DONORS> Christmas cards and relationship building ... or not?

Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2003 10:59:57 -0000
From: Donna Day Lafferty

I send cards and have had a number of warm thank yous for the thought.

You can't win!

How about sending a brief letter to Mr Grumpy explaining that he card was
sent by a volunteer, the total cost to the organisation is the stamp and
card and that for many donors this is an important 'thank you' for all their
generosity. Tell him you really appreciate his selflessness in not wanting
to be personally thanked and that if he would prefer you can make sure he
doesn't get them again.

Ideally get the volunteer to write the letter

"Dear Mr Grumpy

At the end of last year I sent you a Christmas card and I would like to
write an express regret for any damage I may have done to XX charity's
reputation for good fiscal management in doing so.

I work for XX charity as a volunteer and so the cost of send ing tot he card
to you was merely the stamp and card itself. For many people who support us
on an annual basis, Christmas cards offer an opportunity to express our
gratitude to them for enabling us to carry out our work.

I choose to work as a volunteer for XX charity because ????

I would like to thank you once again for all your generous support of XX's
work and unless we hear from you to the contrary, I will make sure that you
do not receive and cards in future."

On the other hand you could just say Bah Humbug and move on to the next
donor!

Our's is a thankless task sometimes.

Fond regards

Donna Day Lafferty
[email]daylafferty@yahoo.co.uk[/email]

Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 11:06:15 -0000
From: Wendy Ahl

We send cards to selected donors, both individual, corporate and trust. We
did not send any appeal with ours but one trust sent us a donation as a
direct result.

I guess there's just no pleasing some people!

Wendy
----------------------------------------------------------
Mrs Wendy Ahl MInstF
Community Fundraiser
St Peter and St James Hospice and Continuing Care Centre, North Common Road,
North Chailey, Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 4ED
Tel: 01444 471598 Fax: 01444 471088 Charity no: 1056114
E-mail: [email]wendy@stpeter-stjames.org.uk[/email] Website: [url]www.stpeter-stjames.org.uk[/url]

Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 10:10:17 -0000
From: Richard Hick

I do around two thousand cards each year - and have received one
complaint, around a dozen noted their appreciation in comments on
donation slips.

One year we didn't have enough cards so missed a small number of
supporters - when a donation from a supporter arrived at Easter they
enquired if everything was alright as they hadn't received their usual
card the previous Christmas! Also, supporters now send us cards wishing
us well - which is probably typical of our audience and nice for us too.

Richard
[email]Richard.Hick@mariecurie.org.uk[/email]

Did you know that 8 out of 10 people support a charity in their lifetime
but only 4% at their deathtime through a gift in their will?