# The Second Gift Starts Here

Connect the donor’s reason for giving with an appropriate next experience, without overwhelming the donor or the team.

A welcome plan answers three practical questions: what did the donor support, what have we promised, and what should happen next? Design around the donor’s preferences and the team’s capacity. An automatic receipt and a personal acknowledgement serve different purposes; check that the complete experience makes sense.

## Prepare

- Confirm the gift has been recorded and matched to the right person or organization. Resolve duplicates and uncertain attribution before personalizing.
- Check the purpose of the gift, the campaign or introduction that prompted it, communication preferences, and any promises made.
- Choose a manageable first group, such as five new donors whose records the team can review carefully. Set your service targets before you start.

## Steps

- Define the minimum experience — Every donor should have an accurate acknowledgement, a way to ask questions, and communication that respects their preferences. Additional personal attention should reflect the relationship and the donor’s wishes, not an automatic sequence of touches.
- Build a practical schedule — As an adjustable starting point, check the record within two business days, arrange an appropriate personal welcome during the first week, share a relevant update when verified information is available, and review the next step within 90 days. These are planning defaults, not universal standards or promised retention gains.
- Choose one purpose per contact — Decide whether you are thanking, answering a question, learning a preference, or sharing progress. Do not add an appeal to every message. Check what the donor has already received from other teams and campaigns.
- Record what changes the next action — Save expressed interests, preferred channel, requested timing, and any commitment you made. Distinguish what the donor actually said from your interpretation. ‘No response’ is an observation, not proof of disinterest.
- Hand off to ongoing stewardship — By the review date, decide whether the donor needs an ongoing personal plan, a requested update, a pause, or standard communications they have chosen. Keep the next owner and date visible.

## Check before closing

- The donor’s gift and preferences have been checked.
- The agreed welcome work is complete or intentionally paused.
- Questions and promises have an owner.
- The next stage of stewardship is explicit.

## Worked example

Fictional example: a first-time donor supports a literacy project after a community event and asks for email only. The relationship owner sends a specific welcome, answers a question about the program, and schedules one verified update. The team does not add phone calls simply because a high-touch checklist contains them.

## When the plan changes

- Monthly donor: avoid restarting the welcome sequence with every installment.
- Anonymous or uncertain donor identity: use the approved acknowledgement route and resolve identity without guessing.
- Gift through an intermediary: confirm attribution and the appropriate communication route before treating the intermediary as the relationship donor.
- Delay or complaint: respond to the concern first and adjust the plan.
- Opt-out or requested pause: stop the affected communications and preserve the preference for the next owner.

## Measure

Review whether acknowledgement and promised follow-up were completed within your chosen targets. Track first-to-second-gift conversion separately over an appropriate observation window; a completed welcome plan is not evidence that the donor will renew.

Reading connections: 7-Figure Fundraising, on stewardship and the first 100 days; the AFP Donor Bill of Rights on acknowledgement, information, and respectful treatment. The schedule here is an adjustable Gratona implementation example.