You may remember Alec Baldwin’s famous sales line from Glengarry Glen Ross, “A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing!” But when it comes to nurturing relationships with donors, think “A-B-T. Always be thanking.”

This is something that our client Florida International University knows well, evidenced by their current #FIUThanks social media effort.  To coincide with Thanks Day activities on November 12 and 13, FIU’s digital team is encouraging their students to give thanks to donors by name:

1. Students write a note of thanks.
2. Take a selfie or photo with the note.
3. Upload the photo to social media channels, captioning the photo with a specific reason for their appreciation ­ – new equipment, a certain building or even a favorite class – anything with which they feel a personal connection.
4. The hashtag #FIUThanks brings these notes together.

Another CPV client, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, does an outstanding job of thanking their donors. We created their Donor Recognition Report within the context of an annual report and listed every single donor. It took 35 pages of six-column, 8-point type to fit them all in, but we did it. And the result was astounding. The hospital received calls from countless donors to thank us for thanking them. Donors who give large gifts are used to being thanked in big, splashy ways, but donors of small gifts need to feel appreciated as well. And this report did the trick.

Another way Nationwide Children’s thanks its donors is through “Dinner with the Doctors.” Supporters at a certain giving level are invited to attend this annual dinner and presentation. Hospital physicians join each table, ready to answer questions, talk about their research or share the latest news about the hospital’s achievements and plans for the future. 

Our client, Creative Living, thanks their donors each and every month by including their names in the current issue of their newsletter. It’s a dependable, ongoing way to thank those who make the housing and care they provide possible to those who live with physical disabilities. And it’s a prime example of how organizations that rely on the generosity of others should never stop thanking their donors in very specific ways.