How to Follow Up with Your Givers

Non-profit organizations have known for decades that a simple display of gratitude is worth its weight in gold. It’s something that costs so little but means so much. They know that nothing is as effective at getting someone to give again as showing appreciation for the gift they gave last time.

So how can the church tap into the secret non-profits know? By forming an intentional plan to demonstrate our gratitude to those who make our ministry possible.

Step 1: Track your Givers

I’ve given to a number of non-profit organizations in the past and they always respond with thanks. However, I’ve also given to several dozen churches in the past few years and exactly zero of them have responded with any form of gratitude. What’s going on?  Are all churches led by selfish and entitled jerks? Hardly. Churches just don’t have a clue who supports their ministry. They’re not ungrateful, just ignorant.

Fortunately, this is something we can fix. We just have to keep track of who our givers are. We need to track who gives online and who gives by other means. We need to know who is a first-time giver, who is a regular giver, and who has recently stopped giving.

People’s giving habits give us vital information on both the state of their lives and the state of their hearts. Are they living in a season of shortage or surplus? Are they buying into the vision or losing confidence? Their giving habits will tell.  And armed with that information we can be much more effective as shepherds and leaders.

Step 2: Sort your Givers

Although we value everyone equally, we don’t treat everyone the same. People are at different stages and have different needs and it’s important that we respond to people where they are at. Just as we create different curriculum for seniors than we would for those in senior high, we also treat first-time givers differently from those who give regularly.

The categories of givers you need to sort are as follows:

• The first-time giver.  This is someone who has taken an important step in both discipleship and in supporting the vision.  We want to follow up with them so the first-time giver becomes a second-time giver.

• The spontaneous giver.  These are the people who giver irregularly whenever they feel like it.  They are definitely on your side but lack the intentional commitment to give consistently.

• The regular giver.  These are your main supporters who carry the heavy load of the congregation.  It’s important to know who they are and how to put their faithful hearts to the best use.

• The sacrificial giver.  These are people who have given an extravagant gift.  Clearly something is going on in their hearts that should be recognized otherwise sacrificial giving will only be a one-time event.

• The lapsed giver.  This is someone who used to give, but now does not.  It could be a personal financial crisis they are facing or a loss of confidence in the mission.  Either way it’s important to find out and respond accordingly.

Step 3: Respond to your Givers

Make it Consistent

We always want to support others who are doing the right thing.  Always. Demonstrating our gratitude for their sacrificial act is good for our hearts, it’s good for their hearts, and it’s simply the Christian thing to do. Build a water-tight response system so no one is overlooked or forgotten. Don’t ever let anyone slip through the cracks. 

Make it Timely

We want to show our appreciation for people early and often. We’ve long known that the effectiveness of follow-up has a short shelf-life. If it is all possible, we want to show our gratitude within 24 hours of their giving. Your Mondays should be your follow-up day. If you take Mondays off, make an exception, delegate, or take Fridays off instead – it’s that important.

• For first-time & sacrificial givers:  we want next-day follow-up for both of these types of givers.  These are people at important crossroads in their lives and we need to be responsive.

• For regular givers:  they should be followed up on a monthly basis.  Neglecting them can result in giving fatigue and feeling overlooked.  This is your base – take care of them.

• For lapsed givers: they should be contacted after missing 3 months of giving.  Whether they’re in a personal financial crisis or losing confidence in the mission they need to hear from you.

Make it Personal

Robotic responses and form letters mean exactly nothing to your givers. They don’t even read them. If it is your intention to demonstrate gratitude, then this is the wrong way to do it.

If you want your efforts to actually produce any results you have to personalize your response. This means:

• Know who the giver is before you respond to them.

• Address the letter to them by name. No one reads a “Dear Supporter” letter.

• Write in your natural conversational voice, not your religious “pastor” voice.

• Say something personal in the first couple of lines so they know it’s really you writing to them.

• If possible, send them a hand-written hand-addressed thank you note. This means infinitely more than an email.

Make it Intentional

The body of your follow-up letter should be strategically crafted to have maximum impact. What we’re trying to do is to touch their hearts, support their positive contributions, increase their engagement, and encourage them as they take their next step.

To accomplish this, your follow-up letter should follow an outline something like this:

• Address the letter to them by name

• Make a personal comment so they know it’s really you that’s writing them.

• Thank them for their generous gift. Express how their gift makes you feel personally and emotionally. 

• Describe the impact of their action. Tell a story of how someone’s life has been changed recently by the ministry made possible by their contribution. Remember that one of their chief motivations in giving was to make a real difference – show them how they’re doing that. These stories should be updated monthly.

• Give them a compelling next step they can take to continue to support the mission.  The order you present these options should be to first volunteer, then pray, and finally to give again.  Give them specific calls to action so they can really do something.  This means:

a.   Give them the name and contact info of the person we want them to volunteer for.

b.   Give them the emotionally compelling details of what we want them to pray for.

c.   Give them an easy and obvious way to give again.

• Thank them once again and conclude the letter.

As church leaders, we must always be aware that Biblical principles apply to us as much as anyone else. We reap what we sow. When we sow gratitude, we will reap generosity.

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