85% of donors say a thank you would convince them of a second gift.1. The Red Cross understands this. Recently after donating blood, I received the following email that said,
Thank you for giving blood with the American Red Cross on December 14, 2022. After first ensuring that local needs were met, your blood donation was sent to Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital in Baytown, TX, to help a patient in need. Your donation is on its way to change lives!
When I read that, it made me feel good. At the same time, it reminded me that I needed to book another appointment to donate more. A personalized thank you will help the Red Cross get another contribution from me. If that works for the Red Cross, why wouldn’t the same thing work for you?
I have learned that one of the easiest ways to increase giving is by saying, “thank you”. A “thank you” is the best way to invite a second gift. At OnlineGiving.org, we have designed our tools to allow you to better personalize the giving experience for your donors, leading to the second gift.
Let me give you an overview of how our tools can help you receive the second gift, leading to a lifetime of generosity for your donors.
First, you can’t get the second gift without getting the first gift. We give you the ability to allow donors to select where they want their gift to go. You can designate a fund, such as Tithes & Offerings, and briefly describe what that fund does. This allows you to give a short, compelling reason for giving. Think of short Twitter-like messages. For example, under Tithes & Offerings, you might explain, “Helping the ongoing mission and ministry of Community Bible to change lives.”
From general budget to mission work across the ocean, we give you the ability to provide meaningful descriptions of where donors’ gifts will go and the impact they will make. This helps gain that first gift. To get the second gift, you must take it one step further with a thank you that engages the donor in such a way that they want to give again.
How? By utilizing our tools to modify the automatic giving receipts, you can tell stories of how God uses those gifts in the local community and beyond. Our tools allow you to generate personalized and up-to-date “thank you” responses whenever someone gives to your church. Here are a few examples from our client churches of lines they used to personalize their email giving receipts.
“Because of your generosity, we were able to share the gospel with 1,100 kids during VBS in June.”
“Because of your generosity, this Easter, we were able to share the good news of the gospel with 16,352 people who attended one of our Easter services! By God's grace, 73 of those made professions of faith!”
“Because of your generosity, we were able to disciple and share the gospel with 349 middle schoolers, 389 high schoolers, and volunteers this July."
All of the above is easily accomplished. We’ll show you how. Our internal systems are easy to understand and use. If you get stuck, reach out, and we will help solve the problem no matter what size church you are! All it requires on your part is a little time, effort, and a bit of creativity.
Another great way to get the second gift is to encourage donors to set up their giving to be recurring. This can be done with a thank you note. The email the Red Cross sent me had a big red Schedule Now button in the middle, making it easy for me to schedule another donation. Making generosity easy, fun, and fast is one of our ongoing purposes at OnlineGiving.org. We also provide you with a platform and tools to make the giving experience as engaging as possible for your members.
We would love to show you more about how our tools can help you get the second gift, the third, and finally, grow givers into lifetime donors to your church. To get started, contact us at (615) 206-4000 or email us at support@onlinegiving.org.
The Stewardship Coach
Wondering what can help your church receive the second gift? From your general budget to overseas missions, our tools help you share meaningful descriptions of where donors’ gifts can go and customized, "thank you" messages detailing the impact made.https://t.co/EKUpHSpOgS pic.twitter.com/JgEXbJ2aJb
— Online Giving (@onlinegivingorg) January 16, 2023
