“Thanks” or “No Thanks”: A Cautionary Tale

    In anticipation of all those acknowledgement letters you’ll be sending this season, we asked guest blogger Mary Kaiser, principal of Kaiser Group, Inc. to share this important cautionary tale:

    I recently received an acknowledgement letter that was so bad I just had to write to the development director and let her know what I thought about it. As a fundraising and membership consultant, I often have an opinion, but I don’t usually go so far as to offer it unsolicited. However, a recent membership acknowledgment from a public media outlet struck me as one of the worst I’ve ever received in terms of fundraising best practices. Not that it didn’t try hard. Just that it tried a bit TOO hard.

    First, some background. I’m a long lapsed member of this public media outlet and recently returned to membership during the last pledge drive at the $60 level. On many days, the information and entertainment I receive from this nonprofit station is the glue that keeps my husband and I on the same wavelength. As our kids grow up and out of the house, I expect that our support will increase.

    Now, as for this acknowledgement letter, it was a bit late (4 weeks instead of the recommended 2), but that’s understandable given the volume that occurs during Pledge Drive time. My biggest concern is that this public station couldn’t just thank me for my $60 of support. It had to remind me about the Great Pleasures available for $120 or more. Complete with reply form. AND a note about giving more through matching gift. AND a note about giving more by donating my car. All of which I knew about because I had heard about it during the pledge drive, and still chose to do $60.

    The message I come away with is that this organization doesn’t value, want or need my support of $60. So the question becomes, when it’s time to renew, will I do it? And what about all the other low-level members like me who feel the same? I have to wonder what their $60-member renewal rate looks like. As a fundraising consultant, “retention” is my mantra, however unpoetic. It sets up all good things that come from long-term relationships with our donors: higher gifts, more gifts, bequest intentions, major gifts for some people, great word-of-mouth advertising. So I worry about this station. Because as a donor, now I feel like I’m off the hook because they don’t really need my gift anyway. I can give that money to another organization I care about that WOULD value the $60 and put it to good use.

    The moral of this tale is: when acknowledging a gift, just say “thank you.” A solicitation in any form, however passive, renders the acknowledgment insincere. Your donors are smart. They’ll get the message.

    Kaiser Group Inc. works at the level where the job gets done. Its strengths are broad-based fundraising programs, clear analysis and development communications including direct mail.

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