Reaffirm a donor's decision to give -- and hurry!

What happens after a donor gives? Are you doing everything possible to make sure the donors gives again?

They think about this a lot in the commercial world. You can see how at the Return Customer Blog: Why You Need to Reaffirm Customer Decisions:

There is always a bit of uncertainty when a customer decides to make a purchase. By immediately giving positive feedback to the customer that they made the right decision, you can remove that doubt.... Armed with this confidence, your customers are more likely to be happy with their purchase. They’ll be less likely to have buyer's remorse and return your product the next day.

If this issue is important for buyers, it's even more important for donors.

Giving creates a feel-good "warm glow." It also creates uncertainty.

The uncertainty that preys most on donors is whether or not their gift really makes a difference. Are they going to use my gift the way they said they would? Are they effective? Will my gift be frittered away on overhead and fundraising? Was I tricked into a charity scam?

Every hour that ticks by after they make their gift, the warm glow fades -- and doubt can gain the upper hand. And as you know, when we lack information, we tend to make up stories to fill the gap. These stories are based on how we feel. So the longer it takes you to get back to a donor about their gift, the more likely they are to have negative feelings about you.

Here are some things you can do to reaffirm donors:

• Speed your receipts into the mail. The faster, the better. If you're taking more than 48 hours, you're taking too long.
  
• Make sure your receipt is relevant to the gift the donor gave. Talk about the same specific things that motivated the gift.
  
• Consider making a special thank-you phone call. If not to all donors, at least to those above a certain level.
  
• For gifts above $100 or so send the donor a personal, maybe even hand-written, thank-you note in addition to the receipt.
  
• Publish a donor-centered newsletter that's all about the impact of donors' giving. It's not how cool you are, but how cool they are.
  

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