Recently, I was at a weekend event for one of our clients. At the event was a mix of volunteers, donors and prospective donors. Because this is not a large organization, most of the major gift cultivation and stewardship is done by their executive director.
This executive director is rather new to the organization and hasn’t met many of his major donors face to face. However, he has been corresponding with them over the past several months through personal letters, cards of appreciation and phone calls.
What I witnessed that weekend was nothing short of extraordinary.
I watched as the executive director made his rounds through the crowd introducing himself. And – I’m not kidding you – almost every person there wanted to hug and sit with this executive director and listen to him.
Why? Because over the past several months these donors have been getting “special touches” from him, and they were so appreciative of his “lovely notes” they could not wait to meet him in person to thank him.
I was amazed. I know that Richard and I constantly are telling you that writing personal notes, knowing who the donors are, and providing great donor service is important, but seeing the feedback firsthand was an absolute confirmation that this is the right thing to do.
You see, this executive director understands that his donors are vitally important; he knows the value of taking the time to thank, to show gratitude and to tell them he cares about their support for the mission. He gets the fact that donors are the mission as much as the kids they help every day.
Now, getting back to that weekend. The ED was bombarded with appreciative donors; but that was just the start. This outpouring from donors also created energy for other people to gather to talk more about the mission, and it gave the ED an opportunity to have multiple “ad hoc” meetings around long-term vision. This, in turn, created discussion from donors wanting to fund this vision.
So, do you see how this works? You write a personal, handwritten note to a donor. You say something very personal that touches them, and they get a warm feeling for you and your organization. Simple, yet powerful. And, truthfully, I don’t think I realized how powerful those simple, little notes were until just a few weeks ago.
Just as another reminder, here is what Richard and I suggest as you think about serving your donors:

1. Get to know the donors on your caseload. Understand what they are passionate about. Not just related to your mission, but in life. All of it is important as you think through all the things you can relate to with your donor.
2. When one of your donors gives a gift of any amount, write a handwritten thank you letter. This is a “no-brainer” for you. I don’t care if they wrote a check for $10; if they are on your caseload they get a personal note from you.
3. Call your donors out of the blue. They will not expect it. That is why you need to do it. Anything unexpected will be remembered.
4. Service, service, service. It’s all about serving your donor. Not just with great information about your mission, but linking their passions in life with tangible ways of serving them, e.g. sending your donor information on an art exhibit they really like, or introducing them to other donors who have similar interests. Break out and do something meaningful.
5. Give donors a vision. Something I learned again during that weekend I described above is that people love to hear about vision. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves. Give it to them. They will fund it!!

I hope this will inspire you to know that your donors ACTUALLY CARE about those little notes, phone calls and touches you do for them. Keep doing them.
Jeff