Posted 1/10/22
It is obvious that the expression of gratitude is important in both business and nonprofit. For business customers specifically, who are typically looking to satisfy some kind of need, thanking them is important due to the fact that they chose your product or service over the competition. However, there is no guarantee that they will return, especially if the price is better someplace else. The words required to thank customers can easily be taught to employees, but it is another story to teach genuine appreciation necessary for long-term repeat business.
In the nonprofit, a donation is different. The donor typically has no inherent need to satisfy, only the desire to make a difference. In addition, there are so many areas where gratitude is needed in the nonprofit, obviously a donation, but also volunteer support and fundraising, mission support, administrative support, Holiday donations, Board membership, staff members and more. It requires more than learning the right words to say, gratitude needs to be genuine.
I remember volunteering at a half-way house that helped women leave the streets for a better life. I did not have the advanced degree in psychology at the time, and could not help with counseling, so I decided to contribute by maintaining the house and making it a comfortable place. Sometimes friends would accompany me for the hour drive as we volunteered to clean, paint, and perform minor repairs. It involved simple work, in my opinion, but I will never forget the unmistakably genuine expression of gratitude for our efforts. The Executive Director was always extremely busy, but she continuously found time to check on us and communicate her gratitude. I, along with everyone who volunteered with me, were touched by it. This had a profound impact on me as I thought the work was somewhat unimportant, and really did not have much to do with helping the mission, but her gratitude was unmistakably genuine, making us feel important and motivating us to continue with our work.
In this example, the gratitude involved more than words, which is something I remembered when working with donors. (Here comes my psych training). Because a donation is more voluntary than satisfying a need (such as in business), confidence in the relationship becomes more important. Donors read and evaluate the expression of genuine gratitude without even realizing it. If the fundraiser is only saying the words, and is not genuine in expressing the proper emotion, then the communication will not line-up (words not matching the actions or appearance), often indicating a red flag to the donor. Facial expression, eye contact, tone of voice, body language and posture will somehow “feel” inconsistent, incongruent, insincere or even “fake” to the donor, even if the words are correct, creating a question or uncertainty regarding the relationship. This inconsistency can shake the trust of donors, often making them sense as though something is not right. This is why genuine gratitude is so important. Without it, this could possibly be your first, and more likely your last donation from that donor.
The solution is simple, if you want to appear genuine, and make all of those indicators listed above line-up, then identify if you feel genuinely grateful for the acts of donors and/or volunteers. If so, the indicators should line-up naturally with your expression of gratitude, without even thinking about it, thus strengthening the donor relationship and increasing the probability of future donations. Hopefully this is not a problem if you believe in the mission that you represent.