# Thanks, Then Another Ask? Original field notes by Gratona. The worked cases and templates use invented people and organizations. Decide which donors can receive an invitation to give inside your annual thank-you, and leave with a clean thank-you, an invitation paragraph and a decision for each donor group. Research: Greedy or Grateful? Asking for More when Thanking Donors. ## Reading connection K. Sudhir, Hortense Fong and Subroto Roy worked with HelpAge India to vary the annual thank-you letter sent to previous donors, including a version with an explicit request for another gift. ## Team kit ### Your annual thank-you Adapt for donors who will receive the annual thank-you without an invitation. Confirm each figure with the program team. ```text Subject: Thank you from [organization] Hi [first name], Thank you for supporting [organization]. [Gift sentence, only where you’ve checked the gift record.] [Two or three sentences on what happened this year, each confirmed by the program team.] If you have a question, or you’d like to hear from us more or less often, reply to this email or call [name] on [number]. With thanks, [Name] [Role], [Organization] ``` ### Your invitation paragraph Placed after the program paragraph, for eligible donors only. Agree the fund wording with finance. ```text [What’s needed, in one or two confirmed sentences.] If you’d like to help, you can give at [link]. Gifts made through this email [destination, in wording agreed with finance]. If now isn’t the right time, there’s no need to reply. ``` ### Your pre-send decision sheet Complete it before anyone is assigned. Each donor goes in the first eligibility row that applies. ```text ANNUAL THANK-YOU: PRE-SEND DECISION Send date: Owner: Reference date for giving history: Base list (who, and gift dates): 1. MESSAGES THAT STAY SEPARATE Gift receipts unchanged and on usual timing: ☐ confirmed with finance Replies owed to donors listed and assigned: ☐ Welcome series unaffected: ☐ 2. ELIGIBILITY Check | Donors | What they receive No email consent, or asked not to be emailed | | No fundraising requests | | Monthly or recurring donors | | Managed personally | | Open issue (unanswered question, overdue promise, failed payment, pledge instalment due) | | Gave within [days] of the send | | Other: | | Eligible for the invitation | | Total (must equal the base list) | | 3. CONTACT CALENDAR, [send date] TO [six weeks later] Other messages planned for eligible donors (date, message, which donors): 4. GROUPS, DEFINED BEFORE ASSIGNMENT Group 1 (definition, with dates): Count: Group 2 (definition, with dates): Count: 5. DECISION FOR EACH GROUP Group | Plain for all / invitation for all / test | Reason | Revisit on 1. 2. 6. IF TESTING Assignment date and method: Saved file (where, read-only): Window for counting gifts: Primary measure: net revenue per assigned donor, by group and version Guardrails: unsubscribes, complaints and no-solicitation requests, by group and version Later opt-outs removed from later sends and kept in the count under their assigned version: ☐ Review date: Reading the result: https://gratona.com/atlas/reading?source=before-you-borrow-the-winning-email 7. SIGN-OFF Development (name, date): Donor care (name, date): Finance, for receipts (name, date): ``` ### Your note to colleagues Send after the eligibility and assignment files are checked. Give each open task one person and a date. ```text Subject: [Date] thank-you: who gets what Hi all, The annual thank-you goes out on [date]. The checked list and saved assignment are at [location]. Plain thank-you: [groups and counts]. Thank-you with the invitation: [groups and counts; assignment method if testing]. Separate arrangements: [who, their message or contact method, owner]. Open issues: [name] will answer the questions and resolve overdue promises by [date]. Anyone still awaiting an answer gets their thank-you after the issue is resolved. Receipts: [name] confirms they continue on their usual timing, whichever version a donor receives. Contact preferences: [name] applies new opt-outs or frequency changes to every sending queue before the next send. Keep donors in the test count under their original assignment, even if later contact stops. Replies: [name] responds within [time], whichever version was received. Counting window: [dates]. Review: [date and person]. Count gifts and contact outcomes against everyone originally assigned, by donor group and version. [Name] ``` ### Exceptions - A donor gives between assignment and the send. The receipt goes out as usual, and the donor stays in the assigned group. - An open issue isn’t resolved by the send date. Send the thank-you later, after the answer. - Two donors in one household fall into different groups. Decide before assignment whether you assign people or households, and send one version per unit. - A relationship manager wants a managed donor included. Managed donors get their manager’s letter. Keep them out of the test. - A donor in the test asks for no fundraising email. Honor it in every queue at once. The donor stays in the count under the original version. ### Check before you press send Ask a colleague who wasn’t in the planning to pick five eligible donors at random and read each one’s contact calendar for the next six weeks. If any would receive a request before an answer they’re owed, or two requests close together, fix the list before sending. After the window, confirm that every receipt went out on its normal timing and every reply was answered within the agreed time, in both versions. Development owns the decision sheet, donor care owns open issues and replies, and finance owns receipts. ## Read further Read the description of the letter versions, then the results by recency, frequency and gift size. The section on targeting shows how the 6–11% estimate was calculated and what it assumes. [Read the research]() ## Related Atlas tool [Finish the thank-you message decision]() Review the donor’s contact timeline, settle the message’s job and define eligibility before any test assignment.