You planned an event for your favorite charity and now it’s time to thank your donors. One of the most important communications of any charity fundraising or donations campaign is the donation thank you letter.
A donation thank you letter is not just a receipt for the donation, but a communication from the organization that continues to build that relationship with your donors.
The following identifies what you should include in your thank you letter.
Personalize the letter
Regardless of whether you are sending the donation thank you letter via email or letter, personalize it with the donor’s name. Email makes it easy to do so. Hard copy letters can be personalized by your printer using mail merge. Recognize people for how much they gave. The letter then acts as a receipt for donors.
Send the thank you promptly
Sending a thank you within 24 to 48 hours after receiving the donation or within a week after your event shows your donors that you truly appreciate their support. Many donors give to multiple causes, so getting your thank you out quickly ensures they remember your organization.
Use a real person to send it
Make sure that the thank you comes from someone in the organization. It can be the director but you could also have the lead event manager send it since they were intimately involved in the event.
Include details from the event
Raise a little more awareness for your nonprofit in the letter, Tell them more about about your mission, what you will be using the money for and why it is important to you.
Add pictures, social media posts and other supporting information about the success of your fundraising event.
Keep your tone friendly
Write like you speak. Avoid jargon or formal language. Make it about the donor. Speak to them personally about how their support was appreciated and helped your cause.
Also, let people know whether or not you will have the event again in the future. That way when you reach out for help again, there are no surprises.
A donation thank you letter is perfectly fine to send as an email to thank your event attendees and donors. An email makes it easy to thank your donors quickly. Then follow up with a hard copy of a letter that they can use for their tax deductions.