Acknowledgment question

Hi everyone -

   Thanks for your responses!  So far it seems that what we've been doing all along is the right way to go, which is to continue to include the "language" at the bottom of the letter.  I think we will present the second, personalized letter to major donors (or donors at a certain level and above) as the solution.

   We are looking into more thank-you calls as well.  For the past two seasons we have conducted a "thank-a-thon" in our administrative offices.  We've found that it's a good way to get our Overseers more involved, as they're simply calling to thank our subscribers and donors, rather than asking them for money - which scares them away from volunteering.  We've also talked about providing board members with "take home" lists of $250+ donors to call.

 

-Lisa

 

Lisa D. McColgan
Huntington Theatre Company
Office of Development
264 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA  02115-4606
(617) 273-1546

>>> bounce-jessecohen2610@tessituranetwork.com 8/11/2009 10:16 AM >>>

This isn't a Tessitura answer, but I think it might be something to consider, especially from the saving-trees angles. A lot of fundraising experts whose seminars I've been to strongly recommend a phone call, preferably within two days of receipt of a donation, from a board member or in your case the MD. This really adds a personal touch, plus you can send the boilerplate acknowledgment/tax info separately. Even leaving a warm thank-you on a voice-mail message is effective.

-Jesse Cohen

Director of Development and Communications, The Metropolitan Opera Guild

Hi all -

We are in the process of reviewing and/or overhauling our acknowledgment process.  I am looking for some feedback.

Our managing director wants to play a bigger role in acknowledging our donors, which is great.  However, he is pretty dead-set against including the standard IRS "language" at the bottom of the letter (which is what we've always done).  He wants the letter to be more personal, and feels that the tax language destroys this somehow.

After some discussion, we think we may have arrived at a solution of sorts, which is to run the letter sans the IRS language, and include some kind of a "buck slip" which would detail the gift specifics (amount, date received) plus the language.

I am wondering what other organizations are currently doing, and/or if anyone would be willing to share samples of their acknowledgment letters and/or receipts.

Thanks much!

-Lisa McColgan

Annual Fund Coordinator, Huntington Theatre Company

This message was sent automatically to you by www.tessituranetwork.com because you subscribed to the Tessitura Development Forum. You may reply to this message to post to the Development forum or visit the site to search, read and post to the forums. In the interest of keeping the forum posts from becoming cluttered, we encourage you to delete previous message text from your reply before sending. Thank you!

Hi everyone -

   Thanks for your responses!  So far it seems that what we've been doing all along is the right way to go, which is to continue to include the "language" at the bottom of the letter.  I think we will present the second, personalized letter to major donors (or donors at a certain level and above) as the solution.

   We are looking into more thank-you calls as well.  For the past two seasons we have conducted a "thank-a-thon" in our administrative offices.  We've found that it's a good way to get our Overseers more involved, as they're simply calling to thank our subscribers and donors, rather than asking them for money - which scares them away from volunteering.  We've also talked about providing board members with "take home" lists of $250+ donors to call.

 

-Lisa

 

Lisa D. McColgan
Huntington Theatre Company
Office of Development
264 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA  02115-4606
(617) 273-1546

>>> bounce-jessecohen2610@tessituranetwork.com 8/11/2009 10:16 AM >>>

This isn't a Tessitura answer, but I think it might be something to consider, especially from the saving-trees angles. A lot of fundraising experts whose seminars I've been to strongly recommend a phone call, preferably within two days of receipt of a donation, from a board member or in your case the MD. This really adds a personal touch, plus you can send the boilerplate acknowledgment/tax info separately. Even leaving a warm thank-you on a voice-mail message is effective.

-Jesse Cohen

Director of Development and Communications, The Metropolitan Opera Guild

Hi all -

We are in the process of reviewing and/or overhauling our acknowledgment process.  I am looking for some feedback.

Our managing director wants to play a bigger role in acknowledging our donors, which is great.  However, he is pretty dead-set against including the standard IRS "language" at the bottom of the letter (which is what we've always done).  He wants the letter to be more personal, and feels that the tax language destroys this somehow.

After some discussion, we think we may have arrived at a solution of sorts, which is to run the letter sans the IRS language, and include some kind of a "buck slip" which would detail the gift specifics (amount, date received) plus the language.

I am wondering what other organizations are currently doing, and/or if anyone would be willing to share samples of their acknowledgment letters and/or receipts.

Thanks much!

-Lisa McColgan

Annual Fund Coordinator, Huntington Theatre Company

This message was sent automatically to you by www.tessituranetwork.com because you subscribed to the Tessitura Development Forum. You may reply to this message to post to the Development forum or visit the site to search, read and post to the forums. In the interest of keeping the forum posts from becoming cluttered, we encourage you to delete previous message text from your reply before sending. Thank you!