Why Handwritten Thank You Notes Will Increase Your Donations

Increase your online donations by adding a handwritten thank you note to your fundraising strategy. (Hint: you can automate it and save your hands.)

Online giving is much more impersonal than traditional face-to-face fundraising. But, as we’ve seen, closeness increases donations.

So how do you create a closer connection to your donors when they give online?

The answer is handwritten thank you notes. Here’s how they help you increase your online donations.

Research Shows Handwritten Notes Increase Spending

Research indicates that customers who receive handwritten thank you notes spend more money.

While nonprofits aren’t in the sales industry, online donations are a form of eCommerce. So, this research from Ariyh is applicable to your online fundraising strategy. It’s even more relevant when you consider that asking for donations from individuals is the same as B2C marketing, which is most relevant to these findings.

A handwritten thank you note – or a photocopy of one – increases future spending.

 A graph depicts the differences in spending between three customer types. Those who received no note spent $25.97 on average. Machine-written note receivers spent an average of $29.74. Nearly doubling both other categories, those who received handwritten or photocopied handwritten notes spent $52.07 on average.

What’s most interesting is that this “only works on customers with some feeling of loyalty toward the brand.” Which is perfect for nonprofits because people only donate to causes they feel connected to.

It’s also important to note that these handwritten notes should be personalized. Use your donors’ names rather than generic greetings.

Increase Donor Retention and Minimize Churn Rate

Understanding what keeps people giving, or inspires them to give more, is an important part of online fundraising. Crafting your donation ask requires knowing donor motivations. But so, too, does asking people to give again or sign up for recurring giving.

One of the most common motivations behind supporting a nonprofit is a sense of belonging or closeness with the cause. That’s why handwritten notes are so affective. These donors already gave because they felt connected. Thanking them personally with something handwritten inspires additional giving.

Plus, they might tell their friends about it, inspiring them to give as well.

It’s commonly said in sales that acquiring a new customer costs much more than keeping an old one around. The same goes for your donors. You get much more value from those who have already given to your cause.

Implementing these handwritten thank you notes can help reduce your donor churn rate, increasing your annual fundraising ROI.

Automate Your Handwritten Thank You Notes

At this point, it’s likely that you’re wondering how cramped your hand will be at the end of every day if you try to write handwritten notes. The answer is, not at all. You can automate this process and still personalize it with the same positive outcome. 

How Give, Handwrytten and Zapier work together.

Keep Your Donors Around with the Best Online Fundraising Tools

Your online fundraising platform should work for you to retain donors through better relationships. Are you using the best tools available?

View our live admin demo or get a GiveWP Pro Plan now to experience things like:

  1. Recurring Donations
  2. Tribute Giving
  3. Donor CRM Features and Integrations
  4. Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
  5. Funds and Designations
  6. Donor Wall
  7. Donor Dashboard

If you have any questions, our team is always here to help.

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