you can use personalised URLs to link your offline and online communication channels.
They also let you measure your campaign results, like how many people read your donation thank-you letter and completed the CTA. If you need assistance, use PostGrid’s direct mail API to ship your mail pieces and get campaign insights automatically through your dashboard!
Add a PS Line at the End
A PS line helps you
- Reinforce your message and thank the donors again.
- Discuss upcoming fundraisers.
- Share some additional facts about your organisation, etc.
You can get creative with your PS statements and make your charity thank-you message more engaging!
Most people only read the first paragraph of your thank-you letter for donation and the last line, so curate these aspects carefully!
Differentiate Your Recurring Donors
Your frequent donors deserve special recognition in your ‘thank you for your donation letters. Try adding some details of their past contributions and appreciating them for supporting your organisation over several years.
Similarly, you can segregate your audience using the relevant geo-demographics to personalise your ‘thank you donors’ messages. For example, you can send campaign-specific letters to address them personally to the people who contributed to your project for renovating a school in the locality.
First-time donors should get a separate thank-you message for donations that has a welcome note. Your goal is to convince them to stay with your organisation further and donate to your causes in several ways.
Keep Your Donation Thank-You Letter Short
It is advisable to keep your thank-you notes short and sweet! The ideal length of such letters is one page, so refrain from adding too much information.
Ensure your donors remember the purpose of your charity thank-you message by the end, and stay focused.
You can add inserts, like photographs, event invitations, nonprofit annual reports, newsletters, etc. But try maintaining the overall weight of your envelope according to the Australia Post’s guidelines to save on postage.
Attach a Receipt
Though many nonprofit organisations treat thank-you letters for donations as receipts, it is better to keep them separate.
You can give donors a receipt right after they donate, but send an appreciation note later!
For example, you can generate digital receipts for everyone who donates online and hand over slips if someone pays offline at an event or sends a cheque. But try shipping your thank you for your contribution letters after the fundraiser is over to reinstate your nonprofit’s goals and make donors feel appreciated!
Below, we have attached a thank-you donor letter template to help you draft effective messages:
[Nonprofit’s legal name]
[Mailing address]
[Contact number]
[Email address]
[Date]
To,
[Donor’s Full Name]
[Their delivery address- write the correct address to avoid getting mail returns]
[Subject line]
[Salutation- make it personalised and use the appropriate title]
[Introduction- include phrases like ‘thank you for your contribution and support’]
[Body- Elaborate on your organisation’s goals and campaigns. Give details about how you used the reader’s gifts to accomplish your objectives]
[Closing- thank your donors again and end the letter on a positive note]
[Signature]
[Enclosures- if you attach the receipt with the donation thank-you mailer]
‘Thank You Donors’ Letter Sample
Here is a sample to help you understand the format of the letter and its contents better:
Gracious Giving
5 Bayswater Road
SYDNEY NSW 6053
Date 2 December 2022
To,
Eliza McPhail
125 George Street
SYDNEY NSW 4003
Subject: Donation Thank You
Dear Ms Eliza,
We thank you for your generous contribution of $270 at our recent fundraising dinner on 28 November 2022. Our entire team and the people we aid to acquire a home and provide their kids with good education are grateful for your support.
You have been with us for the past four years, and we cannot thank you enough for your gratitude. Gracious Giving has helped 5,000+ families and continues to do so because of kind people like you!
Please find the attached receipt, which you can use for tax purposes. We thank you for the donation again and hope to talk to you soon!
Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
Enclosures: 1, Receipt #985
PS Visit our website to read more about our work by scanning the QR code below.
Other Creative Ideas to Say ‘Thank You Donors’
Apart from direct mail thank-you letters for donations, you can use other methods to tell your donors how much you appreciate them. Here are some creative ideas for your reference:
Send Handwritten Postcards
Postcards are appealing and attention-grabbing. Writing a thoughtful charity thank-you message with a relevant image on a postcard can help you establish personal bonds with the recipients. These items create a nostalgic feeling that connects people, increasing your chances of getting a response or retaining donors.
Keep your donor thank-you letter headlines short and add a CTA that helps you strengthen your relationships with them. For example, you can invite donors to visit your office for a tour or encourage them to share their contribution stories on social media!
Use PostGrid’s automated direct mail solutions to print and ship your personalised postcards with handwritten fonts. You can integrate our API into your CRMs to fetch the details and send well-thought donation thank-you notes according to the donor’s giving history!
Express Gratitude on Your Website
Your nonprofit’s website is the centre of all fundraising activities and donor communications. Use this platform to say ‘thank you donors’ and appreciate them publicly.
You may create a page to highlight corporate donors or event sponsors. Also, try sharing stories about individuals who contributed to your organisation on specific occasions. Saying ‘thank you for the donation’ is not enough—make them feel you value their effort and support and are willing to share the details with everyone.
Use Social Media to Expand Your Outreach
With millions of people active on social media platforms, it is an excellent idea to celebrate your donors on Instagram, Facebook, etc. It enables you to generate online traffic to your accounts and get more donors to connect with you.
Sharing relatable stories and donation thank-you notes via online channels helps increase your followers and form a vast network of donors.
Craft Custom Emails
Email marketing is another creative idea to contact your donors and share a donation thank-you message. It is one of the quickest and most convenient ways to thank your audience and motivate them to continue supporting you.
But many recipients ignore the emails or move them to the spam folder without reading them. Hence, use this channel in collaboration with sending offline ‘thank you donors’ letters to ensure everyone gets your message.
Remember to personalise your emails and add relevant links to increase open rates and drive more engagement!
Take Advantage of the Power of Videos
Creating videos for your target audience can help you reach them personally and communicate your institution’s causes. Capture random videos of your staff saying ‘thank you for your contribution’ and send them to your donors. Or share clips of you organising fundraisers to give them a peek into your daily work.
You can share your videos via many channels, including social media, email, and direct mail. If you send an offline donation thank-you letter, add QR codes that can take donors directly to your YouTube or Instagram pages, where they can view the clips.
Invite Donors for a Field Trip
You can always invite your potential and existing donors to join you while you work on a campaign. It is best to demonstrate your nonprofit services to your audience—by letting them witness everything live.
Use your thank-you letter for donation to provide the details of the trip. Add your contact details, allowing them to reach you if they have any queries.
How Does PostGrid Help Nonprofit Organisations Send Thank-You Letters for Donations?
Our direct mail API allows charitable institutions to send thank-you letters in any volume whenever needed. They can set their campaigns in advance to time their messages accurately or automate an on-demand mailing program to send ‘thank you donors’ messages.
Here is what one of our clients in the nonprofit sector shared about their experience with PostGrid:
“PostGrid allowed us to get in touch with our old donors and re-engage them again. Also, it helped us become more prompt in thanking our donors after they contributed, increasing retention. Its API integrations made our direct mailing processes simple and quick and saved us a lot of money.”
Below are some helpful features that allow PostGrid to add value to your print and mail campaigns to ship donation thank-you notes to donors effectively:
- Address standardisation and verification: Verify your donors’ mailing addresses in advance to help Australia Post deliver your letters to the correct recipients. PostGrid does automatic address validation before mailing.
- Reduced manual effort and clerical overheads: Our direct mail solutions allow nonprofits to save money by not hiring additional clerical staff to perform manual tasks. PostGrid helps them automate all activities to send effective thank-you letters for donations, from printing messages and stuffing envelopes to affixing stamps.
- Per-piece tracking: Track every thank-you letter for donation that you send via your dashboard. Our easy-to-use platform allows mailers to stay updated and access their campaign insights whenever required.
- Data privacy: PostGrid complies with the Privacy Act 1988, ISO 9001, ISO 27001, PCI DSS Level 1, SOC-2 – IRAP (Australia), and ISAE 3402. Thus, you do not have to worry about data confidentiality while sending ‘thank you donors’ letters to your audience.
Conclusion
Writing a personal and engaging donation thank-you letter is an art. It allows nonprofit organisations to convert one-time donors into frequent contributors and people who support you for several years.
Using the tips and methods in this blog, you may pen down an effective letter and send it to your donors! PostGrid’s direct mail API further assists you in planning and conducting a successful campaign without draining your budget.
Request a demo to see how PostGrid helps nonprofit institutions send letters saying ‘thank you donors’ in an automated manner!
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The post Ways to Write a Thank You Note for Donations appeared first on PostGrid.
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