Good afternoon.
I’d love to know if anyone has a great example of consecutive milestone recognition you feel works well for your institution.
Has anyone seen success in this strategy in increasing donor participation?
Two things examples I’ve used/heard of others using, what I love about both of them is how simple they were.
- Once a month we ran a report of donors who gave exactly 12 months ago – regardless if they’d made a gift since then. We’d then send out a postcard or email thanking them for their gift in [MONTH] of last year and thanking them for being a donor ## of years consistently.
- Another org, a small university, did something similar but included an ask. If your last gift was 12 months ago, they’d send an ask – “[NAME], we’re writing to let you know that your last gift was 12 months ago – you’ve given ## of years consecutively and we’re so grateful for your generosity – hope you’ll continue.
It sounds like #1 is more along the lines of what you’re looking for. Personally, I wasn’t comfortable with executing #2 but was told it was an effective strategy and that donors liked the reminder (a DII athletics department for context). What I loved about both is that they were easy, you could celebrate someone giving 2 years the same as 15, I wouldn’t replace milestones but easy ways to recognize folks in an ongoing manner (I think) is just as important as the milestones.
These ideas are really good. I can vouch for the gift anniversary solicitation working very well. I have also sent surveys/nurturing emails in the months leading up to the gift, which helps create more of a relationship.