Creating Holiday Thank You Cards with Cadenza

Earlier this week I saw a LinkedIn post that really bugged me.

The post was from a former nonprofit development director that was sharing her frustration that several of the organizations that she donated to over the holiday break didn’t write her a thank you message, despite donating what she considered to be a major gift. (See post below)

What really bothered me about the post wasn’t her message. I thought her post was spot on. What really irked me was the comments section. It was FILLED with nonprofit consultants and development directors who were trying to call Michele out for being tone deaf and for clearly not donating for the right reasons.

For one, our job as fundraisers is to help raise money for our organization. Full stop.

The best way to do this is by creating a sense of trust between your donors and your organization. Thank you letters are one of the easiest ways to be able to show your donors that they are more than a dollar sign, they are a part of your mission. That said, I also want to acknowledge why I think so many were irritated by this message. Fundraisers are burnt out and lack the time that it takes to individually thank every single donation (especially for larger organizations with only one or two people on their development staff).

In so many ways, it is the exact reason why Cadenza exists. To be able to free up time and reduce the stress and workload of the fundraising process.

I created a short video that demonstrates just how easy it is to create these thank you letters within the platform. What used to take hours of effort can be done within minutes by using Cadenza. Take a look:

We know how difficult this job can be. We understand that advice such as: “write every donor a handwritten thank you letter”, is not only incredibly time consuming, but is extremely difficult to scale as your organization grows. For major donors, this 100% should be a part of your process. These efforts can go a long way and I have personally seen $1000 donations turn into $20,000 grants.

As a sector, we should be leaning in to AI because it allows us to work smarter, not harder.

And the time you gain back? That’s for you to decide how to use it.

Maybe you use it to write those handwritten cards.

Or…

Maybe you use it to spend more time with your loved ones.

Either way, we hope Cadenza continues to be a part of your fundraising process for years to come.

Because you deserve a little time back in your day.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

-Zach