Hi

I have been asked by our new Fundraising Director to look at getting out letters more personalised and also to ensure that donors don't receive the same letter over and over again if they give in a small period of time.

At the moment we have about 15 Donor Ack Letters set up (for various funds, in memory etc) and letters are merged into word and personal touches are added manually by volunteers.

Other charities have mentioned writing the letters individually using the letter facility on the gift record .

We ideally would like a copy of the letter kept on either the gift record or the constituent record if possible?!

I just wanted to get peoples opinions/ideas on how to move forward.

Thanks in advance.

Lisa

In my opinion there is a difference between and acknowledgement letter/receipt for a gift and a personalized thank you letter or phone call from management or solicitors. Acknowledgement letters do not excuse solicitors from following up and cultivating a relationship with donors in my opinion. In order for us to meet IRS guidelines for receipts and keep a consistent quick turnaround time, I am a firm believer in automating the process as much as possible and utilizing RE's mail functionality.

We do have a system where management physically sign letters of $100 or more and letters with goods & services or memorials. Management puts personalized notes on them, but they turn them around within 24-48 hours max. I think your system will depend on your volume, the number of signers you have, etc. There is nothing saying you can't 'freshen' your acknowledgement lettrs on a scheduled basis if they are in letter form as opposed to 3up receipt type form, so I would perhaps suggest that. Donors that have recurring gifts that happen on say a bi-weekly on monthly basis have the option to choose only to receive their annual statement as opposed to a receipt for every payment so you may want to look into something like that as well.

I would have your solicitors (major gifts officers) and management use the Word Icon on a donors record to start their personal letter, and then they can save it as an action. I would use this as part of a moves management plan or actions process you have in place. (For instance, donations of $x.xx get a phone call and track that as an action as well)

Hope this helps