We need to thank our partners, everytime they give a gift to your non-profit. This is not a problem with the big organizatios who understands the importance of thanking people. Its the smaller ones who need to have motivation.
It is all to easy to neglect people who give to you. We tend to be too focused on getting the job done--to our own detriment. A lot of people do not understand that gift-givers need to be acknowledged and appreciated. Who among us do not want to be thanked when we make a gift? It is false modesty if you say you don't.
BE PERSONAL
So, how do you thank people and look like you mean it. You can start by knowing your partners. So simple isn't it? If you know your donors enough, you can mention things they alone would understand. We all need to sound personal in all our thank you letters. I believe people will appreciate it better if we dispense with all the formalities and just mean what we write. It may be handy if you keep a contact management software in your computer and documenting each and every conversation, spoken or written, you may have. Congratulate them if they are recognized by their peers (you need to be reading the newspapers for this), follow-up on a previous challenge that they have mentioned to you. Ask them about their family who got sick. There are som many that you can write to be personal.
USE YOUR NATIVE TOUNGE
If you are Filipino like me, you can mix your native language with English that we automatically use in business writing. Use everyday language, not street language mind you. Our letters should be conversational. Something what a friend would say to another. Isn't your donors and partners your friend? So why write to them in any other way. You don't speak legalese to your friends don't you?
USE NOTECARDS
You don't have to use formal office stationeries when you thank people. Have your commercial printer do an informal sized letterhead for you. Just put a logo and nothing else. Scribble a thank youwith your own hand writing. Thank you notes need not be long. There is no proven formula that says how long or how short your message should be.
THE BLUE PEN
You do sign your letters, right? Here is one tip I learned from my mentor, sign your name in blue ink. The only reason I think why you should do this is because almost all letters are typed or written in black ink. The blue ink shows that you personally signed the correspondence. I do this in every letter that bears my name, even my cover letters for the press releases I send out to newspaper editors. Its a small detail but people appreciate it.
And while we are into this signing thing, don't ever, ever use a computer signature that can easily be recognized as a digital signature. I've seen letter whose signature is in blue but the printing was so pixelized, using the blue ink was worthless. Make sure that your digital signatures ae in a hgh enough resolution so it will print smoothly.