# How good are charities at thanking donors?

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/09/22/good-charities-thanking-donors/
- Published: 2016-09-22T12:06:10+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Does your charity thank all its donors? How? How quickly? And is there a lower
amount below which you don’t thank donors?**

Research into how UK charities thank donors has been published by fundraising consultancy
John Grain Associates (JGA). Their premise, based on 12 years of consultancy experience,
was that

> “our experience continues to be that strategically and organisationally this area
> often remains the poor relation of fundraising. We wanted to see if others felt
> the same.”
> 
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The company surveyed over 100 charities over the summer and found that:

 * one in ten charities did not thank new donors who gave a first gift of less than
   £10
 * almost one in five charities who did not ever thank new donors giving less than
   £5
 * over half of existing supporters giving online received nothing more than a bounce
   back e-mail acknowledgement

On the other hand over 25% of charities in the survey made the effort “always or
often” to send handwritten thank-you’s to acknowledge gifts.

![Thanks a million, says Macmillan Cancer Support](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2015/06/macmillan-thanks-a-million-clothes-aid.jpg)

_Thanks a million, says Macmillan Cancer Support_

## Measuring thanking

Not surprisingly, 80% of respondents felt that supporter care was strategically 
important to their charity. However, less than 40% actually measured thanking effectiveness
in any way. Of those that did, more than 90% only did so in terms of how quickly
they thanked supporters.

On this issue the report found that:

> “Almost one third [of respondents] aim for a thank you within two days and a further
> 44% have a target of between three and five days”.

JGA’s Client Services Manager Jaimie Stevenson-Miller said:

> “The report gives us some great insights into how we, as a sector, approach thanking.
> While there is much to be applauded and be proud of, there is also much to be 
> concerned about, and while we might talk a good game when it comes to thanking
> and supporter care we would conclude our actions don’t always back up our words.”

![Thank you box](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/files/images/news/thankyou.
jpg)

_Saying thank you_

## Supporting the Commission on the Donor Experience

The research was also commissioned to contribute to the [Thanking and Welcoming project](https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/09/12/commission-donor-experience-thanking-welcoming/)
which is part of the Commission on the Donor Experience.

The report expresses the author’s disappointment at the level of engagement with
the research:

> “So, despite the many press articles criticising fundraising methods and exposing
> some very poor practices in some instances, and despite the changes to the Institute
> of Fundraising’s Codes of Practice and the new Fundraising Regulator, and despite
> the plenty of column inches and presentations devoted to the importance of supporter
> retention, supporter journeys, stewardship, donor care and a myriad other associated
> terms, it would appear that a somewhat apathetic view of the value and importance
> of thanking remains the case for many fundraisers and for many charities.”

The report is available to download for free from [John Grain Associates](http://johngrainassociates.com/consultancy/).
It includes full analysis and interpretation and contains eighteen specific conclusions
about how well charities really thank those generous enough to support them.

![Loading](https://fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/page-views-count/ajax-loader-
2x.gif)