Month: May 2022

The first donation you get from someone is often the most difficult.

Donors are taking a leap of faith when agreeing to contribute to your cause, especially if they’re new to your organization.

Getting someone to donate again is far easier, so you should always send thoughtful thank you letters to your donors to keep them informed and engaged in what you’re doing.

In this article, we’ll look at why and how to write donation thank you letters as well as what you should include for increasing their impact.

Book a call with Campaign Deputy and see how you can automate your Thank You emails.

Why Write Donation Thank You Letters?

Writing thank you letters to donors is as important as the donation request letter itself.

By acknowledging someone’s donation, you’re showing your gratitude and increasing their likelihood of giving again.

In addition to showing gratitude, here’s why writing thank you letters is a good idea:

1. Your donors feel more engaged in your cause and are more likely to want to see it succeed, resulting in more donations.
2. There are thousands of good causes to give to, so a thank you letter keeps your campaign at the top of your donor’s mind.
3. Your donor might forward your thank you letter to someone they know who might also want to contribute.
4. Thank you letters make your donors feel valued, so they’re more likely to want to continue giving to your cause to see it succeed.
5. Regular communication, like thank you letters, are a great way of nurturing the relationship with your donors so you can bring them along your journey with you.

Writing thank you letters is also good practice for a fundraising organization. 

It’s something donors have come to expect when giving to a cause because it’s their way of keeping track of contributions and how they’re impacting the world.

Now, let’s look at exactly how to write your donation thank you letters.

(3 Steps) How To Write Donation Thank You Letters

It’s always best to keep any communications with donors short and to the point.

They’re already giving their hard-earned money, you don’t want to take up more of their time than necessary.

The first section of your letter is your introduction.

Step 1: Introduction

Your introduction is where you connect with your donor once again.

You should make your thank you letters feel as personal as possible, and you do this with a good introduction.

What to include in your introduction:

• Always address your letter to your donor using their name (never use generic terms like “Dear Sir/Madam” or “Dear Donor”).
• If possible, include the amount your donor contributed to your cause to remind them of their donation and the fact that you’re grateful for every penny.
• Mention your wider purpose to remind donors why they gave in the first place.
• Acknowledge whether it’s their first donation or if they’re a regular contributor.

Keep your introduction short but impactful.

Here are 2 examples of good introductions:

Example 1 (first donation):

Dear Jessie,

Thank you for your generous contribution of [amount] towards [your cause]. We truly appreciate every bit of help we receive from amazing donors like yourself. Since this is your first donation to [your organization], we wanted to reach out and tell you exactly how you’ve impacted [your goal].

Example 2 (multiple donations):

Dear Sam,

Thank you once again for your generous contribution of [amount] towards [your cause]. With your continued support, [your organization] can keep working towards [your goal] knowing we’re backed by the most amazing donors who want to see us succeed. Your donations are changing lives.

Once you’ve got a short and succinct introduction, it’s time to create the body of your thank you letter.

Step 2: Body

Here you’ll go into more depth, explaining how your most recent donations have been used.

The goal is to give your donor a more complete understanding of how their contribution has impacted your cause, and what it’s allowed your organization to achieve.

Be specific, referencing an individual case to make the benefits as tangible as possible.

Here are 2 examples of how to do this:

Example 1:

Thanks to you, we’ve been able to [help/provide] [benefactor/s] with [benefit]. This means [benefactor/s] can now [achieve goal], this would’ve been impossible without your continued support. 

Example 2:

With your help, more [benefactor/s] are able to [achieve goal] without fear of [disadvantage]. Your donation has [helped/provided] [benefactor/s] with [main benefit], which is only possible with continued support from donors like you who believe in [your cause].

The more specific you can be about the goals achieved because of their donations, the more invested and valued your donor will feel.

Remember, your thank you letter should be short, but nothing is stopping you from linking out to a blog post about your organization’s most recent accomplishments.

This gives your donor an option to read more without the intimidation of a long email.

Step 3: Conclusion

Now that you’ve thanked your donor and explained how their contribution has helped your cause, it’s time to move to your conclusion.

Your conclusion should focus on dealing with any remaining uncertainty your donor might have, and it’s a great way of getting some feedback or input from them (should they have any).

You do this by giving donors a direct contact person in your organization who can answer any questions or concerns they might have, as well as including any relevant links to your website.

Here are 2 examples of how to do this:

Example 1: 

Should you have any questions or would like to know more, feel free to contact [person’s name and title] at [email address]. Or call [him/her] at [phone number] and [he/she] will be happy to speak with you.

Example 2: 

Want to know more about [your cause], our friendly [title], [person’s name] is always available to speak with you. You can contact [him/her] at [email address] or call [phone number].

You’ve now successfully thanked your donor, explained how valuable their contribution is to your cause, and how they can get in touch if they’d like to know more.

Remember, all your thank you letter should be doing is thanking your donor.

Here’s what NOT to do in your donation thank you letters:

1. Never ask for another donation in your thank you letter. This letter is all about gratitude and maintaining the relationship with your donor. You can always reach out again with a donation request letter.
2. Don’t wait too long to send thank you letters. Your donor should receive your thank you letter within 2-3 days, or they’ll forget they donated and you’ll lose momentum.
3. Avoid sending donation receipts in your thank you letters. Once again, your thank you letter is not about their donation, it’s about thanking them for their impact on your cause.
4. Avoid generic sign-offs like “Regards, [your organization]”. Rather, sign your thank you letter using your name (and title) to make it feel more personal.
5. Avoid using technical jargon that might confuse your donor. Keep your language as straightforward as possible, so there’s no misunderstanding their impact.

Thanking people for their donations is one of the most overlooked aspects of fundraising.

If you can do it effectively, you’ll increase the chances of building a good relationship with your donors and getting them to give regularly.

Book a call with Campaign Deputy and see how you can automate your Thank You emails.

Using email to appeal for donations has always been a great way of connecting with potential donors.

It’s a non-intrusive and very scalable outreach technique allowing you to get your message across clearly and easily.

In this article, we’ll give you the perfect framework for writing donation request letters with a few examples to inspire you.

Interested in a demo? Sign up for a short demo.

4 Step Framework for Writing Donation Request Letters

The AIDA writing framework has been used successfully in the commercial space for many years. Allowing consumers to understand the value of an offer and getting them to take action.

We can use the same process when gathering donations for your campaign.

Remember, keep your letters long enough to get your message across but short enough to avoid losing their interest.

You’re not trying to explain every aspect of your campaign, you’re trying to get them to take a specific action – to donate.

Avoid using high-level language that would disconnect your reader from your message. Use a conversational tone so your letter doesn’t sound like a mass-produced corporate newsletter.

Now, let’s get into the only writing framework you’ll ever need for writing amazing donation request letters.

The AIDA framework consists of 4 main parts:

A – Attention

The first step of any donation request letter is capturing your donor’s attention.

You do this in the subject line of your email.

Remember, if you can’t get your donor to open your email then it doesn’t matter how good the rest of it might be. They simply won’t donate to your cause, because they have no idea it exists.

The perfect subject line should be short and intriguing to justify opening your email.

Here are 5 examples to get you started:

1. What can you afford?
2. Time is running out
3. We’re so close
4. Today is the last day to help
5. It’s not too late to help
6. Be a hero today

What to avoid when writing a subject line:

• Avoid lengthy subject lines
• Try not to be clickbaity (spam filters can block your emails)
• Avoid using too many special characters like $ symbols or emojis
• Don’t use terms that trigger spam filters 

Once you’ve got your donor’s attention and they’ve opened your letter, you move into the interest-building phase.

I – Interest

Here you start building the narrative of your letter.

Interest is built in the first 1 or 2 paragraphs of your letter.

When building interest in your cause or campaign, it’s important to think about how this appeals to your donor and what might stop them from donating their own hard-earned money.

The 4 main reasons people DO NOT donate to a cause are:

1. They don’t have the money
2. They prefer volunteering instead
3. They prefer donating goods or services
4. They don’t trust the organization

Overcoming these objections is the key to a successful donation request letter.

Here are 2 examples to get you started:

Example 1:

We’ve spent the last [number] years recruiting the most amazing volunteers, and kindly received [products / services / donations] from local businesses like [company name]. However, we need to do more and with your help, we can [your cause / campaign].

We understand it’s not easy giving, especially in a climate where fewer a fewer organizations are backed by good intentions. We aim to change this view by [being transparent / regularly reporting], so you’ll know exactly where your contributions are going.

Example 2:

We want to acknowledge all our volunteers who’ve kindly given their most valuable asset of time towards [your cause / campaign], and companies like [company name] who’ve so generously given of their [products/services/donations] to move our campaign forward.

But now, we need your help. Giving can be difficult, especially when you don’t trust the organization you’re trying to help. We get it, and we’re making efforts to increase [transparency / reporting] of all donated funds, so you’ll never need to question where your contributions are going. 

The only purpose of your introduction is to get donors to read the rest of your request letter.

By overcoming objections you know they already have, you’re earning their attention and eventually their contribution to your cause.

Avoid moving directly into your request or telling them a motivating story.

Nobody opens an email to read a novel, you must get to the point as quickly as possible to maintain their interest.

Once you’ve piqued your donor’s interest, it’s now time to build their desire for giving.

D – Desire

Now that we’ve overcome the objections donors might have, it’s time to start building their desire for your cause.

You do this by outlining what you’ve already managed to do, or what your vision for their contribution might be. Desire is created when the person reading your donation request letter wants to feel part of what you’re doing because they can see the benefit of it in their own mind.

They want to feel like they’re an active participant in the change you’re bringing about, and the best way to do that is by outlining exactly what you’ve got in store for their contribution to your campaign.

When listing these benefits, avoid using large paragraphs of text. It might seem logical to explain each benefit in detail, but you’re more likely to lose your reader’s attention and they’ll close the email.

People don’t like reading large blocks of text, instead, use a skimmable format like bulleted points or numbered steps.

The clearer and to the point you can be, the more likely your donor is to finish reading your message. 

Here are 2 examples to get you started:

Example 1:

We appreciate how busy you might be, so we’re not going to ask you to read about every aspect of our campaign right now. However, we’ll be happy to provide more details should you want to know more.

In summary, here’s what your contribution will be supporting:

• [Benefit 1]
• [Benefit 2]
• [Benefit 3]
• [Benefit 4]
• [Benefit 5]

With your help, we can [your cause] and make our combined dream a reality.

Example 2: 

Our campaign has a lot of moving parts, and we know you’re not interested in reading an essay right now. However, should you have the time and want to know exactly what you’ll be helping us achieve you can read more here.

In summary, here are the steps we’re taking to [your cause]:

1. [Step 1]
2. [Step 2]
3. [Step 3]
4. [Step 4]
5. [Step 5]

We can only achieve these steps with contributions from kind and giving people like yourself.

Donors will value your succinct message and appreciate the option of requesting more information should they need it.

Remember, to goal is to take up as little of their time as possible because in their eyes this is their most valuable asset. If you value their time, they can be sure that you’ll also value their money.

Now that we’ve successfully captured the interest of our donors and built their desire for getting involved, we need to ask them to take action.

A – Action

When asking your reader to donate, you need to be very specific in your request.

People get confused when they’re presented with too many options, or when the request is to vague.

But how exactly do you ask for a donation in an email?

Make the next step as obvious as possible by instructing them, rather than simply including a link.

Here are 3 examples to get you started:

1. Click here to give what you can towards [your cause] and help us [main benefit].
2. We hope you share our vision for [your cause] and want to be involved by donating here.
3. Take a stand with us by clicking here to [your cause] and creating [main benefit].

Make sure the only links you include from your donation request letter are to your website to provide more context if they need it, or to the contribution page where they can donate.

Don’t include links to your social accounts or pages that might distract your donor from your message.

Your goal is to get their attention, generate interest in your cause or campaign, build their desire for getting involved, and finally get them to take a specific action.

Nothing more and nothing less.

Use the AIDA framework for writing letters to your donors and you’ll see a much higher contribution rate because you’re respecting their time and have a clear path for them to follow.

Interested in a demo on how to create a donation request in Campaign Deputy? Sign up for a short demo.