thank you for reading this

One of my bugaboos is the tendency in Internet communications for the basics to get lost among the techno-geekery.  The lowest hanging fruit you are probably ignoring is the power of heartfelt gratitude as part of your fundraising or list-building process.

GIVING IS NOT THE EQUIVALENT OF BUYING A CD.  It’s incredibly easy to give the emotional feedback a new donor probably expects, yet we rarely do it, or do it well.

This timely Clickz piece underscores the importance of saying thank you in routine e-commerce:

I’ve spent a great deal of the last seven years in and around the Internet and e-mail platforms. I can tell you the importance of saying “thank you” as part of a customer retention strategy is largely an afterthought. Hours upon hours of discussions about the right creative and messaging for every type of communication take place, when the power of a sincere, relevant “thank you” could have solved many a retention strategy.

If this is true for selling coatracks online, it’s true times 100 for fundraising.

Looking for low-hanging fruit going into your year-end fundraising?  Two words.