Does anyone have a streamlined acknowledgement process they are happy with and would share? We are currently stuck in the cycle of many letters that contain a ton of customization. I am looking to create a more streamlined process that gets the initial tax letter out the door a whole lot faster. My VP is totally on board (this is one of her operational thorns) but I know I am going to get push back from my front line fundraisers. Any tips or tricks to navigate this? Thinking a system of secondary follow up based on gift amount that could be easily customized, like a phone call or note card, that comes after the tax letter (receipt?) is out the door. I would love any feedback or advice you can offer.
Hi Dana,
We implemented a process last year that's been working very well for us. We configured our various letters (acks, notifications, tax letter, etc.) in Tessitura, and have an internal schedule for when we run that report. I have several templates for the letters depending on the different types of contributions, and that's helped limit customizing each letter and writing drafts because much easier. The biggest help has been using a Trello board to keep track of everything though.
Every step of the process is laid out in a pipeline from "contribution entered" to "1st draft done" "sent for edits" and "mailed out." It can get very granular depending on your particular needs. We also use Slack, and have a dedicated channel for just the people involved in acks so everyone can track the whole process there as well.
Happy to discuss this further if you have any questions!
Hi Maia,
Are you willing to share this with the SLSO as well? My email address is ashleye@slso.org. Can you copy my coworker Christina Cook christinac@slso.org?
Thanks,
Ashley Elliott
Database Administrator
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
314-286-4198
ashleye@slso.org