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How to Follow up with Volunteers

Posted on June 30, 2022February 2, 2024 by EmMa Matern

INTRODUCTION

Acknowledging your volunteers is just as important as acknowledging your donors, and you can do that by sending out a follow up!

In this article we are going to be looking at why, how, and when to follow up with your volunteers. Volunteers are the powerhouse of the organization! Knowing how to send follow ups and how to make them effective is KEY. Sending out those follow ups as soon as you can will result in a good volunteer experience and increase the likelihood that volunteers will return for more work, and even become donors!

WHY FOLLOW UP?

Following up with your volunteers is important because volunteers are what keeps your nonprofit organization going. Volunteers donate their time and effort for a cause as long as it provides them with the personal satisfaction of doing good for others as well as a positive network of individuals who all care deeply about the cause. It is not only courteous, but necessary to follow up with them to gain valuable feedback about their experience with your nonprofit and give them more opportunities to donate. Follow-ups help volunteers feel in the loop and keep them involved in the work.

Apart from helping with your nonprofit’s mission, volunteers also seek charity work to gain experiences, network, learn new skills, add to their resume, and more. Sending out follow ups to gain feedback is beneficial to your organization and to volunteers. You can then use that feedback to improve your programs and it will increase the likelihood of volunteer’s returning, sending referrals to your organization, and building relationships.

Once you have established good relationships with your volunteers, it could result in them turning into donors down the line!

HOW?

Following up with your volunteers can be as easy as sending an email. The point is to maintain good communication. But it is a good idea to show effort in the way you follow up with them. The way to show effort can be evident in how you follow up and what you say in your follow up.

3 Points to Always Include in your Follow Up:
Acknowledgment of Gratitude: saying thank you in a personal way
Progress Made: letting them know how their efforts have helped the cause
Include a Survey: to gain insight of their experience

Make sure when you follow up with your volunteers, it reflects that you spent time and effort in contacting them. Volunteers put their time and effort into helping your organization, so you should do the same! Handwritten and personalized notes are an excellent way to show volunteers that their contribution is valuable and recognized. You should make it easy for them to respond back to you by including your email, phone number, or social media information.

WHEN?

A good time to send a follow up is as soon as possible! Try to aim to get those follow ups out within one week of their experience. This is especially important when you want to gain feedback from your volunteers. This is because their experience will still be fresh in their mind. It will also add to their experience to get that extra thank you soon after they spent time volunteering. When you maintain good communication, it builds relationships. Strong relationships with your volunteers will turn into strong donor relationships! It is all about the long game!

CONCLUSION

To wrap things up, we covered why, how, and when to follow up with your volunteers. It is important because volunteers are essential to keeping operations running. A follow up can be sending an email to writing a letter, but remember to put in effort so that volunteers feel their work is being reciprocated. The sweet spot of sending out follow ups is within one week or as soon as possible.

GET OUT THOSE FOLLOW UPS!

BONUS TIP

Want to know how to increase your average donation amount? Here are 9 easy steps that will tell you just that!

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How You Can Make Small Donors Feel Important

Posted on April 20, 2021February 2, 2024 by Ilan Mann

We understand that large donors are often the primary focus of non-profits, charities and other organizations that rely on donations. Given the potential amount large donors could contribute to meeting your fundraising goals, sometimes you might feel like the large donations are all that matter.

However, you might be better off focusing your efforts on a broader spectrum of donors than the 15% that make over $100,000 per year (U.S. figures). Why? Because large donors are notoriously hard to convince. You will spend more time trying for minimal outcomes instead of focusing your efforts on someone else who may give less but will actually give.

Small contributions can be an important part of your fundraising efforts. Giving a gift is more like creating and nurturing an ongoing conversation. The donation is the beginning of a relationship, not the end. Letting donors know they helped out, even if it’s only a few dollars, goes a long way in making those people feel a part of what you do and how much they mean to your cause.

Every donor needs to feel connected and that they’ve made a lasting impact on your organization’s mission. So recognizing every donation is important.

In the end, a great donor is the one who gives often. After all, you never know what someone else’s small gift could lead to in the future. And donors who give smaller amounts of money have a higher likelihood of donating again.

These small contributions may not add up to large amounts of money, but they add lots of goodwill. The best approach is to make every single donor feel like a superstar by recognizing their contributions. This post will offer tips on how to make small donors feel important and encourage ongoing contributions – no matter the size.

Personalize Your Thank You

First, take time to thank your donors personally. The best way to make sure your donations feel special is to personalize every interaction. It’s easy for a donor to feel like they’re just one in a million faceless donors when receiving form letters. Personalizing can make all the difference.

So why not create a unique letter template? Start by using their name, then talk about what they gave and how it helps those your organization is trying to help. Add specific details about the donation, such as the name of the campaign they contributed to, the amount or other personalized information. It doesn’t take much time, but it would mean so much more than any generic “Dear supporter” ever will.

As we have noted before, a handwritten card or note can be sent by physical mail and will go a long way in making them feel valued for their contribution.

Talk About The Impact of Small Donors

Small donors want a personal connection to the work or cause they are supporting, and your best bet is to provide information that will build their sense of contribution. Again, remember always to make sure you’re careful to segment them by what they contributed towards and speak to that specifically, not just in generalities.

Detail their contribution. Your storytelling skills will help you connect with and forge stronger relationships with your small donors, making sure that they don’t feel like an anonymous name on the list. Outline the projects and missions that their donation will support while emphasizing how this gift makes a positive difference in people’s lives. Wording like “Your gift makes it possible to…” is key.

Show how all donations matter. Make sure to explain how their donation is advancing change and helping others, even if it was only the minimal option – let them know small bits really do help! You can emphasize this by visualizing your data in an infographic or colourful chart.

Highlight Small Donors Often

When it comes to fundraising, small donors can often be undervalued. For your campaign’s small donor program, you want to make small-dollar givers feel as important and appreciated as your larger donors. You can do this through regular communications with them as well as publicizing their gifts so that they feel like a part of the organization.

One way of doing this is through a supporter section on the website where donors of all sizes can see what they are directly contributing to and testimonials from other contributors. This is a great way to show support from other people and encourage others who might not have donated yet.

Another way is to set levels of giving that suit your campaign and the types of donors you’re trying to attract. You might have a “Heroes” group for those who give $100 or more, another one called “Trailblazers” for people who donate at least $250, etc. Or maybe create a recurring giver program – creating levels of support where people agree to make a donation of $15 every month via an automatic payment charged to their credit card, or giving a fixed max annual donation in regular intervals throughout the year.

Of course, you will never go wrong with perks and benefits for your various groups. For example, you could offer your $100 or more small donor group a free bumper sticker and a monthly e-newsletter, while members of your $250 or more get all that plus an invitation to two special (free) events put on by your organization. Any recognition of donors goes a long way.

Ask For Their Feedback

Although donors give more when they feel connected to an organization, it’s easy for this feeling to get lost.

It is important to identify your supporters and make them feel like they are an integral part of your organization and its success. Make your organization fun and welcoming by asking for feedback in newsletters or social posts. Your supporters will feel valued if you take the time to include them as part of your organizational culture.

The people who support your organization enjoy feeling like their contribution is important. So make them feel like an active part of the organization, and it will pay off in future donations and goodwill.

Take The Time To Listen

There are many reasons why people may donate to your organization. It is important for you to realize that the “why” behind a donation can have an immense impact on how much money they give and will continue giving in future donations.

For this reason, it is best when talking with small donors to take note of any interactions where you gain insight into their motivations. It’s important to know your donors and remember the reasons why they support you.

These insights can guide your fundraising efforts in the coming months. Listen with an understanding ear, write down their words of wisdom when you can, then use them as a guidepost for future campaigns. Your future success in fundraising could be determined by whether or not you pay attention to the committed supporters of your campaign.

The common thread in all of these points is that sincere recognition isn’t just important for large donors. Every donor should feel connected to your organization and a valuable part of achieving its goals. If you take the time to properly acknowledge your small donors, they will not only continue to give, but they may become a large donor over time.

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Gratitude is a Business Strategy

Posted on September 18, 2020February 2, 2024 by Ilan Mann

Gratitude: you might know it as a hashtag, or an Indigo mug, or a word your mom has crocheted on her wall. What you may not know is that gratitude is also a business strategy—because a grateful business is a business that customers return to again and again.

Consider a 2017 research article entitled Undervaluing Gratitude: Expressers Misunderstand the Consequences of Showing Appreciation. In it, researchers Amit Kumar and Nicholas Epley demonstrated how we often assume expressing gratitude will be taken awkwardly by the recipient of our affections. In their study, participants expressing gratitude underestimated how happily surprised the recipients of gratitude would be and overestimated how awkward they would feel. Which is too bad, because the researchers also found that both expresser and recipient reported positive emotions and better well-being because of gratitude.

The simple fact is that people love being thanked and love thanking—even if, on the surface, they think they don’t.

The power of gratitude in building loyalty

Decades of research has confirmed this, as Harvard Medical School attests. “Gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness,” they write, and “Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.” Your mom was on to something.

But before we call your mom the next Jeff Bezos, it’s worth asking the question: how can we apply the positive emotions of gratitude to a business strategy?

Let’s start by considering how expressing gratitude builds loyalty and commitment in stakeholders—whether customers, clients, or donors. Gratitude is motivating. In Globoforce’s Spring 2014 Employee Workforce Mood Tracker Survey, 86 percent of employees recognized at work felt more motivated to do their jobs. 85{c5c42d2e0b68f182649ca85478c9eaed180e8fe94e932f32b8af828d359c4a57} of employees said recognition added humanity to the workplace. And those who express gratitude are more extraverted, agreeable, open, and conscientious, leading to more employee friendships at the office and, consequently, more long-term commitment to the company.

Now apply that thinking to your key stakeholders, whether your biggest donors or your most critical customers. The same outcomes that gratitude generates in employees are just as powerful and relevant. A customer or donor who feels deeply appreciated will feel more motivated to continue working with you. A customer or donor who finds you agreeable, open, and conscientious has found a comfortable place to park their hard-earned dollars.

And in a world where AI and technology are replacing the human element, we know customers still prefer human interactions—and want to do business with brands they view as “human.” One study conducted by Forrester Consulting found that consumers who perceive a brand as human are more than twice as likely to love the brand, nearly twice as likely to purchase from that brand, and nearly twice as likely to recommend it. What’s not to love about being twice as effective with your sales? Gratitude brings humanity to your business interactions. When customers feel like appreciated people, rather than numbers, they come back.

The best part about gratitude as a business strategy?

How easy it is to implement.

Becoming an organization that intentionally expresses gratitude to its customers, donors, or clients doesn’t require rethinking your growth plan. It doesn’t require a million-dollar marketing campaign. It doesn’t require a guy in a just-too-well-fitted suit clicking through a PowerPoint and telling you how Tik Tok is the next Amazon.

Actually, all it takes is a pen, a piece of paper, and a good old-fashioned thank-you note.

Don’t take our word for it. Here’s etiquette expert Dan Post Senning:

“When I get a handwritten letter, I’m excited to open it. The art of the postage stamp, the feel of the paper, the graphic quirks of a friend’s handwriting: There is simply nothing as personal as a handwritten note. In a stack of bills and flyers, it’s a treasure in a sealed packet, full of promise and potential. It is a visceral reminder of someone far away… Handwritten notes still have a personality, warmth and, when needed, gravitas that computer screens don’t.”

Why do handwritten notes deliver a gratitude punch that no other medium can?

They take just a little bit more effort. It’s easy to quickly type out an email or a text on your phone. You can jam out either of those while you’re sitting on the toilet. But a handwritten note is tailored. The uniqueness of each note and the effort of the sender says to the recipient, “I cared enough about you to write this down.”
They can’t be missed, and they stick. How easy it is to delete an email or miss it entirely. Our inboxes are sources of stress, not sources of delight. But a handwritten letter is unignorable. In a pile of junk mail, there’s no joy quite like seeing a real note—they will be opened, every time. As Dan Post Senning puts it, “You can’t hold digital thanks in your hands the way you can hold a note. When was the last time you printed out an e-card? Right. Email is read and deleted. A mailed note is seen again and again on a desk or counter. Would you rather your thanks be remembered or deleted?”
They are authentic and human. Penmanship is the child of personality. When we read someone’s handwriting, we can feel them on the other side of the ink—and we can sense the authenticity of their words, considering that precious time was taken to put them to paper. Earlier we talked about how customers want to do business with “human” organizations. The sense of authenticity, humanity, and personalization produced by handwritten letters offers an incomparable human touch. And that will keep the recipient committed to you for a long time to come.

Building an authentic, long-term, loyal relationship with your stakeholders is as easy as thanking them, again and again, for being part of your work. And all it takes is a handwritten note.

The best part? Handwriting letters are easier than you think

Gratitude is a winner, but let’s address the elephant-shaped pile of paper in the room. “Of course, I’d love to write handwritten notes to everyone,” you’re thinking, “But who has the time?”

Good news: you don’t need the time. Here’s how.

Oh, and we almost forgot:

Thanks for reading.

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