Thanking Donors – Does the WHEN and the WHAT matter?

There is often little question around the importance of acknowledging those who donate to our cause. For those donors who are new to the cause, our interest is in developing a long-term relationship. For repeat donors, it’s maintaining that relationship by recognizing their gift and respecting their ongoing commitment to our purpose. So, does it matter when we thank our donors and what it is we say?

Researchers from the Copenhagen Business School (Denmark), University of Hamburg (Germany), and Pennsylvania State University (United States) recently released a study that may provide some insight into this question. The study* focused on Red Cross blood donors in Germany and Austria; however, their findings can be applied to the behaviour of other donors.

The first question they tackled was the WHAT question. Does the content of the thank you message matter? The study looked at responses to three different thank-you mailings from the German Red Cross.

1- Control: 5,600 random donors received a simple thank-you for their past donation and a reminder of the date of their next donation.

“Some time ago you donated blood—we want to thank you for that! The daily needed blood cannot be produced artificially, and therefore must be donated.”

2- Future: 5,535 random donors were provided a mailing thanking them for their past donation, a reminder of the date of their next donation, and a general message related to future benefit.

“Every day, many sick or injured persons need blood. With your next donation you could save a life. Your donation could be used tomorrow to help a person in need at the medical facility [ORGANIZATION].”

3- Past: 5,566 random donors were provided a mailing thanking them for their past donation, a reminder of the date of their next donation, and the actual name of the medical facility and date of use of a specific donation.

“Some time ago you donated blood—we want to thank you for that! With your last donation you have saved a life. Your donated blood was used on [DATE] at the medical facility [ORGANIZATION] to help a person in need.”

All random donors in this study were considered to be inactive in that they had not donated in the past 2-4 years. The researchers discovered that there was a statistically significant difference between the responses (reactivation rate) to the three mailings.

“Specifically, the past donation use leads to a significantly higher reactivation rate, and is, hence, more effective than both the future donation use and the control appeal that simply acknowledges past donation.”

Remarkably, the study revealed no significant difference between reactivation rates of those who received the control mailings and the future mailings. Saying “Thank You” was just as effective as saying “Your donation could save a life”; both proved to be less effective than describing the specific impact or use of their past donation.

The WHAT question was explored further by the research team through a study of donor responses to thank-you text messages sent by the Austrian Red Cross to random donors three weeks following their donation.

One group of donors received a text message with information on the use of their last donation and the date when they could make their next donation.

“Thank you for your donation. Your donation was delivered today to a patient at [ORGANIZATION] hospital. You can donate again on [DATE].”

The second group of donors- those whose donation was not used within the three-week time frame received the previously used default message of the Austrian Red Cross.

“Thank you for your donation. You can donate again on [DATE].”

The results of this study confirmed that providing donors with detailed information on the use of their last donation substantially increases repeat donation compared to those who receive default thank-you messaging. Because of the researchers’ access to donor histories, they stumbled upon an interesting finding- providing detailed information on the use/impact of the donation had a stronger effect on more experienced donors. Providing details of past donations motivates all active donors to increase repeat donations, but more so those with a higher number of previous donations.

The next part of the study looked at the WHEN question. Does the proximity of the ‘Thank You’ mailing, to the date of donation, matter?

Again, working with the Austrian Red Cross, the researchers conducted a field experiment to determine if the timing of the thank-you message would affect continued dentations.

One group received their thank-you notification three weeks following their donation. The second group received the same notification 10-days before they were eligible to provide another donation.

“Thank you for your donation. Your donation was delivered today to a patient at [ORGANIZATION] hospital. You can donate again on [DATE]”

Once again, the results were very interesting. Overall, timing proved to be an important condition when it comes to providing donors information on the use of their past donation. Sending the thank-you mailing just before the donor's next eligible donation date diminished the positive effect of providing detailed information on the use/impact of the donor's last donation. The researchers concluded that “This negative interaction effect can emerge because donors may perceive the late timing as a marketing tactic aiming to motivate future donations rather than as feedback and appreciation of their past engagement.” This effect held true for both established and novice donors.

Results of studies like this rarely map directly onto our own organizations; however, in this study researchers were able to provide us with two very important items to consider in how we recognize our donors.

1- WHAT matters. When possible, details should be provided as to the use or specific impact of a donor's specific gift. This is not only important in developing a relationship with a new or inactive doner, it’s equally as important in the maintenance of relationships with established donors.

2- WHEN matters. Providing donors with timely feedback on the use or specific impact of their donation carries a greater sense of sincerity and less resembles that of a marketing opportunity.

The purpose of sharing this study is to generate discussion within your organizations around the topic of effective donor relationships.

*Shehu, Clement, Veseli, et. al. “Retain Donors by Sharing Past Donation Use: Evidence from Red Cross Blood Donors” (2021)

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