# Say thank you nicely to major donors

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2012/07/04/say-thank-you-nicely-major-donors/
- Published: 2012-07-04T15:11:30+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

If you want major donors to keep giving to you, then make sure you thank them promptly
and appropriately – and show a bit of empathy.

Art dealer and founder of [The Funding Network](http://www.thefundingnetwork.org.uk)
Fred Mulder CBE said that there were a number of occasions on which he had either
not been thanked promptly enough for a gift or sometimes not even thanked at all.
Senior lawyer at Bircham Dyson Bell Simon Weil also said he felt that greater appreciation
could be shown to major donors and that fundraisers should try to show a bit more
empathy.

Leslie Morgan of international pharmaceutical wholesaler Durbin said that he was
also put off by letters that were inappropriately addressed to him.

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“When you’re asking for money, make sure the address is written properly,” he told
delegates at a Meet the Donors session at the IoF National Convention. “Put the 
letter on top so I see it immediately. Send it second class and if you’re going 
to include a return envelope, that should be second class too.” Mulder, on the other
hand, prefers email communications.

He also disagrees with buildings being named in perpetuity after people who pay 
for them to be built. “If a building is going to be in one donor’s name then ask
the donor for several years’ maintenance costs as well,” he said. Agree for something
to be named after someone for a specified period, then open it up to other donors,
he suggested.

Mulder says that a lot of charities simply don’t respect how busy donors are, and
try to take up too much time. He is also a great believer in getting your board 
to donate – American style.

While many of the Funding Network’s members donate, it is not a requirement of membership.

“Try and encourage your whole board to donate,” he said. “Once you’ve put money 
in, you have a different kind of stake in the organisation.”

 * **[The art of a simple ‘Thank You’](https://fundraising.co.uk/2013/04/16/art-simple-039thank-you039/)**(
   16 April 2013)
 * **[London Marathon 2013: Thank you from Oxfam!](https://fundraising.co.uk/2013/04/26/london-marathon-2013-thank-you-from-oxfam/)**(
   26 April 2013)
 * **[Action Against Hunger says thank you to the UK restaurant industry](https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/11/27/action-against-hunger-says-thank-you-to-the-uk-restaurant-industry/)**(
   27 November 2014)