Thank Before You Bank

I was reminded of a mantra I used with a charity a couple of years ago – to be prompt in thanking them for their help.  The phrase I used was to “thank before you bank.”  They were to send the acknowledgment of the gift before the check was even presented to the bank for deposit.  It affected cash flow, but it taught a valuable lesson.

Before I urged them to this action, thank you letters went out months afterward, if at all.  One local corporation provided a truckload of gently-used computers for the organization’s school, but three months later had yet to receive acknowledgment that the donation was received and shipped to the overseas location.  The company’s generosity was stifled for lack of ten minutes to write a note and the cost of a postage stamp.

 

Tell them what you told them

When someone gives you money to do your charity work, they deserve to know their money was well spent and bought what you said it would.  Not that you would squander their donation.  It’s just that you ought to tell them.  (They might give a follow-up donation for future projects.)

I was talking to someone from a church I helped for a while about a decade ago.  They needed a new sanctuary, and a partner association wanted space for volunteers to stay in when they came to help.