During the Colorado Gives Day on Dec. 6, 2011, I donated, albeit in small amounts, to 8 different nonprofits in Colorado. Of course I received a computer-generated thank you from the Colorado Gives Day website; but what I was most interested in receiving was the direct thank yous from these nonprofits.

According to Robert Dickeson during his fundraising workshop in Oct 2011, thank yous go a long way with donors. He is correct. I have received grateful acknowledgements from 6 of 8 nonprofits and I am fairly certain the two that I have not heard from are unlikely candidates to receive a donation from me in the future.

The most impressive was the Rocky Mountain MicroFinance Institute: a board member called me to personally thank me for my “generous” donation. In my opinion the donation was very small but this personal thank you made me feel special. They clearly have my support in the future besides the fact they are a great organization. They wowed me.

Four of the 5 nonprofits that thanked me did so by email messages and of these 3 were personal. Only one sent a letter and this included a personal note written on it. Of the 8 nonprofits, I have relationships with 7 through my work with the Estes Park Nonprofit Resource Center or my consulting, C2 Strategies. Email is a perfectly acceptable way to receive a thank you.

Thanking donors is important. Think about how you feel when you are acknowledged and then think about the ways you are thanked. Do this for your donors and make it matter.