When you’re setting out to renew your donors, you’ve got a big, but simple task: convince people who’ve supported you in the past that you’re worthy of continued support for the coming year. Which means your Renewal letter needs to:
- Let them know that it’s time to renew.
- Tell them what their past support has accomplished.
- Thank them for their loyalty and generosity.
- Remind them of who you are, what you do and why they joined in the first place.
- Explain why it’s so important and urgent that they renew their support TODAY.
You can do all of this quickly – ideally in two pages – and efficiently, without the supporting details that you include in an acquisition or appeal letter.
That’s what’s in. So what’s out?
As I mentioned, you don’t want to go into too much detail in a Renewal. Save the nitty gritty details for other donor communications. Your Renewal is a broad brush portrait of what your donor helps you accomplish each year.
Leave out the demands. Yes, the Renewal gift is important. But it’s not going to come if you take your donors’ support for granted.
Next up: how to make your Renewal letters as compelling as possible.
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