Donor Recognition: The Real Key to Retention

“Again, it comes back to honoring the donor’s wishes, not ignoring the note in your data,” Sayre says. “That’s something that is starting to become more of a trend as well — not just customizing the letter body, but what else can you include based on what you know about the donor.”

Surprise thy donor
Sayre has seen many Merkle clients run effective donor acknowledgment programs through several different channels. One, a very large, prominent nonprofit, has started doing outbound thank-you calls to a target list of its donors. These calls are strictly donor recognition calls, thanking donors for their gifts and loyalty, with no ask. Turns out, it has been a pleasant surprise to donors, many of whom have shared that they were stunned by getting a call from a nonprofit with no ask for money. It’s had a big impact with donors, having personal conversations simply to say thanks, which Sayre says is starting to slowly emerge as a best practice.