Always Thank Your Donors

When donors go out of their way to make a donation to a nonprofit, you’d expect that the least the receiver could do in return is say thank you. Unfortunately, expressing gratitude is something that few nonprofits sometimes forget.

While basic donor relations usually dictate the need to say “Thank you so much” when receiving a donation, science has also confirmed the long-standing notion that expressing gratitude is a great way to keep donors interested in your cause even after the donation is made. According to research, feelings of gratitude can influence people to be more prosocial—a state that especially benefits already-prosocial nonprofit organizations.

Aside from keeping donors interested in your own organization, showing gratitude also supports the creation of a grateful mindset in donors. This contributes to their overall well-being and can have a dramatic effect on their professional and personal lives. This ultimately promotes more generosity that may then be expressed in another donation to your own organization or to another that the donor also believes in.

If each nonprofit does its best to show gratitude with each donation, this can help to perpetuate a culture of giving that benefits everyone and makes fulfilling the goal of a cause—any cause—so much easier.

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