March 2004

Saying thank you by Susie Fought

Testing e-mail without testing your sanity by Rachel Allison

What's up online by Dan Weeks 
  

 

Saying thank you

By Susie Fought

TALK TO ANY development professional or fundraising expert, and she'll agree: Thanking donors promptly and effectively is fundamental to any successful fundraising program. It's clearly the polite thing to do. It's also a matter of common sense and confirmed by research that donor thank-yous increase response to subsequent appeals, strengthen donor loyalty, and help build long-term relationships with donors.

But what constitutes an effective donor thank-you?

Many professional fundraisers will argue that a thank-you is the best time to solicit another contribution—and keep your organization "top-of-mind" with your donors. Some nonprofits send what's called a thank-you "bounce-back" form: a combination donation receipt and additional gift reply form. Others are less aggressive and simply include a reply envelope with their thank-you.

In Donor Centered Fundraising, Penelope Burk's recent book documenting several years of research on donor relationships, the author insists that whether it's done outright or indirectly, asking for more money in a thank-you correspondence is simply "bad manners."

According to Burk, 66% of donors surveyed said they had received requests for another gift within the body of a thank-you letter. Fifty-three percent thought this was rude, and 8% said they stop giving when it happens.

Whether or not you choose to follow Burke's advice regarding resolicitations within thank-you letters, her research did confirm what most fundraisers agree are key attributes of an effective thank-you letter:

1. Donors prefer a real letter (as opposed to a pre-printed card) that's personally addressed, with a personal salutation and a signature (personally hand-signed by a high-ranking staff person when possible).

2. A good thank-you letter will communicate warmth, excitement, and gratitude. In keeping with the fundraising truth that "people give to people," your ability to express how you personally feel about the donor's contribution will be remembered fondly.

3. The letter should be positive and written in a "can-do" tone. The thank-you is an opportunity to help the donor feel good about her decision and reinforce her original belief that the group is effective, caring, and worthy of her support.

4. And what many professionals consider "The Golden Rule" of fundraising: Thank-yous should be received by donors as promptly as possible. Forty-four percent of the donors in Burk's study said a prompt gift acknowledgment influences their future giving decisions. At my firm, we encourage nonprofits to send thank-yous within one week of the receipt date. On gifts of $100 or more, preferably within 24 or 48 hours.

The key is to find the right balance between an effective and a timely thank-you that works for your organization.

For example, I'm on the board of an under-staffed animal rescue organization that utilizes volunteers to send pre-printed postcards with photos of the rescue animals—with an added handwritten "Thank-You!" for gifts under $75. Everyone else receives a laser-personalized letter, hand-signed by the founder and director. For special cases (very large gifts, repeat donors, friends, etc.), the director will add a handwritten note on the letter, mail an additional greeting card, send a personal e-mail, and/or make a special phone call.

Depending on the volume of gifts, the thank-yous are mailed within 1 4 weeks of receipt. It's not perfect, but it's the right balance for this organization.

 

   
Testing e-mail without testing your sanity

By Rachel Allison

THE NIGHT SWEATS. The sweaty palms. The ulcers. I used to think these were all part and parcel of the testing and sending of e-mail messages. But not anymore. My "eureka" moment was The E-mail Production Checklist.

Were you on the e-mail list for a prominent organization that recently sent a terrific e-appeal — except it forgot to include a link to a giving page? Ooops. Just as with direct mail, a rigorous process of e-mail review will make sure you don't make mistakes that result in reduced response or ruined credibility.

The E-mail Production Checklist is the way to take testing seriously without driving yourself crazy.

 

Gearing up

Whatever the specifics, check:

 Has the language been approved by the appropriate person?

 Has the list or data for your message's recipients been received and uploaded into your e-mail messaging vendor's system?

 What segmenting/testing will you be attempting with this message?

 

The basics

 Spellcheck (duh).

 Read through for grammar. Yes, e-mail is more casual, but that doesn't mean it's immune from the rules of grammar.

 Have someone else do a read-through for grammar and spelling.

 Check that each link works.

Test accounts in each of the following to hit the majority of e-mail addresses . . .

 Yahoo

 AOL

 Hotmail

 Eudora

 Outlook

Check each of the accounts above in both Internet Explorer and Netscape, as well as on a Mac and a PC.

If the link works . . . you're still not done!

You still need to make sure the Web page you're linking to works.

 On donation pages, make a test gift.

 On online action pages, take action.

 If there are any phone numbers listed on your pages, call them to make sure they work.

 If there are any e-mail addresses listed on your pages, send a test message to make sure they work and don't bounce back.

 Unsubscribe yourself (then re-subscribe, of course) to ensure that unsubscribe links and processes work.

 

The technical stuff

Depending on your messaging vendor's capacity, make sure you remember to:

 Make the links in your e-mail trackable (that's how you know how many people clicked on a link in your message).

 Make links to online actions and donation pages personalized so they pre-populate the recipient's information.

 Dear FirstName. Yes, make sure the code for "FirstName" that you placed in your message actually works, by sending several test messages with several different preview members.

 Make sure the open rate of the e-mail is being tracked by your vendor.

The list above is by no means all-inclusive, but it encompasses the basics of e-mail testing to safeguard against the lion's share of possible errors. Give it a try — and let me know how it goes.

 

Rachel Allison is an Associate Consultant at Donordigital, 182 Second Street, San Francisco CA 94105, phone (415) 278-9444, fax (415) 901-0112, e-mail rachel@donordigital.com, Web www.donordigital.com. The checklist discussed in this article is available online at that address.

 

   
What's up online
By Dan Weeks

For over 30 years, Oxfam America has been fighting poverty, hunger, and social injustice. Their Web site, at www.oxfamamerica.org, includes news on timely events — such as the crisis in Haiti — as well as information on the root causes of hunger. Test yourself by taking the hunger quiz. You can also find links to several interesting projects with their own Web sites, including www.fairolympics.org and www.hungerbanquet.org. HungerBanquet.org is part of the "Fast for a World Harvest," Oxfam's oldest campaign to raise awareness and funds to fight world hunger. Take a seat at the table and learn something.

 

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