Building Stronger Donor Relations

How you doing? How you doing? Yeah, I have a question for you because I know you are a donor. You donate to nonprofit organizations. Do you feel appreciated? Are you— do you have relationships, strong relationships with the people that you're donating to?

Um, the ones that I donate to is kind of like a mandatory. I expect to, um, I expect them to show me ways of appreciating me, even if it's just that thank you letter that I receive after I give a donation. Um, I really appreciate it when, um, I get a little, you know, um, a little thank you in the mail, or, you know, whatever. It could be emailed, it doesn't have to have that stamp. And now, you know, postage is going up crazy.

Postage is going up again, you know. And that's it, you talk about you, you expect to see something, you know, because Donors like to feel appreciated, but that builds stronger donor relationships. Like, how do you build stronger donor relationships with your donors so they will continue to give to you year after year? And then whenever they decide to give, or they— that your organization automatically comes in mind because it's that relationship building that is so important. It's not like, just give me some money and, and then I don't have to see you again, and until I'm ready to ask you for more money over the next year.

We, we touched on this a little bit, um, when we talked last week about, um, you know, just making sure ways to say thank you to your donors. And I mentioned that I used to give— I used to do a, um, a little appreciation party for my— they were my clients, so it was a little different, but it was an appreciation. So We did a once a year— it was an annual thing. I do hors d'oeuvres and appetizers, let them walk away with a little gift bag with just a little pen and paper, you know, pen and Post-it note in it or whatever. But it was my way of saying thank you so much for my business, you know, for, for doing business with me this year. I had so many repeat clients because I did that little extra thing. Um, and then if they didn't really want to do the business, you know, like go through the whole sales thing with me, I got referrals because I did that. So, um, so even, um, you know, we were talking earlier, like you said, like take your donors out to lunch, or, you know, but— and I think you mentioned this too before, so I hope I'm not talking too fast, but you don't want to spend a lot of money because you do not want your donors to think that their money— this is what their money has gone to, you know, as opposed to what they're giving you the money for, which is to further the business of the organization.

And you know what, it's really interesting how they build better relationships. You ever heard of the love language? Yeah, everybody has a love language, and the same thing with your donors. So it would be okay to say, you're a donor, I would love for you to complete this survey so you can find out how your donors want to be appreciated. You don't appreciate them because that's not how you build a relationship, is you treat everybody the same. You got to build a relationship, you got to really treat people the way they wanted to be treated. So some people may like a card, others may just want a phone call, I don't know, they just want to know what you're doing. Others may want to be just leave me alone, just keep doing a good cause. And so you want to probably take that love language and ask your clients, would you do this survey so I can know how to appreciate you? And don't just appreciate them during the holidays. You know, if you, if you're so busy, pick out one month out of the year that you say, you know what, these are the time I'm going to appreciate. I'm going to appreciate them during the summer when they're not inundated with a lot of other people saying thank you. Because sometimes when you do it when everybody else is doing it, or during the holidays, they're getting the feeling like you're doing it because you want some more money from me. But if you just do it, build a relationship like you're calling your best Are you going— your best friend are going on a vacation during this time of the year? You know, that's a good way to build a stronger relationship with your donors.

I agree. I also will add to that, you know, most nonprofits, their calendar year is June 1st to July— am I saying that right? July 1st to June 30th. And so what that means then is the end of your calendar year is the summer. Two things I think all nonprofit organizations should do, and I think they're a nice way to say, you know, thank you. It is general, it, you know, goes across the board. For one, you should send out a donor thank you letter to all of your donors for their end of the year taxes to say, you know, like we've kept track and you've given $1 million, so thank you so much for that, right? But the other thing, and I don't think enough nonprofits do this, and I get it can be kind of tough, but if I'm donating to your organization and you tell me you're feeding kids, submit something at the end of your, your fiscal year like a, uh, what we call it, a, um, annual report or something. It can be 5 pages. It doesn't have to be bound and all of this. You can just put it in a PDF and send it via email if you want. Um, but submit an annual report showing me how you've actually used the money that I've given you. Don't make me work to find it by going through GuideStar. Actually, just show me, you know. So I think that's a nice way to, to help, um, donors know like, oh, this is where my money is going, so they are using it. And you can do it at your convenience.

So yeah, and, and recognize all the donors for even the smallest little thing, because that small donor, you know, sometimes people say, well, I'm going to do this for my special donors who do recognize them all, because people give out of what they have, right? And like, was that they give out of their want? Sometimes the rich people— remember that, that in the Bible where the rich man came, they just gave a little bit. But that one little poor lady gave just out of her want, and she was more blessed. So you want to be able to bless those that give a little, just build that relationship with them, right? You know, mm-hmm. And you know, sometimes just invite— and don't— something we talked about last time is doing something for all of them at one time, and then sometimes just take one at a time, because that's building that relationship. To make that relationship stronger with them. You know, take some time out of your calendar. I just called to tell you, how you doing? And let them get to know you as a person because you're building relationships. And then let them know, get to know the staff. And it's always good too, you can just get a card and have all the staff, yeah, send it to them. You know, let them know that everybody appreciates— not just the CEO or the president, or, you know, but everybody in the organization appreciates you. Yeah.

I mean, one of the things that we as humans we respond to is kindness. And that's just a kind thing to do. And I think too, when you run an organization that is supposed to be, you know, filling a need, you want to also make sure that the people who are helping you accomplish your mission feel appreciated. So that's the whole point of this, uh, this month where we're sharing ideas for you, how to build, uh, this one is how to build stronger donor relations. And I think that this is some good information here, and hopefully you got a tip or a tact out of this.

What we want to make sure we do for you is give you a tip or a tactic that you can use to help you run your organization and streamline it and collapse time a little bit so you're not doing a whole lot of work. Because as one nonprofit founder to another, we know how busy it is, especially when you're starting, and how much work it can be. So take our little tips and our tactics, come back, we'll be here next week. You should see another video from us. Come on back and get your tip and your tactic and go out and change the world. So thank you for joining us.