¶ Celebrate Donors, Say Thank You
Now I know we are days away from December and for many of you , this might be crunch time to get end of year donations or sales in . So , in the theme of this month , I wanted to share some really clever ways to say thank you and to do so . I will be sharing some video examples from the Calgary Zoo , bentley University and Cincinnati Children's .
Hey , there , you're listening to the Missions to Moomis podcast and I'm your host , dana Snyner , digital Strategist for Non-profits and Founder and CEO of Positive Equations . This show highlights the digital strategies of organizations making a positive impact in the world . Ready to learn the latest trends , actionable tips and the real stories from behind the feed .
Let's transform your mission into a movement . Hey , friend , if you are listening to this , live Giving Tuesday just took place yesterday and , man , I'm sending you a big virtual high five through your earbuds . I wanted to make sure that , if you participated in any way , that you give yourself a moment to pause and celebrate the impact you made possible .
Sometime today , sometime this week , pause with your team and celebrate the amazing work that you completed . Now I know we are days away from December and for many of you , this might be crunch time to get end of year donations or sales in .
So in the theme of this month , I wanted to share some really clever ways to say thank you , and to do so I will be sharing some video examples from the Calgary Zoo , bentley University and Cincinnati Children's .
So although the audio I'm going to play the video's audio on here , although the audio is amazing , I highly recommend clicking the links in the show notes to watch these thank you videos from ThankView's Tip Top Tuesday series on YouTube . So to kick us off , the Calgary Zoo's end of year thank you video featured personalized one to one videos to donors .
They were recorded by the organization's chief development officer with a super cute animal backdrop of the Zoo and Zoo B-roll from throughout the year . So they had a personalized thank you video and then , as he was talking , it would cut to visuals from the Zoo and then cut back to him .
You can do this all really seamlessly and easily in the platform and as the video plays there's a note right below the video reflecting back on the year and the impact the donor has made
¶ Fundraising Podcast and Thank You Tips
. So let's take a listen to these tips from the Calgary Zoo .
Hello Barbara . My name is Stephen Ross . I am the Chief Development Officer here at the Calgary Zoo . I wanted to reach out and personally thank you for your generous support this year . Tip number one We've got another one folks . They took up the challenge to personally thank donors , and we mean one-to-one video . Thank yous . The Christmas gauntlet has been dropped .
Tip number two Celebrate this year's wins . Intermixed with holiday messaging is the opportunity to update donors on what their gift made possible . Don't miss that opportunity . Tip number three here's where we'll take a beat and challenge you with a New Year's resolution .
In order to create an amazing recap video like this one from Calgary Zoo , you'll need video content throughout the year . So we challenge you , you and your team , to collect photos , interviews , zoom calls and any other type of video that demonstrates your organization's impact . Keep those at the ready for your 2022 holiday video .
Then it'll be easy to drag and drop important events from throughout the year .
Ever had a brainstorm slump where you just need somewhere to go for new ideas ? Now , yes , this podcast is for sure one . But I wanted to introduce you to EverTrue Studios . It's basically like Netflix but for fundraisers .
Their platform offers free on-demand documentaries , series and over 250 podcast episodes tailored for advancement professionals , like Raise and Talking Shop . You can subscribe at evertruecom backslash studios to start binging and you can click the link in the show nose .
Again , that's evertruecom backslash studios and since you're a podcast fan , I just wanted to highlight you can go on Spotify or Apple to find these shows right now Raise podcast , hosted by the EverTrue CEO , who's really talking about the most exciting things in fundraising from a completely different angle . That is what the Raise podcast is all about .
And Talking Shop is hosted by David Lively . He is the senior associate vice president for alumni relations and development and campaign manager at Northwestern University . And Aaron Moran , director of commercial enablement at EverTrue and the former associate VP and chief of staff at DePaul University .
So , basically , what happens when an advancement operations nerd and a big ideas major gift guys sit down to chat ? They talk shop . So Raise podcast and Talking Shop go check those out , go ahead and you can visit all of these documentaries and content at evertruecom backslash studios . Now back to the show Up .
Next is Bentley University's timely Giving Tuesday Thank you videos . You will hear Allison , the director of annual giving , personally thanking donors for joining their Giving Tuesday challenge . Now listen in for what made this thank you campaign really stand out .
Hi , abby , I hope you are doing well . I was so excited to see you participating in Giving Tuesday . So huge thank you . Tip number one timeliness . Every thank you video in Bentley's Giving Tuesday campaign was sent within two hours of a donor making their gift . What an incredible way to stand out in a day filled with appeal emails and thank you messages .
We're not saying it's a race , but why not be the first to say thank you ? Tip number two looking for a timely thank you , thank you how to One word preparation . Bentley prepared by having five students pre-record videos for their 20 most popular donor names .
Then prospect managers knew they were responsible for their prospect thank yous and , of course , they had a generic thank you video ready just in case there was an unassigned donor . Get your spreadsheets ready . It's time for Giving Tuesday . Tip number three don't leave your donors hanging Tack on the next step . Thank yous aren't supposed to be a one and done .
They're a conversation . Bentley encouraged their audience to send heart selfies .
Hey , I hope you are
¶ Video for Effective Donor Thank Yous
enjoying this episode . I wanted to give you a quick announcement . The next round of my monthly Giving Mastermind will start in February . Previously it was mid-January , but as I'm going through 2024 planning , I really want to give us all time to get settled into the new year . So the monthly Giving Mastermind will start in February for five organizations max .
So if building a monthly donor program has been on your to-do list that it keeps getting pushed back due to limited time or resources , this is for you . By April you will have a program that is ready to go live . So let's make it happen together .
You can head to positiveequationcom backslash mastermind to learn all about it , to apply , to view more details and to view our work with featured alumni of the program . Again , that's positiveequationcom backslash mastermind , uplast , but certainly not the least and definitely the cutest . I highly recommend watching this one . Click the link in the show notes .
This is Cincinnati Children's Magical End of Year . Thank you . And a good question to ask yourself about your end of year . Thank yous is does this make my donors smile ? When they receive this video from you , what is the reaction you want them to have Now for Cincinnati Children ? The answer was undoubtedly .
Yes , the audio of this video is even cute and it makes me smile . But to give you context , before I play the audio here , the point of view of the video is from the bottom of a present and the kid is opening it and being so surprised and excited . So it's super raw mobile phone footage .
I picture somebody the parent , whoever was recording this put the mobile phone at the bottom of a box , ask the kid to open it and look surprised and it is the cutest thing . So I want to go ahead and play the video and let you listen to these tips .
Okay , I promised an adorable video from Cincinnati Children's and boy did I deliver , oh God . Tip number one the takeaway here is that if your organization works with kids , you should as much as possible feature said children . The more we can see Christmas through kids eyes , the better . It's really magical .
Tip number two this video gave their recorders clear recording instructions . Open a box with surprise . There was no script for kids to memorize and you can tell they had a blast making these videos .
I hope these thank you videos will really help get you brainstorming about how you can start implementing video into your thank you efforts . This is , honestly , where you can stand out so much as a donor .
It is really rare to receive anything besides a receipt email , so I encourage you , click the link in the show notes to watch each of these videos and you can search , think , view , tip top Tuesday videos on YouTube to view the whole series for more ideas . This can you tell . I love talking all things digital to make this show better .
I'd be so grateful for your feedback . Leave a review , take a screenshot of this episode , share it on Instagram stories and tag positive equation with one e so I can reshare and connect with you .