Three Ways to Love Your Major and Planned Gift Donors Through Your Communication (And Why It’s Important)

This article is written from the perspective of our fundraising copywriter and marketing coordinator, Samantha Roose. You can read her full bio HERE.

Most fundraising professionals approach fundraising as transactional. Your organization does good work and donors give to the good work. Meaning there’s a mutual exchange — good work for good gifts. 

But fundraising is transformational. When donors make gifts — particularly major and planned gifts — they are transforming into a loving and generous version of themselves. These gifts transform organizations into sustainable carriers of love and goodness. As a result, beneficiaries experience transformation. 

And this — this transformation — is why donors give. So how do we help our donors connect with, delight in, and be moved to give by transformation?

We replace our transactional approach with love. 

After all, the word “philanthropy” literally means the “love of humankind.”

It comes from two Greek words: “philos” which means “love,” and “anthropos” meaning “humanity.”

So the best way to invite donors to extend their love is by expressing our love for them and giving them credit for what their love has accomplished. The fundraisers who do this well are transformation-focused. 

If you’re still wondering “But how do I do this?”, keep reading!

In this article, you will learn three beliefs transformation-focused fundraisers have and how to apply them in legacy giving conversations. You will also learn two best practices for communicating love for your donors and how to apply them in thank-you notes and appeals. 

Three Beliefs Transformation-Focused Fundraisers Hold Close

When you believe something is powerful you treat it differently.

It’s why I use Windex to clean my mirrors and windows instead of water and vinegar. 

Windex is powerful and will get the job done, streak-free! But I’m also not going to leave the Windex where my 18-month-old nephew can play with it. I treat Windex differently than water and vinegar because of its power. 

Effective and transformation-focused fundraisers believe in the power of words, their love, and their donor’s love. Because of this power they use words and love with care and intention.

Belief #1: Words are Powerful

The Bible says words have the power of life and death — something you’ve most likely experienced!

Have you ever received a compliment that made the rest of your day better? You felt good after receiving that compliment and probably treated people better, maybe you even extended a compliment of your own. 

Have you also received harsh words that made you sad for days? After receiving those words you may have snapped at a loved one or responded with a mean text. 

Words create feelings. Feelings, very often, create action. 

Transformation-focused fundraisers know two kinds of words are powerful:

• Words they use. Effective nonprofit communicators believe their words are powerful so they write and speak with intention. Their word choice is intentional and careful.  
• Words donors use. Effective nonprofit communicators believe the words their donors say are powerful so they ask better questions and listen carefully.

Believing words are powerful leads transformation-focused fundraisers to choose their words carefully, ask better questions, and listen attentively.

Belief #2: Your love is powerful

“The more loved someone feels the more they will act in love,” said Jen Shang, PhD, the first person to have a doctorate in philanthropy.

I learned this lesson in high school… 

I had a terrible relationship with a younger brother. My parents encouraged me to do things that showed I loved him, like playing games together and encouraging him. I didn’t want to do any of it! But I did. Eventually, my brother started being nicer to me, too. 

Fifteen years later we are great friends, talk regularly on the phone, and when visiting family I stay at his house. 

Transformation-focused fundraisers prioritize communicating love for donors because they know that will open the door for donors to act in love. Three areas of love that matter for nonprofit communicators:

1. Love for your organization. When you love your organization and the work it does, you talk about it positively. 
2. Love for your beneficiaries. When you love the people your organization serves you talk about your beneficiaries positively. 
3. Love for your donors. When you love your donors you talk about who they are beautifully and positively. More significantly, you appreciate who they are, not just their financial investment. 

Extending your love empowers others to extend their love. 

Belief #3: A donor’s love is powerful

Remember the story of the widow’s mite and the woman who anointed Jesus with her perfume? These gifts — their very best, all-that-they-had gifts — were made from a heart moved by love!

Today, it’s still the power of love that moves your donors to make gifts to your organization. When a donor writes you into their will they are making you an extension of their family — that’s how powerful their love for your important work is. 

Effective nonprofit communicators believe in the power of their donor’s love when they’re communicating in writing or in-person. They trust that when a donor feels loved, the power of their love will move them to action when the time and invitation are right. 

How to Love Donors in a Legacy Giving Conversation 

A legacy gift conversation is a collaborative exploration of making a lasting impact. 

But somehow it can still feel scary and overwhelming because you’re asking your donors to consider giving you money when they’re dead. Not exactly, the most comfortable topic to bring up!

But if we apply the three beliefs of a transformation-focused fundraiser we get an approachable and effective framework for legacy giving conversations:

1. Loving our donors means we want our donors to feel loved. Most people feel love when they get to talk about themselves. In a legacy giving conversation, this should lead us to ask donors questions. 
2. Believing that words have power acknowledges that the words our donors say also carry power. This should lead us to listen intently and repeat their own words back to them. 
3. Believing in our donors’ love means we trust their love to lead them to invest in the things that matter to them. This should lead us to extend a clear invitation for donors to share their love with their very best gift. 

When we invite donors to share about their love for the organization and listen attentively to their explanations we can then connect their love to an invitation to give. This is also a good time to share a story about similar donors who have also made legacy gifts. 

If you would like more support in starting and navigating legacy gift conversations Legacy Giving: The Basics is for YOU! It’s a seven-module self-paced online course. Nonprofit leaders and board members who purchase by April 3 will get access to six live group coaching calls and recordings!

Two Best Practices for Effective Nonprofit Communication

When it comes to words, the goal of a transformation-focused fundraiser is to make donors feel loved and help donors see the impact and power of their love. 

Two of the most effective ways to do this are through storytelling and giving your donors credit for the impact being made.

Best Practice #1: Tell Stories 

When a donor sees the impact their love had they are likely to want to give again and more. 

Stories are one of the best ways to help donors see the impact and power of their love. A well-told story allows readers to glimpse the impact and transformation they made possible. 

Could you imagine a more inspiring letter or “thank you” than one with a story that explains the difference you made for someone else?

A story that helps donors see the impact and power of their love includes three things: 

1. Tell the story of ONE. It is much easier to connect with and imagine transforming the life of one child, one woman, one veteran, or one family. Donors are much more likely to be moved by and experience feelings of love hearing about how a person's life is impacted than the cumulative impact your organization made. 
2. Use sensory words. Sensory words allow donors to experience the moment of transformation your beneficiaries had. Instead of telling your readers about the sadness or warmth of community, show them: “with tear-stained cheeks” or “they gathered around a crackling fire and sang together.” 
3. Connect the moment of transformation with the donor’s gift. What is the moment of transformation…compassionate hope, a welcoming community, sweaty field games at summer camp? 

Well-told stories help donors fully engage with content, envision the experience they’re providing, and feel the impact of their love for others. Stories can be used in almost any nonprofit communication, including thank-you notes!

Write a “Thank You” That Creates a Loving Connection

Writing a warm donor-focused “thank you” can be difficult because you’re required to include some formal language. 

The formal language confirms to your donor that their gift was received and is being cared for as they requested. This is an important language to include. However, it’s not inviting and does not create a loving and grateful connection with your donor. 

In this case, write a warm donor-focused “thank you.” You may even choose to include a story and photo of someone the donor impacted with their love. Below the letter include an “about your gift” portion where you include the formal language. 

With this framework, a donor is thanked for their love, made aware of the impact their love had, and their gift is acknowledged in the way you are legally required. You can download a sample of “thank you” HERE. 

Best Practice #2: Talk About Your Donor(s) Impact

“Are you willing to give your donors the credit for your organization's impact?” Jen Shang, PhD, asked a room full of fundraisers. 

Your organization helped precious people, but the help your organization provided was made possible by your donors and their love. When you use your organization’s name you take credit for the impact. When you use “you” — talking about your donors — you give your donors credit for the impact. 

Donors give because they love.  Help them see the impact of their love by giving them the credit!

Two ways you can talk about your donors’ impact include:

• Replacing your organization’s name with YOU (speaking about donors). Every time you write your organization’s name in any material, swap it out with YOU. PRO TIP: The sooner you can use the word “you” — think subject line and very first sentence — the better!

• How you describe your donors. We communicate our love for donors by describing them with kind words and words they would use to describe themselves. According to Shang’s research, there are nine words moral people use to describe themselves: kind, caring, compassionate, helpful, friendly, fair, hard-working, generous, and honest. Weaving these words into your communication improves donor connection because you’re using words they use about themselves.

Are you willing to talk about your donors in words familiar to them and give them credit for impact?

How to Give Your Donor Credit for Impact in an Appeal

Appeals can be tricky because you want to tell a story of hope but also invite a gift. 

If your story is too hopeful you run the risk of making it seem as if there isn’t a need left to support. If your story is too sad it can be hard to communicate the power of your donor’s love. 

Here’s what I recommend: 

• Tell a story of hope. 
• Don’t gloss over the pain, be clear that hope almost didn’t happen. 
• If you have a statistic about how many more people need the same help the person in your story received, include that. 

In this way you show the impact of your donor’s love, giving them the credit for transformation while showing them there’s still a deep need for their love. Download an example HERE. 

Integrate Fundraising Copywriting Strategies into Your Communication Plan 

Expressing our love for our donors and sharing what their love has accomplished is the best way to invite them to extend more love to others. 

In fact, implementing transformation-focused communication has helped our clients fund their overseas missions, have their best in-person event attendance, and increase their year-end gifts. 

If shifting from transactional fundraising to transformational fundraising feels challenging choose one thing to implement. I recommend starting with replacing your organization's name with “you” — talking about your donors. 

If you’re ready to go all in but want help making your content transformation-focused schedule a call with Samantha!