7 Unique Methods of Integrating Donor Acknowledgment
With donor acknowledgment playing such a crucial role in engagement, finding unique ways to integrate these acknowledgments into your organization’s content is a must. These seven methods should give you some jumping off points when it comes time to add to your acknowledgment and relationship building strategies.
#1 Create a Webpage Focused on Donor Acknowledgment
Making donors the star of the show is a surefire way to ensure they feel appreciated and empowered to make an impact through your organization. For those reasons, creating an appreciation page or “Wall of Donors” on your website is a great way to make sure donors feel apart of your community.
All you need to do is reach out to your donors and get a photo and short blurb about themselves that you can put up on the page. Anyone who donates should be featured or, if you’d like, you can limit it to those who commit to recurring donations, giving a fun incentive for them to subscribe to a gifting plan. The donor wall will also act like social proof, cementing the number of people who help your organization out. Committed volunteers may also deserve a spot on this page, regardless of monetary donations.
#2 Feature a “Donor of the Month” on Social Media
What better way to give a donor warm fuzzy feelings than a mass shout-out? Just let everyone who follows you know how great they are! Starting a new “donor of the month” tradition is a great way to showcase these individuals. This works great for those who support your organization on a larger scale.
You can always pick someone at random. Ideally, though, use this opportunity to celebrate donors who truly go above and beyond. For instance, you might have a donor who gives consistently, always backs new projects, and enthusiastically volunteers whenever they have time. Include their photo and perhaps a short interview. This lets everyone in the community get to know them.
#3 Share a “Thank You” Video from Your Team
Video is one of the best ways to reach donors online. A thoughtful “thank you” video from your team could be just what your marketing needs. Add it to your next email campaign or even your social media pages. A kind message from your team thanking donors directly is yet another subtle yet impactful way to acknowledge the importance donors have for your success.
#4 Get Specific With Donor Acknowledgment
Success stories are one of the most effective types of content to acknowledge donors. These stories can center around a recent mission trip or some other project that needed donations. As long as you have something to show for it, you should be specific about it. When it comes to donations that support the community, something as simple as interviewing one of the people that the donations positively effected can do wonders for cementing their importance.
#5 Host a Cultivation Event
Relationship building is a huge part of creating a sustainable stream of donations, so if you need to work more of it into your strategy, hosting a cultivation event could also act as a great way to acknowledge and show appreciation for all those who donate to your organization.
A cultivation event isn’t about asking for more gifts. Rather, the event should truly focus on getting to know your donors better. You can do this through fun activities that will ultimately help donors feel closer to your organization and even closer to each other, helping to add to your community atmosphere. Plus, any event offers a platform for you to discuss your impact and emphasize your organization’s focus yet again.
#6 Send Anniversary Cards
People love getting handwritten notes, especially since they are so rare these days. What happens when you combine handwritten notes with the novel concept of an anniversary card? You have a recipe for successful donor acknowledgment that’s super easy to execute. So long as your backend system allows you to track when donors made their first donation, you can send out a donation anniversary card. This reminds them of their initial gift. It also allows you to thank them yet again. When doing this, you can report progress and perhaps even inspire them to give again.
#7 Make Donation Photo Books for Donor Acknowledgment
Photos are an excellent way to document all of the projects your organization invests in. What do you do with them, though, beyond posting to social media? If you’re looking for a way to show donor appreciation while also showing their impact, creating photo books is a great idea. This will document all of your projects for a given time frame — thus reminding folks why they give.
Annual photo books would make an especially great appreciation gift during the holiday season at the end of the year. You can send them as gifts to your biggest and most loyal donors just as an extra token of appreciation. This will help reinforce everything they’ve given and keep them motivated to give more.
