tion. By making your donor the hero of every thank-you letter (and every appeal letter for that matter), you reinforce in their mind that they made the right decision in supporting your missioOne temptation in writing fundraising thank-you letters is to make your organization the star of the letter. You feel pressure to tell your donors how terrific you are, how cost-effective you are or how broke you are. You are tempted to brag about your achievements, your success, your volunteers, your new board member and more.

You need to resist this temptation. The secret to crafting effective donation thank-you letters is “making the donor the star of every transaction,” as Conrad Squires puts it in his book, Teach Yourself to Write Irresistible Fund-raising Letters.

The quickest and cheapest way to build donor loyalty and reduce donor attrition is to tell your donors how much they are accomplishing in the world through your organization. By making your donor the hero of every thank-you letter (and every appeal letter for that matter), you reinforce in their mind that they made the right decision in supporting your missioare or how broke you are. You are tempted to brag about your achievements, your success, your volunteers, your new board member and more.

You need to resist this temptation. The secret to crafting effective donation thank-you letters is “making the donor the star of every transaction,” as Conrad Squires puts it in his book, Teach Yourself to Write Irresistible Fund-raising Letters.

The quickest and cheapest way to build donor loyalty and reduce donor attrition is to tell your donors how much they are accomplishing in the world through your organization. By making your donor the hero of every thank-you letter (and every appeal letter for that matter), you reinforce in their mind that they made the right decision in supporting your missioret to crafting effective donation thank-you letters is “making the donor the star of every transaction,” as Conrad Squires puts it in his book, Teach Yourself to Write Irresistible Fund-raising Letters.

The quickest and cheapest way to build donor loyalty and reduce donor attrition is to tell your donors how much they are accomplishing in the world through your organization. By making your donor the hero of every thank-you letter (and every appeal letter for that matter), you reinforce in their mind that they made the right decision in supporting your missiong Letters.

The quickest and cheapest way to build donor loyalty and reduce donor attrition is to tell your donors how much they are accomplishing in the world through your organization. By making your donor the hero of every thank-you letter (and every appeal letter for that matter), you reinforce in their mind that they made the right decision in supporting your missiotion. By making your donor the hero of every thank-you letter (and every appeal letter for that matter), you reinforce in their mind that they made the right decision in supporting your mission. And that they are right in continuing their support.

How to make the donor the hero
1. Use the word “you” more than you use the word “we.” Make the letter all about the donor.
2. Show a direct link between the donor’s donation and your mission. For example: “Thanks to your generous gift of $100, we fed 52 homeless men last night while the temperature hovered around -18° outside. Those men are thankful to you. And so am I.”
3. Go beyond the donation to the donor, and describe how grateful you are for the donor as a person, as a supporter, as a friend of your organization.
4. Make your donors feel special by describing how they are one in a thousand, or one in ten thousand, by supporting your cause while others do not.