Black and Blue and Read All Over
Black and Blue and Read All Over
The never-ending discussions about thank you notes are now all about color.
The land of philanthropy-oriented social media has been, well, “atwitter” lately with discussions about ink colors on fundraising materials. As a donor, I’m both pleased and annoyed about this discussion.
I’m pleased because one of the categories of “fundraising materials” being discussed is thank you notes. Just the idea that fundraisers are concerned about the presentation of their thank you notes tells me that they think that thank you notes are really, really important.
But are hand-written thank you notes important at all? Are donors more likely to give more money and/or more often because they received a hand-written thank you note?
This is where I get annoyed.
As I wrote about in a previous newsletter called “A DAF Donation with a Surprise”, my son and I are fortunate to have developed a bit of a relationship with the head of a nonprofit called folding@home — an organization that uses big amounts of data to aid in researching and finding cures for cancer, COVID, and other illnesses. The relationship was started not because of a handwritten thank you note, but because of a heartfelt thank you email.
Now that I’ve read the various posts about blue ink over black, or using an ink color that matches the time of year, I’m reminded that everyone has their own desires and feelings about thank you notes. Which is great.
Except….what about the time, thought, and hand-wringing that goes along with thinking about the color and quality of a thank you note? Does it really make a difference? Are donors more likely to continue giving, or increase their giving, because of the hue of ink used on a handwritten note?
As a donor, my guess is that it doesn’t make that much of a difference. Even if the ink color moves the needle a bit more towards a gift or future engagement, I don’t think it’s a major factor in anyone’s giving.
If you do choose to write a note to a donor, is it important to use an ink color that makes it clear that the note is actually hand-written? Absolutely. Is it important to spend precious time thinking about ink colors? With limited resources in the nonprofit world, I don’t think pondering ink colors is time well spent.
As a donor, I think that all this discussion is missing the critical point. The critical point — the piece that really, really counts in terms of your relationship with a donor — is the timing of the thank you “note”. Whether that thank you comes via email, handwritten letter, or carrier pigeon, it doesn’t matter one bit if the timing isn’t right. Simply said, the thank you must be sent to the donor as quickly as possible. I usually say that a thank you note must be sent within 48 hours, but at a recent conference I attended, another panelist strongly recommended that the note be sent the same day. That panelist is probably right.
In terms of timing, should we even be discussing “snail mail” thank you notes at all? With the changes in the post office — and standard mail delivery times taking 5-7 days or more — is it really worth waiting for the mail to deliver your thank you message? A lot of annoyance and even bad will can happen if a donor doesn’t get a thank you message in less than 5-7 days.
Don’t get me wrong — I think that a handwritten thank you note is lovely, if only because we get so few of them in general. If you want to write one, go right ahead, but make that your more formal, follow-up thank you. The first thank you should be immediate — within a day or two — and it should be a phone call, video message, or standard email. It’s all about the timing.
Another super important piece to this has to do with the message I give everyone when talking about the donor’s perspective. Don’t assume that the donor will respond one way or another because you wrote a lovely thank you note. Assuming gets you into trouble.
So how do you know the right way to thank a donor?
Easy. Ask them. Ask your donors how they like to be thanked! Give them a number of choices — email, text, phone call, handwritten note, or any and all of the above. Guess what? They’ll be happy to answer that question if you’d only ask it.
How long does it take to send an email asking how someone likes to be thanked? Better yet, how long would it take you to put together a simple survey with 2-4 quick questions, including the question about thank you messages?
I guarantee you that you will spend less of your limited time on guessing what your donor wants if you just ask them. Make the question “how do you like to be thanked?” a standard part of your early interactions with your donors. Once you know the answer, honor it.
And move on! Color me relieved.
I’m Saving Giving by providing a clear path to success, supported by data, statistics, and interviews. You can find more great newsletters like this one here on Philanthropy 451, in my bestselling book, Philanthropy Revolution, or on socials at Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to learn more.
- Lisa