Gratitude is essential to any culture. This is especially true when inviting people to participate in the work of your mission. This post is designed to help you begin to create a healthy gratitude culture and develop a year-round gratitude plan.
Understanding why individuals discontinue or reduce their contributions is a critical step in donor development. Consider conducting a survey, calling lapsed donors, and using the data from your CRM to understand your donor habits. Often, the primary reason people cease giving is because they feel their generosity goes unnoticed. Nonprofit leaders have the power to change this by showing genuine appreciation and showing it often. Without a systematic approach to expressing gratitude, you risk losing donors, negatively impacting your work and your mission’s culture.
Use these five practical steps to develop a healthy culture of gratitude.
An effective appreciation strategy begins with clear goals and objectives. Your gratitude goals should align with your organization’s vision and values. Define success in terms of donor retention and engagement levels. Once you have benchmarks, establish your goals and measure their impact. Outlining your goals provides direction and focus for every interaction related to donor appreciation in the future.
Your goals can include:
With your team members, write down SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely) Goals to help you reach your goals. This will keep everyone accountable and motivated.
Celebrating milestones acknowledges individuals' generosity and reinforces the connection between your donors and your mission. Establishing a system for tracking and recognizing these milestones is critical for success. Many different ways to honor donors exist. Practicing gratitude is contextual based on your mission and donors. Some donors enjoy public recognition, while others prefer to receive it privately. The following is a list of possible milestones to recognize:
Celebrating milestones in donors’ lives increases the emotional satisfaction of both the donor and the receiver of the appreciation. The celebration also strengthens the recipient’s connection to the mission and boosts trust and transparency.
The gratitude strategy should complement the organization’s mission and values. Building a culture of gratitude requires time and intentional effort. Begin by developing a team. Look for staff, leaders, and volunteers who are grateful. Look for people you enjoy collaborating with. And look for people who can share this work.
All gratitude is good. Personal gratitude is the best. Acknowledge the unique value of each donor’s contribution to your mission and vision. Develop tailored appreciation initiatives for various segments to be more specific and personal in thanking donors. Go beyond what is considered normal for extraordinary results.
As you build your year-round strategy, think about unique ways to celebrate their generosity. This might include:
Creating a calendar of activities is an essential first step. Include timelines, who is responsible for the task, and the people being thanked. Schedule events and activities to thank donors and foster consistent engagement. Examples are:
To get you started, check out this practical and comprehensive outline to create your appreciation strategy.
Part of developing a culture of gratitude is telling stories of impact. Be consistent and use different communication methods (social media, web, texting, email) to reach as many people as possible.
Implementing the four steps above will help you show appreciation. Still, to truly create a year-long strategy, you must develop a culture of gratitude that starts with your team.
A healthy culture of gratitude will profoundly impact your organization, both internally and externally. Gratitude cultivates long-term relationships built on trust and understanding, resulting in dedicated and motivated donors who will continue to support your mission.