Make 2015 a Year of Resurrection: The Importance of Thanking and Retaining Donors

Over the last several months, I have developed a friendship with a woman who does not work in the fundraising world. And yet, she probably should because she does an important part of a fundraiser's job better than almost anyone I know.

She says thank you. And she says it in a way that makes me feel as if I am the only person in the world that matters to her and that my small action truly made a difference. I recently received a handwritten note from her related to my help to prepare Thanksgiving dinner (in exchange for joining in a delicious feast with her family). Nothing I did was that spectacular or sacrificial, but she recounted each with such gratitude that I wanted to do more for her.