How can you show your donors that you love them?

Good fundraisers love their donors. And showing your supporters that you think they are tremendous, extraordinary human beings is:

a. courteous

b. a step towards building loyalty...

c. ...and generating more funds (also known as good stewardship) 

An answer to how you might do this arrived in my letterbox a few days ago in the form of the Not On The High Street Christmas Gift Guide. It's an unlikely source of inspiration, but believe me, it's worth a look. Because it shows the kind of gifts that your donors are likely to be giving to each other as a mark of love and appreciation.

And surely there’s some learning we can take from that.

Here’s the front cover, with the baubles giving you as clue as to what follows…

 Christmas just isn’t complete without a set of personalised baubles to hang on your tree (£58 for a set of four if you’re interested).

Click here for the catalogue and you'll find as I did, page after page of personalised gifts.

 Personalised glasses cases…

 

Personalised garden crates…or whisky bottles...

Even personalised wooden apples*...

I could go on. But let’s get back to what we could do. Because we can use exactly the same techniques to thank donors and build their involvement with our cause.

I'll admit to so far having shared some of the more absurd examples, but here are some pieces that easily convert over to fundraising.

A personalised book – imagine in this case that it shows the donor all the great things they have helped achieve.

 

Likewise, it wouldn’t take much to re-write the poster below to thank a donor for long-standing support.

In fact, look through the catalogue and you'll find tons of great ways you could use personalisation, using nothing more than data you already have – your donor's name.

And if you work for an animal charity, it's time to make sure you've captured the names of your supporters' pets. Because it appears animals also like to have their name on things – a hen called Hector models here. 

If you're new to this blog and are wondering why I'm recommending personalisation, you may like to read this post about donor needs by Mark. The pieces I'm suggesting could certainly be engaging, offer growth and help combat helplessness. I'll share an example later this week. 

 

*If anyone can find a more absurd personalised gift, I will happily send them an unpersonalised prize. Entries to me by 30/11/11. Judged by the Bluefrog Creative team. Do your worst.