Comments on: Kudos to ASAE Foundation https://effectivedatabase.com/kudos-to-asae-foundation/ Making data management a revenue generator Tue, 28 Apr 2020 19:42:48 +0000 hourly 1 By: Wes Trochlil https://effectivedatabase.com/kudos-to-asae-foundation/#comment-1100 Tue, 30 Nov 2010 21:01:09 +0000 http://effectivedatabase.com/?p=960#comment-1100 >>> it is always cheaper to retain a member than to recruit a new one

Indeed.

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By: Scott Oser https://effectivedatabase.com/kudos-to-asae-foundation/#comment-1099 Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:49:14 +0000 http://effectivedatabase.com/?p=960#comment-1099 I have to agree with Wes on this one. Members/donors are the life blood of any organization and all associations/non-profits need to do what they can to retain them. Personally I think what ASAE did was great and obviously made Wes feel better about the organization making him that much more likely to donate in the future. If they did not communicate with Wes, say by simply sending him a receipt for his donation in the mail, I am almost positive they would have lost his future donations and therefore would have had to spend even more resources to either get him back or to recruit someone else to donate. The old saying that it is always cheaper to retain a member than to recruit a new one is true not just for financial resources but for human resources as well.

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By: Wes Trochlil https://effectivedatabase.com/kudos-to-asae-foundation/#comment-1098 Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:59:17 +0000 http://effectivedatabase.com/?p=960#comment-1098 Fair question, Reid. Let’s do the math. The first letter (confirmation of donation and receipt) is essentially required, so let’s discount that. Second handwritten note comes from a volunteer, so the cost is postage ($0.42) and printing of card/envelope (let’s generously say $1, though it’s likely less than that). So total cost for first handwritten card is $1.50 (rounding). Second card is the same, only add in five minutes of overhead to ASAE because that was written by a staff member. Let’s make that $10 in overhead. So total cost to ASAE is $13. All this for a $100 donation.

But wait, that’s only for THIS donation. When we calculate the lifetime value of my contributions, that $100 will likely become several thousand. Without those notes, my LTV might be $100.

Yes, nonprofits have scarce resources. And maybe three letters is overkill. But I think ASAE (and all nonprofits) are better to fault to the side of over-thanking than under-thanking, wouldn’t you agree?

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By: Reid https://effectivedatabase.com/kudos-to-asae-foundation/#comment-1097 Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:49:28 +0000 http://effectivedatabase.com/?p=960#comment-1097 Yeah but is that how you want non-profits to spend their scarce resources? (Or maybe ASAE is different and they can afford triple effort.) Just asking.

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By: Wes Trochlil https://effectivedatabase.com/kudos-to-asae-foundation/#comment-1096 Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:02:09 +0000 http://effectivedatabase.com/?p=960#comment-1096 Good point, Garry, so much easier to be negative. Another reason notes like this stand out.

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By: Garry Polmateer https://effectivedatabase.com/kudos-to-asae-foundation/#comment-1095 Tue, 30 Nov 2010 13:42:26 +0000 http://effectivedatabase.com/?p=960#comment-1095 Wes,

Great blog and reminder that sometimes simpler is better. With negative feedback so easy to give out, a little praise is rare to see!

Garry

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By: Wes Trochlil https://effectivedatabase.com/kudos-to-asae-foundation/#comment-1094 Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:53:37 +0000 http://effectivedatabase.com/?p=960#comment-1094 Hand-written notes are so exceedingly rare that to receive one almost always brings a smile to my face.

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By: Cynthia D'Amour https://effectivedatabase.com/kudos-to-asae-foundation/#comment-1093 Mon, 29 Nov 2010 16:52:06 +0000 http://effectivedatabase.com/?p=960#comment-1093 Totally agree. I got the notes too. Made me smile – and feel good about the donation.

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