It’s estimated that for every 1,000 names in a donor database there is at least one name capable of leaving your organization a 7 figure gift. If you haven’t seen one of these in a while, they’re the ones with lots of zeroes and 2 commas.
All kidding aside, we recently learned that one of our healthcare clients received a legacy gift of nearly $2m. Great news! This gift was from a dear lady who had been a long-time volunteer, but had long ago moved to a far away state. Much to the credit of the hospital’s Advancement office, they never allowed the flow of information to this individual to wane.
As a loyal donor, she regularly contributed to the annual fund and would then receive a thank you call (in addition to a written thank you) from the VP of Advancement updating her on news at the hospital. She also received newsletters and the annual report which she noted were always appreciated.
Is your organization doing all it can do to cultivate and steward gifts from its loyal donors? You never know when that “little extra” that you do could mean a real feather in your cap.
Morale of the story: Never stop communicating. And, it’s the right thing to do!