Episode #246
Have you ever goofed with a potential new donor?
In today’s video, you’ll hear a story about when a mistake was made with a potentially new major donor. And when I say major donor, I mean MAJOR…a celebrity worth a billion dollars.
Jana Byington Smith tells the story, and shares some great take-aways from her experience. Jana no longer works for the organization in the story. You can now find her at Mercy.
I’ve also added a little clip with Jana at the end where she talks about making thank you calls to donors. The way she prioritizes which donors get calls was very interesting for me. It’s not the same way everyone else does it. I hadn’t heard her way before and I wanted to share it with you.
As you’ll see, thanking comes up a lot in this video. If you want to learn how to thank donors really really well, and even get a thank you letter template from one of the top experts on thanking donors, then check out the “Donor Retention Project“.
If you have any tips or stories on thanking donors, please share them in a comment box. Thanks. 🙂
Excellent and much-appreciated! The personal touch always stands out and a personal phone thank you, especially.
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I enjoyed Carolyn’s comments on giving and follow up thank you by phone
I tried it and the donor said I will put you on the list for next year so call me when
the need come up. That was refreshing. Rudy
I really enjoyed Jana Byington Smith discussion today. I could so relate and yet she gave the confidence to continue. Thank you for this message.
Truly inspirational!! Thank you!
As the general manager of our small non-profit arts organization, after a gift is received, I write an acknowledgement letter that includes a thank you as well as the tax information the donor will need. Then one of our board members follows up with a phone call a week or so later. We never leave a thank you on an answering machine, which means many tries sometimes, but the personal connection is worth it. I like sharing the thank yous with the board members and am happy they see the value in participating. It gives them an opportunity to engage the donor in a discussion about how their donation will be used.
Chris,
Even with the corrected link, I still can’t access this week’s video.
All I see on my screen is a blank box where the play prompt usually appears.
Any suggestions?
Gary
Gary, the reason you’re seeing a blank screen most likely has to do with how your IT dept lets in streaming media. You can read more about it here: http://moviemondays.wpengine.com/faq/