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How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire Your guide to e-gratitude glory. ___________ Network for Good Webinar March 21, 2012 flickr: SOCIALisBETTER @

How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

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A step-by-step guide for nonprofit organizations looking to do a better job of thanking -- and retaining -- their online donors, from fundraising copywriter and donor communications specialist Lisa Sargent.

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Page 1: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to Write Thank-You Emails That

Inspire

Your guide to e-gratitude glory.

___________Network for Good Webinar

March 21, 2012

flickr: SOCIALisBETTER

@

Page 2: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

Your Network for Good Webinar Speaker Today:

Lisa Sargent, Donor Communications Specialist

Lisa Sargent Communications

www.lisasargent.com

Page 3: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire:

What We’ll Cover Today

I. The proof, the theory (groan!), the mantra

• The thinking behind the thanking: short, sweet, surprising

II. The process: 10 steps to write your way to e-gratitude glory

① Who’s knocking on my Inbox? Write proper sender & subject lines.

② What’s in a name? Make it personal.

③ These two lines matter most: Aim for engaging openers.

④ Bring on the good stuff! Describe how I’m helping/will help.

⑤ Where can I turn? Provide the right kind of contact info.

⑥ Don’t leave me hanging... Say when you’ll be in touch next.

⑦ The voice at the top: Choose the right signatories and signatures.

⑧ Now what? Harness e-gratitude’s biggest secret powers.

⑨ Postscript power: Use a P.S., how and why.

⑩ Love at first sight? Attend to format, images and alt-tags.

III. The reality: E-mail samples, mundane and magnificent!

• A guided tour through real-world email thank-yous

Up next Theory and proofHow to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

flickr: Chelsea McNamara

Page 4: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

The thinking behind the thanking: theory and proof

Why bother?

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

So, why bother sending an email thank you at all? 4 things we know:

① Online donor retention rates are in the pits. Only 11 out of every 100 donors acquired online in 2007 were still giving in 2010. Source: 2011 donorCentrics™ Internet and Multichannel Giving Benchmarking Report

② Thank-yous are tops for donor retention: Professor Adrian Sargeant, et. al. say thank-yous “provide a promising means of fostering donor relationships and retaining donors.” Source: “Don’t forget to say ‘thank you’: The effect of an acknowledgment on donor relationships”, Sargeant, et. al.

Up next 3. & 4.

Page 5: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

The thinking behind the thanking: theory and proof

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

So, why bother sending an email thank you at all? 4 things we know, cont’d:

③ Thank-yous make donors feel good: again, from Prof. Sargeant, saying thank you “enhances positive emotions and alleviates negative emotions.” (Think: old brain!)

④ Thanking makes people more likely to help (read as: give) again. Harvard said so! Source: “Why ‘thank you’ matters,” Harvard Program on Negotiation

Up next Your new gratitude mantra

Page 6: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

The thinking behind the thanking: mantra!

You say:

“OK, OK, Lisa. Enough proof. Enough theory! What I want to know is: what kind

of thank-yous should I write?”

Here’s my answer, in the form of your new gratitude mantra:

“I will write thank-you emails

that make my donors

FEEL GOOD!”How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: speaker, Lisa Sargent

♬ ♫ ♬ “I feel good... I knew that I would, now...I feeeeeeel good... ♬ ♫ ♬

flickr: cliff1066™

Page 7: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: speaker, Lisa Sargent

Repeat: I will write thank-you emails that make my donors feel good!*

* Reason why: Feeling good taps into the egocentric amygdala (a.k.a. reptilian brain, ‘old brain,’ ‘lizard brain’).

Besides, it’s the right thing to do. Saying thank you is good customer service AND just plain good manners.

Up next Now let’s get writing!

flickr: Foxtongue

Page 8: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Who’s that knocking on my Inbox door? You have 2-5 seconds to tell me, or I click the ‘delete’ button...

Step 1. Write proper email Sender and Subject lines. Actual examples from my Inbox:

SenderDON’TS:Do not use Info, Donations, Webmaster, Friend, or other generic name as a Sender line.

Sender DOs:Do choose the bona fide name of your organization.

Up next Subject Lines

Your ‘Sender’ or ‘From’ line must clearly state who

you are!

Page 9: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Who’s that knocking on my Inbox door? You have 2-5 seconds to tell me, or I click the ‘delete’ button...

Step 1. Write proper email Sender and Subject lines. Here’s how (part 2):

Subject Line Rule:

Your subject line must state why you are emailing in 45 characters or less (including spaces). And frontload: mobile devices only display 1st 15-25 characters.

BONUS: Use donor’s name in the subject line.

Page 10: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

What’s in a name?

Step 2. Make it personal. At a minimum, your email salutation should use the donor’s name, spelled correctly.

Up next Openers

flickr: cote

Lukewarm: using first AND last name gives this an impersonal, automated feel. Semicolon only makes it more stilted.

My favorites: simple, warm, no crazy punctuation.

Formal punctuation: use of colon positions this as a ‘business’ transaction.

BONUS TIP: Formal or casual?

Think about how you want to address your new

donors, and the tone you will set, and plan ahead

when setting up donation page information fields.

Page 11: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

litmus.com/blog says, “On average, 51.1% of readers spend less than 2 seconds looking at your

email.” And many use the preview pane. What does this mean? The first two lines matter most!

So...       

Step 3. Use an engaging opener. Pop quiz: which of the leads below would YOU rather read?

Up next One more thing about Openers

Page 12: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

ONE MORE THING ABOUT E-THANKYOU OPENERS...       

If you start with a story, you must very quickly say thank you and include the donation amount.

(You can always jump back into the story on the next several lines.)

Up next Step 4

This slide with special thanks to Merchants Quay Ireland and their Head of Fundraising, Denisa Casement, for sharing their 2011 e-mail thank you, above.

Page 13: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Step 4. Now tell me how my recently received donation is helping/will help change the world.*

*Important: if I have given for a specific purpose or to a specific campaign, name it!

More from the ‘mystery shopping’ files....

Up next Where can I turn?

Page 14: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Up next Tell me what’s coming

Where can I turn if I need help? Providing proper contact information points me in the right

direction, gets the relationship off on the right foot, and puts a human face on your

organization.     

Step 5. Provide non-generic contact information and links so I can get in touch with your organization if I need to.

Not bad, but using a real person’s name would be nicer.

One of mine...

Page 15: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Up next The voice at the top

flickr: jemasmith

We’ve come this far together... Now don’t drop me in mid-email!

Step 6. Say when you’ll be in touch with me next, and how.(e.g., your e-newsletter, tax receipt, direct mail welcome pack...tell me.)

Only 1 organization (out of 12!) told me. Yay, Mercy Corps!

Page 16: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

The voice at the top:

Step 7. Choose your signatory (and signature) wisely.

Up next Now what?

“Oh, look! Here’s a nice photo of the CEO and his

cat. What a kind face he has...”

A proper signatory can be...• Your CEO or President (ID’d as such!)• A staff member if for a special campaign, e.g. someone ‘in the field’• Bonus: photo is nice. Actual signature is, too. ? Who are you?

“The team”? The team persona is part of c:water’s identity, but to me, one person is better.

Real CEO. Real animal lover. Nice.

Real sig. ID’d. Nice.

Photo. ID’d. President. Nice.

Page 17: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Up next Openersflickr: LOLren

Step 8. Harness email’s 3 secret powers: Interactivity, Immediacy and Instant Gratification.

Now what?! Harness e-gratitude’s secret powers!

I’ve nearly finished reading your thank-you email. I’m feeling good about giving, and I’m thinking about you and your work. Right now. Why not keep the good feelings flowing? Send me to a video or resource on your website... to your blog... to Twitter or Facebook...

Links

No links

Page 18: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Yes, people read postscripts. In e-mails. Yes. Yes. Yes. (And click-throughs of 2 and 4

percent are not unheard of: the P.S. is your last chance to sprinkle a little more donor-love.)

     

Step 9. Use a P.S., a.k.a. postscript.

Up next The visuals of writing

P.S. We love you. You. You. You!

What can you put in a P.S.? An invitation to watch a video or access a free resource or take a tour, an update to

your story, your contact info (see previous slides for ideas)...

And one final, fabulous thank-you, of course!

Page 19: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Up next Real-life samples

This is an ‘alt-tag’, or alt-attribute: a short block of text that describes the image to be rendered (which you can see is a logo, bottom right)

The visuals of writing...

Step 10. Attend to your format, images and alt-tags for better readability. Seven tips:

1. View your e-mails with images off and images on, and create proper alt-tags to describe images and logos.

2. Write your email in Word first. Spellcheck, proof grammar and readability stats (i.e., Flesch-Kincaid).

3. In general, keep paragraphs and sentences short.

4. In general, use action verbs. And always, more ‘you’ than ‘we.’

5. In general, use sans serif font online. 11 pt is good. 12 pt is better.

6. Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly.

7. In general, keep your message short & sweet. Below 300 words is a good target.

Page 20: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Real-life sample number one: Mercy Corps.

Bonus points for P.S. ‘channel crossing’: Mercy followed up via direct mail with a thank you postcard, tax receipt and welcome pack.

Page 21: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Real-life sample number two: charity:water.

Tax receipt arrived as promised, as did a beautiful follow-up thank-you email.

OK, so this isn’t the email. It’s the redirect. But if you want to see how to tell a story in a thank-you message, you can’t get much better than this.

Page 22: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Real-life sample number three: Wikimedia Foundation.

When Wikipedia went dark for a day, I gave, and received this beautiful thank you in return. Because it was from a ‘real-live person’, I replied to say how much I enjoyed the message. Sadly, Wikimedia’s Sue Gardner never responded... dimming gratitude’s warm glow.

Page 23: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Real-life sample number four:

NPCANote: a story about how I’m helping would be welcomed in

this email, as would the opportunity to click to NPCA’s beautiful website for a video, or a resource (like a vacationer’s guide to parks, e.g.) – which could easily go in a postscript.

Page 24: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Real-life sample number five:

Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation

MHOPUS proves you don’t have to deliver a fancy email to make donors feel loved. They also followed up with a second thank-you email that was every bit as beautiful. And check out the redirect... See next slide

Page 25: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

Real-life sample number five:

Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation

The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation proves you can deliver plenty of

donor-love on a bootstrap budget, with its donor-centric redirect page,

warm email thank-you (see previous slide) and follow-up thank

you email that included a handwritten thank-you from a

budding young musician. Bravo!

Up next homework (double groan!)

Page 26: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

How to write thank-you emails that inspire, Network for Good Webinar 3/21/12: Lisa Sargent Communications

And now for your post-webinar homework assignments...

Assignment #1: Be your donor. Make a donation from your homepage, via an Internet search. Land there like a newbie. Use a new email account to do so. Take screen shots to track each step of the process, while asking these questions:

1. Homepage: Can I quickly and easily find the donate button?

2. Click the donate button: How does my donate page look?

3. Fill it out: Are the fields easy to complete? Where am I redirected? Does this make sense to me?

4. Give: Am I redirected to a thank-you page? Inbox: Do I get a thank-you email? How do the Sender and Subject fields look?

5. Open email. What do I see, images off? What do I see, images on?

6. Read email. How does it make me feel?

7. Act on something. Does the email give me somewhere to click?

8. Finish reading. Do I know where to go if I have a question? Does it feel like a “real person” will reply?

9. Ask a question. Does anyone reply?

10. Wait for something. Do I know what’s coming next? Does it arrive as promised?

Assignment #2: Be someone else’s donor.Go ‘mystery shopping’ and make donations to your competitors and to other nonprofit organizations. Go to their homepages and repeat steps 1-10 at right.

Up next The last word...

Page 27: How to Write Thank-You Emails That Inspire

Free case studies, articles and more...For free resources and to subscribe to The Loyalty Letter,

Lisa’s free e-newsletter for nonprofits, visit: www.lisasargent.com. Also visit Lisa’s free thank you letter clinic on SOFII, with more samples, at

http://www.sofii.org/showcase?hall=274&id=68.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

(And all best wishes for your e-thanking success!)

If you have questions or want to get in touch with Lisa Sargent,

you can reach her:

By email: lisa(at)lisasargent(dot)comBy phone: 860-851-9755

On Twitter: @lisasargent2

flickr: woodleywonderworks