This year’s “How did you spend your summer vacation?” question will have a lot of the usual answers: a few family trips, weekends at the pool, and my fair share of baseball games. I did, however, discover a new and unexpected hobby: collecting records.
On a whim, I bought a record player earlier in the summer, expecting it to be a fun visual addition to our recently remodeled living room.
My initial thinking was that I’d buy it along with a couple of records to sit there, look cool, and maybe be played a few times a year. Hundreds of dollars and many hours spent combing through records later, I’ve discovered that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
It turns out that music on vinyl really is different. Everything from legends like Jimi Hendrix to my favorite modern musicians (yes, that includes Taylor Swift) and even a record my dad’s band made before I was born - there’s something different about dropping the needle and letting a record play without the temptation to hit “skip” or jump to a different playlist.
So many of my summer evenings have been spent relaxing and listening to a favorite artist’s records play. This throwback to a time before Spotify and Apple Music has me thinking about other areas where technology has improved our lives, but we may be well-served to revisit the old ways of doing things.
Yep, that includes fundraising!
In fact, it reminds me of a conversation I had just a few weeks ago with a client. While discussing acknowledgment letters, we were going over the ease with which we can send out donor acknowledgments via email or mail merges. The painstaking process of sending letters can be shortened to just a few minutes with technology.
This is great, and should be celebrated. After all, time spent not generating letters is time that can be spent face-to-face with donors.
That said, there are times when a handwritten letter can stop someone in their tracks.
I learned this early in my career when I was responsible for managing a vehicle donation program. Most vehicles that were donated didn’t run anymore and were simply taking up space in someone’s driveway. We rarely received more than a few hundred dollars after those vehicles were scrapped. However, to the donor, a car certainly feels like a major gift.
I made a point of sending handwritten letters to the 10-20 people who donated a car every month, along with my business card. A form letter would have satisfied them, but the handwritten letter delighted them. Several donors kept my card and called me anytime they had a question, wanted to give feedback, or wanted to give an additional gift. Some even committed to making monthly gifts, and I hope have continued giving in the years since I left that role.
The hour or so I put into sending handwritten letters every month paid dividends. That old-school approach to donor acknowledgment - just like the experience of listening to a record - landed differently than the modern approach.
When you look at your acknowledgment processes, look for those places where you might be able to make a bigger difference by taking that extra step.
It could be a handwritten letter, a quick phone call, or even a short note in the margin of a letter. These are the things that let donors know that we genuinely value their involvement in an organization and see them as more than just a source of revenue.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to relax and listen to some music.
If you want to discuss music, donor acknowledgment, or any other aspect of fundraising, don’t hesitate to drop Team Kat & Mouse a line!
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