The most important letter in direct mail fundraising never asks for a gift. Ever.
The thank-you letters that you mail to donors have one goal: to thank your donors for their generosity and support. Yes, your gift acknowledgement letters, notes and cards strengthen relationships and build donor loyalty. And yes, if mailed soon enough and if worded sincerely enough, they do increase your chances of receiving more gifts. But these things are secondary benefits. The main benefit of a thank-you letter is that your donor knows that you are thankful. Because you said so.
So don’t ask for another gift in your thank-you letter. Ignore the consultants who say that the thank-you letter is the perfect place to solicit a second gift. It’s not. It’s the worst possible place. You haven’t earned the right to another gift when you haven’t even spent the first one yet. But there are better reasons to avoid this blunder.
Are you thankful . . . but?
Asking for money in a thank-you letter is like receiving an apology from someone who says, “I’m sorry . . . but.” I think you'll agree with me that an apology followed by a “but” is no apology at all. Apologies should be unequivocal and absolute. “I was wrong. I’m sorry.” End of apology. No clauses, no excuses.
The same goes for your thank-you letters. They should say “thank you” and nothing more. Extending your thanks and extending your tin cup at the same time is plain rude. And bad for business.
In a study conducted by Penelope Burk and Cygnus Applied Research, Inc., 53% of individual donors surveyed said asking for another gift in the body of a thank-you letter is rude. Eight percent said they stop giving if this happens.
And yet 66% of individual donors say they have received requests for another gift within the body of thank-you letters. Thanks to disrespectful fundraisers, that is.
Let me put it this way. Do you want to be rude to over half of your donors? Of course not. So don’t say, “Thank you, but.” If you are going to say anything in addition to a sincere thank you, say this:
- say what you are doing with the donor’s gift
- praise them for their involvement
- tell them the difference their donation is making right now
- thank them for participating in your cause
You may be thinking that asking for another gift in the thank-you letter is cost effective because you don’t need to mail another appeal. You say thanks and solicit a gift with one stamp. I admit, you might raise more money that way. But you’d lose more donors.
