In this post of 6 tips on how to thank donors nonprofit organizations, we will discuss how any company can go from bad to good with bettering their donor relations. Nonprofit organizations should be aware of the importance of thanking its donors as without them, they could not develop, grow and flourish. But thanking donors once a year by mail for example is not sufficient.
New interactive technologies permit now to install donor recognition walls that are highly effective as they thank your donors and inspire new potential donors in a way static donor displays and plaques cannot.
Here are 6 practical tips on how to thank your donors and inspire others to donate:
1. Donor Wall
Donors love to be recognized publically and this can be done installing a large donor recognition wall or even on a smaller donor recognition display. Other ways to publically recognize your donors could includes sharing their donation on public media platforms, in your newsletters and other public communications, however there is nothing that compares to doing it at your facility, where your audience, visitors, and donors can see it. Your donors will feel appreciated with this kind of recognition, which also might stimulate others to make donations too.
2. Multimedia
As people say, 1 good picture worth a thousand words. Images, video and sound are very powerful medium to communicate your nonprofit organization’s mission, vision, history, actions and results. Make your multimedia exhibit, interactive and engaging, in the right place and at the right size and you have a winning card.
You no longer need expensive video recording equipment to create content as most smart phones nowadays can record video in excellent quality. Gather video of something as simple as thank-you messages from your staff to highlight the people your nonprofit is helping. Add pictures that can most effectively tell your story, highlight your progress and success stories. Show in pictures or videos how donor’s generosity helped people or your organization. Remember that putting an actual face to a donation can be very powerful. It instantly creates stronger emotional bonds between the donor and the nonprofit organization.
3. Make it Interactive
Studies show that interactive experiences are a lot more enjoyable, memorable and engaging that static (non-interactive) experiences. If you truly want to impress your audience, get their attention, capture their imagination, thank your donors and inspire new donors, make it interactive. Let visitors interact with the multi-media experience.
4. Size Counts
Make sure that this Donor Recognition Wall or Display is as large as possible. Size does count. Ensure that your Donor Recognition Wall or Donor Display is in a high-traffic, strategic location within your venue so the maximum number of visitors can see and be inspired by.
5. Tell Your Story
Let your donors learn about your vision, mission, plans and progress. Show success stories. Donors like to see the people benefiting from their contributions and where their money is going. Ensure that your Donor Wall or Display tells your story, show your organization’s history, the people behind it and more. Show how it growth with the help of images, text and graphs displayed on a time-line.
6. Ensure that is Up to Date.
There is no more embarrassing than missing the name of a major benefactor, misspelling his/her name or not mentioning a manager, or a major event. To avoid that, ensure that your Interactive Donor Recognition Wall is equipped with an easy to use, content management tool that will allow people within your organization keep all the content including list of donors, bios, text, images, videos, etc, up to date.
In summary
Donors, like all other people want to feel appreciated. So don’t just read the above suggestions, put one or more into action and, the sooner the better.