After we've told our story, we'll be moving on to "Custom Thank You". Here, we're looking at what constitutes a meaningful thank you message to begin the donor stewardship process with your donors.
Reminder of the two examples we're working with:
Example 1: You're fundraising to offset the costs of new rescue animals you just brought in
Example 2: You're fundraising for your general fund or annual appeal
Every donor receives an automated thank you email once their donation is processed on GiveGab. This is the official start of a new stewardship cycle with your donor, so you should take the time to craft a meaningful and heartfelt thank you.
Include these three sentiments in your thank you:
You appreciate the donor's support of your campaign
Your donor's support will have an immense impact on your organization
Reinforcing what you'll be doing with your donor's contribution
Thank You Message
You should always include a Thank You Message, even if you plan on making a Thank You Video or include a Thank You Image. Every donor's email client and internet speeds are different - you're not sure what you might run in to. Some may not be able to load a video or even an image, so having a text thank you is incredibly important.
Your message needs to include the three sentiments above, and clearly explain to your donors exactly what you'll be doing with the funds raised and how that related to the campaign story you wrote before. If done correctly, you'll be seen as a more trustworthy organization because of the transparency you have with your supporters. This leads to a longer mutually beneficial relationship with proper stewardship.
Thank You Video
A Thank You Video can really drive the point home around what you're raising funds for, especially if the thank you is coming from the beneficiary.
You can do this by including a group of people who are benefitting from your organization saying Thank You, a unison Thank You, or even staff members saying Thank You.
Remember these few tips if you're creating a video:
Keep it short. People tend to lose interest after 60 seconds, so keep it to a minute or less!
Keep it relevant. Tie the thank you message back to your story and what your donors gave to!
Keep it authentic. Include those benefitting from your campaign.
Thank You Image
If you choose not to have a Thank You Video, you can have a Thank You Image! Just like the Thank You Video, a Thank You Image can really drive the point home around what you're raising funds for, especially if the thank you is coming from the beneficiary.
You can do this by including a picture of something that represents the beneficiary holding up a Thank You sign, or using a free graphic design program to add a "Thank You" message to the picture. We ❤️ Canva for this!
We've also seen Horses and Dogs holding thank you signs, children hand drawing a thank you, and staff members holding Thank You signs.
Your Thank You Image should be a medium sized, horizontal image, around 500 pixels by 300 pixels, but no larger than 5MB.
Here are two examples:
Photo 1
Photo 2
