7 steps for your nonprofit to establish a successful memorial giving program

You can easily start a memorial giving program just by adding a line or two on your website, in your newsletters and in your appeal letters. For that small effort, you can experience both

• increased donations and
• stronger emotional ties with your donors

Of course to create a really successful tribute program, you'll need to do more. Step by step is the way to succeed.

Memorial gifts are made on the death of a loved one (people and companion animals), or in honor of a special life event like a wedding. People are especially likely to want to make memorial donations to organizations that deal with life and death issues, such as hospices and other health care related programs; veterinary practices and animal shelters. For instance, Kairos Dwelling, which houses terminally ill people, says that a large percentage of their income comes from tributes.

Here are 7 ways that you can start now to put a memorial giving program into action:

1. Offer a memorial giving option in your regular communications

Starting a  memorial giving program is easy. Just add the option to your website, newsletter and appeal letters.

“When we do our mailings with the newsletter or an appeal, we put in a reply envelope with a place on the back of the envelope, under the flap, to dedicate the donation. Every time we send out, we get more and more back. Most are from the envelope," says Becky Lindberg of First Witness Child Abuse Resource Center and a FundRaiser user.

2. Publish names of people who are being memorialized in your newsletter

When memorail gifts start to come in, you can kick your program up a notch by sharing the names of people who have been memorialized. This has two main benefits

• Possibly more donations in honor of the person listed in your newsletter
• Reminding readers of this option for other loved ones

"What makes an impact is when people see it in our newsletter. It sparks people. Then they pull out the envelope and see that they can do it too," says Becky of First Witness.

The Tributes Module in FundRaiser helps to collect and insert the proper names into your newsletter so that no one is accidentally overlooked.

3. Respond to memorial gifts in a timely manner

Timeliness is of the essence, in particular with memorial gifts. People who have suffered a loss, "will appreciate the letter if it arrives within a short time of the death, but if it arrives later, when they have hopefully dealt with it, then it won't be as welcome," says Tamara Fox of the American Animal Hospital Association Foundation (AAHA), which receives a large part of their income from memorial gifts.

4. Send out two letters in response to memorial gifts

Two different letters are usually sent:

• the normal acknowledgment letter to the donor
• an additional letter, called the notification letter

The notification letter goes to the family member of a deceased loved one, or to the honored person, for instance in the case of a wedding.

Some organizations only send a letter to the donor, and rely on the newsletter to notify the honored person or family members. This cuts down on work, but eliminates an important source of word of mouth and outreach to potential new donors.

The Tributes Module helps to streamline the sending out of both of these letters and with inserting the correct names in your newsletter.

5. Keep in mind the emotional nature of the memorial event when writing your letters

Be sensitive in your notification letter. Of course, timeliness, already mentioned above, plays a role, but what you say is also important.

"We don't say how much money was sent. We try to emphasize the sentiment. We always start off with something about the importance of pets in people's lives. We also let them know about the Helping Pets Fund, what it does, and that their vet cares enough to make a gift, which is so important. It reinforces the bond between vet and client. We get a lot of feedback on the letter from pet owners and veterinarians that they like it,” says Tamara of AAHA.

6. Small touches that show you understand can make a big difference

Often organizations make sure that the letters are handsigned or even hand written. "Our Executive director signs every letter. She writes a personal note on them," says Joan Young of Kairos House.

At First Witness, "all our thank you's are handwritten," says Becky. "We get a lot of positive feedback about that. Every gift we get, the board makes a follow-up call."

7. Count on Word of Mouth being a big help

An aspect of tributes fundraising which is integral to its power, is the emotional aspect. "Giving a gift in memory of my dad: it makes me feel good, it makes my family feel good, and you are giving to a cause you believe in," says Becky. "It's all about making your donors feel connected to your program and that just keeps them coming back."

Often people tellilng others about the gift they give or recieve and the organization that offered the opportunity, because of the good feelings that a memorial gift creates.

See how FundRaiser can help you manage a memorial giving program:

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All of this information will help us determine which of our software packages will be the best fit for you. Then we'll help you set up a demo and map out a custom evaluation process for you so that you can hit the ground running and meet your implementation goals.

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