They like you. They really like you!

Dennis Hoffman, CEO
Engage USA

I always love having a client come in to help open their mail. Because my clients are always shocked by how many positive notes they receive. Most of our clients are convinced that their donors don’t like them. But by far the most common comments we see in the mail is “thank you” … “God Bless You” … and “keep up the good work.”

Still, those of us in fundraising are often convinced that the majority of donors have negative feelings about our work. Why is that? Maybe it’s the squeaky wheel that gets noticed. It’s often an angry adult child of a donor or a donor who is overwhelmed himself who goes through the work to find a CEO at home. And happy donors aren’t likely to call again and again to make sure we know how much they love us.

But do you know what happy donors do? They write checks again and again. And what’s a better way to vote “yes” that they like you than to send you a check? So next time the negative people in your organization begin worrying about the .006% of your donors sending negative comments.  Remind them of the 14% who sent donations this month. Don’t they deserve to be noticed?