Gratitude Idea Section

My column at the start of this week’s Coach talked about establishing a Culture of Gratitude. Expressing thanks to your donors is one key way of doing this.

A few years back, my wife asked if I wanted to see how non-profits treated their donors. She held in her hand a nice card from a national charity with a very simple note that thanked her for her support. Inside the letter was glossy pictures of children the group had helped because of her gifts.

While I cannot say that she continues to give because they showed gratitude for her gift, it nonetheless did not hurt. It caused me to question how we in the church show appreciation for our donors.

Too many churches simply take their donors for granted. We need to take a page from the non-profit world and take the time to thank our donors. Everyone appreciates being appreciated.

Here are some thoughts on giving your donors thanks and appreciation.

• Write a personal note to your most significant donors simply saying thank you. What if you included pictures of your church in action?
• Consider sending a small book as a token of appreciation. You might sign the copy with a word of thanks for their support.
• Make sure in all your giving statements, mail and digital, to all donors you express thanks for their gift, no matter how small it is.
• When significant gifts come in, write a personalized note expressing thanks for what their gift means for accomplishing ministry.
• Periodically during the offering time, spend time telling what gifts to your church accomplish and thank those that give.
• Why not use Social Media to post pictures of missions and ministry in action with a tagline like, “Thanks to your generosity, we were able to accomplish this!”
• Use your offering time to regularly say thank you! Help members see what giving does but never lose sight of the importance of simply saying thank you.

The above might require more work on your part, but it will be worth the effort. Begin to think and pray about whom you can express gratitude to. Then, just do it!