Simple Development Systems is a tested fundraising model focused on growing a healthy base of individual giving support. Using a simple Ask/Thank/Report/+Feedback cycle of donor communications, nonprofits significantly grow their donor base with far less stress, while remaining true to their values. An important piece in that cycle is a regular “Gratitude Report.”
If you’re used to the typical jargon-laden annual reports typical of nonprofits, Gratitude Reports will come as a revelation. They’re usually written at a 5th-grade level, often tell the story of one client, and ooze gratitude for the support made possible by the donor.
This post-COVID gratitude report for Health Wagon, a nonprofit providing compassionate, quality health care to the medically underserved people in the Mountains of Appalachia, from copywriter Aimee Vance is an excellent example.
Leading with a story about Steve, a community member suffering alone with COVID, this report goes on to show exactly how the donor’s support made a big difference throughout the toughest year in the organization’s history. Lots to learn, including:
- Clean, simple graphics
- A genuine appreciation for the donor’s support throughout
- They’re upfront about overhead costs
- An actual call to action (the often missing piece of the puzzle)
About this Gratitude Report, Aimee had this to say:
“This particular charity has donors from all over the country. They stepped up remarkably well during the pandemic for this charity. We saw a 72% increase in revenue in 2020.
It was really important to me that donors got a sense not only of the difficulty of the year, but also the ways in which they kept people alive. It was important to me that donors had a deep understanding of how important they had been to that poverty-stricken region of our country. When I wrote the phrase “you saved lives”, it was true and I wanted them to really understand that.”
Over the course of a year, this Gratitude Report raised nearly $1 million.
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I can’t wait to meet with you personally.
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