5 Engaging Templates to Send Donors Post Giving

The donor journey is a life cycle. It doesn’t end after the first, tenth, or hundredth gift. In fact, it’s a prime opportunity to deepen your relationships with your supporters and your mission.

It’s. the outreach and engagement you demonstrate post-donation period that matters. To make your follow-up easy, and help you deepen donor engagement we created a set of templates to help you communicate with your donors during this critical period.

With these templates, you can make the most of every engagement touchpoint and ensure your supporters stay connected with your cause.

Template #1 ⁠— Thank-you Messages

Subject line: Thanks for your generous donation to [organization].

Thanks, [Donor]!

We received your recent donation of $[gift amount] to [organization], and we just wanted to take the opportunity to share how grateful we are for your support.

Generosity like yours allows our team to make a difference in the world, and we truly could not do it without your help.

We thank you for empowering us to [summary of nonprofit mission statement] by [brief description of a current or recent project], [brief description of a current or recent project], and [brief description of a current or recent project].

For more information about the cause or how you can get further involved, please don’t hesitate to reach out by phone at [phone number] or through email at [email address]. We’d love to hear from you!

Sincerely,

[Name]
[Position]
[Organization]

Template #2 ⁠— Impact eMails

Subject line: Here’s how your generosity impacts the cause…

[Donor],

In [time period, i.e., month or year in which the story took place], [name of (consenting) constituent impacted by the organization] came to [organization] with a need. Luckily, our team was in place to support [example constituent] by [summary of service offerings that benefited the constituent].

Now, [example constituent] is [contrasting description (e.g., healthy, happy, safe, etc.)] thanks to the generous donors supporting our mission.

In the last [period of time], [organization] has served [significant number of constituents] like [example constituent]. And we continue to offer programming for others in the time to come.

You are truly making a difference for [organization] and [core audience organization supports]. Without your support, we would not be able to [summary of nonprofit programming]. 

[Constituent]—and the team at [organization]⁠—thanks you.

Thanks a ton,

[Name]
[Position]
[Organization]

Template #3 ⁠— Matching Gift Eligibility

Subject line: Get your donation matched ⁠— double your giving impact!

Dear [Donor],

Our records indicate that you recently made a donation of $[gift amount] to [organization] that may be eligible for a corporate match. Your employer, [company name], matches gifts made by individual team members to qualifying causes like ours.

Your gift has already made such an impact on [organization] and [core audience organization supports]. By requesting a corporate match, you can stretch your contribution even further without giving another dollar.

Interested in getting your gift matched? Click here to access your employer’s corporate match submission form [link to online request portal].

Want to learn more? Check out our matching gift web page here.

With double the gratitude,

[Name]
[Position]
[Organization]

Template #4 ⁠— Additional Engagement Opportunities

Subject line: Here’s how you can stay involved, [Donor]!

[Donor],

We are so grateful for your recent support of [organization]. But did you know that there are a ton of other ways you can get and stay involved in our cause?

Here are just a few of the things you can do to make an even greater difference for our organization and [core audience organization supports]:

  • Attend an upcoming event! Check out our event calendar here.
  • Make your gift a recurring one! Click here to get set up with regularly scheduled donations to [organization].
  • Get your donation matched! Browse our matching gift page here to learn more about corporate matching gifts.
  • Volunteer with [organization]! Help us drive forward the cause by partaking in a hands-on volunteer experience. Check out available volunteer opportunities here.
  • Fundraise for us! Become a peer-to-peer fundraiser and help collect donations for [organization] and our mission.

Let us know if you have any questions about ongoing engagement opportunities.

See you soon,

[Name]
[Position]
[Organization]

Template #5 ⁠— Matching Gift Acknowledgments

Subject line: Thanks for the match!

Thank you, [donor name].

Your continuous support of [organization] means so much to us. We are happy to announce that we recently received a matching donation of $[match amount] from your employer, [company].

The whole team at [organization] is so grateful for not only your initial contribution to the cause but for going above and beyond to request a corporate match. Doing so allows us to stretch fundraising dollars even further and make a greater impact on our community.

And we couldn’t have done it without your help!

Thanks again,

[Name]
[Job title]
[Organization]

Bonus Tips and Best Practices

  • Personalize, personalize, personalize. Templates like these can be a great place to start, but you want to be sure to tweak each message for the donor in question. Mention the donor by name, acknowledge prior engagement history, and provide corporate giving information for an individual’s specific employer. 
  • Leverage your donors’ preferred communication channels. If an individual contributed initially through an email appeal, send your acknowledgments through email as well. If a donor gave through direct mail, however, you might want to consider sending a physical note.
  • Consider your timing. The cadence of your post-transaction messages can significantly impact their effectiveness. For example, many organizations trigger automated thank-you emails and gift receipts immediately following a donation being made. Meanwhile, Double the Donation research indicates that matching gift emails sent within the first 24 hours of a donation results in a 2-3x times higher open rate than the average nonprofit.

Best of luck to you and your team!

Content collaboration with:

Adam Weinger, President

Adam Weinger is the President of Double the Donation, the leading provider of matching gift tools to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions. Adam created Double the Donation in order to help nonprofits increase their annual revenue through corporate matching gift and volunteer grant programs.

Double the Donation