The final week of the #donorlove celebration has come and gone and in true fundraising fashion we’ve got plenty of submissions squeaking in their entries with days to spare as they juggle supporters, #GivingTuesday and the day job. Mt deepest thanks to Nikki Bell for curating so many of these great examples!
Today we celebrate Sam Butler and his team at the Tibet Relief Fund. We’re huge fans of the submissions that allow us to copy and paste, so in his own words here’s Sam to share how they’re showing a little donor love at TBR:
“All donors receive a thank you. No matter how big or small their donation. Those below £20 get a bespoke email/letter for their first donation. Those giving for a second time receive a unique handwritten TRF thank you card – we change this design quarterly, so that with each appeal, supporters receive a separate card, with a small set of prayer flags.
Supporters giving £50 or more receive a handwritten letter on recycled paper made by a project we support (Cleaning Upper Dharamshala). Depending on their historic interaction, this is written from me or the CEO. This connects the supporters directly with one element of our charitable work, bringing them closer to our beneficiaries by having a tangible letter of thanks on a product that they have helped to support come to fruition. We also sell these products through our Enlightened Gifts shop, which means many supporters come to us at Christmas to purchase stocking fillers made by this project, so it allows us to softly cross sell the products made by our beneficiaries, and improve the funds we have to help supply more micro finance loans for Tibetans to set-up more businesses’ in India and Nepal.”
Not only did the team use the power of the handwritten thank you, they’re keen to use the phone to its full potential too…
“On Black Friday each year (we have just completed our second one), all staff spend the day calling anyone that has donated in the previous 18 months, and have a conversation with those that answer, gaining insight as to why they support TRF. If we don’t get through, we leave a message on their answering machine if they are out, and send a short email of thanks where we can. These insights gathered and recorded in our database. We push out updates on the previous 18 months achievements across social media one week before we make the calls. This year, due to the #YouMadeThisHappen we used that day to do this, and it lead to some really lovely chats with everyone!”
Why we love this:
- All supporters are thanked proving it is possible, and necessary
- Thank yous are changed regularly so they never lose their sparkle; the team don’t have to do this, but they want to
- The thank yous link supporters with the charity in a tangible way that is relevant to their impact
- Updates! We know how important it is to do this; we should be thanking and reporting back more than we ask and it seems TBR are nailing this quota
A massive thank you to Sam and the team for not only sending through today’s submission but for consistently showing supporter appreciation in a way that’s connected to your organisation’s goals.
Nikki and I would love to hear your examples of showing #donorlove. Whether it’s hand-written cards, improvements to stewardship and processes or personal interactions like these, let’s celebrate the ongoing work of amazing fundraisers and charities delighting donors on a daily basis. This “celebration/contest” is over but there is always the next one!
