Donors Want to Go Where Everybody Knows Their Name

For more than a year, I traveled regularly to Oakland, California to visit a client. And every time I went, I stayed at the same hotel. Same hotel. Again and again. And every time I walked through the doors, some part of me expected to hear: “Welcome back.” It never happened.

The staff was perfectly nice. The hotel was lovely and walking distance to my client. There was nothing wrong with the experience (I mean, I kept staying there). But it always bothered me a little that I was being treated exactly like someone who had never been there before. And it struck me: This is exactly what we do to donors.

Someone makes a gift. We thank them.

They make another gift. We thank them.

They give every month for three years. We thank them.

Same acknowledgment. Same language. Same experience.

We recognize the transaction, but not necessarily the relationship. There’s a reason Cheers was a hit for so many years. People like the idea of going somewhere everybody knows their name. Donors do, too. They want to be seen. They want to know that we noticed they came back. That their loyalty matters. That we understand this isn’t the first time they have chosen our organization.

“Thank you for your gift” is good. “Thank you for giving again” is better.

“Thank you for your monthly gift” is good. “You’ve been giving every month for a year, and we are so grateful for your continued commitment” is better.

And the good news is that this doesn’t require an enormous stewardship budget or a bigger development team. For most organizations, the information is already sitting in the CRM. We can identify second gifts. Consecutive years of giving. Monthly donors. Increased gifts. Milestones. Longtime supporters. Donors who came back after several years away. Then we can use that information to make a simple shift: acknowledge the relationship, not just the gift.

That might mean changing one sentence in an acknowledgment letter. Adding a note to a call list. Celebrating a donor’s giving anniversary. Creating a different email for someone making their fifth gift than for someone making their first. Small changes. Big difference.

Because stewardship isn’t just about saying thank you. It’s about saying, “We see you. We remember you. We’re glad you’re here.” Donors are just like the rest of us. Sometimes they want to go where everybody knows their name.