SOFII announces the return of the thank-you let­ter clinic

New thank-you let­ter clin­ic to cham­pi­on a renais­sance in char­i­ty thank-you let­ters, start­ing with Lee Saun­ders – and YOU.

Written by
Lisa Sargent
Added
May 21, 2011

It all started when veteran fundraiser and SOFII user Lee Saunders kindly sent SOFII a packet of charity thank-you letters he’d written for charities in Western Australia.

Lee’s packet made its way around the globe to me, US-based copywriter Lisa Sargent. And as SOFII’s resident thank-you letter specialist, I’m delighted it did. Because Lee’s letters have become the very first exhibit in SOFII’s second thank-you letter clinic.

The future plan for the clinic is to bring you the ‘best of the best’ on the art of saying thank you creatively to the wonderful people who make the work you do possible, your donors.

Featuring real thank-you letters from real charities and practitioners, like Lee Saunders, the clinic will feature periodic ‘live’ copywriting overhaul sessions, plus top tips, techniques and examples.

For the second exhibit, we need you to send in your in-memoriam thank-you letters.

In the months since SOFII’s first thank-you letter clinic https://sofii.org/article/how-..., we’ve heard from many of you. And one thing is clear, what you want most is help writing your in-memoriam, or memorial, thank-you letters.

So exhibit two of SOFII’s second thank-you letter clinic will be on in-memoriam thank yous.

As before, send us your letters for a free critique and overhaul. The rules are simple:

  • One letter per organisation only, please.
  • In submitting your letter, you agree that we will be allowed to use it as part of the online exhibit with full attribution to your organisation, both before and after versions, with annotations from Lisa. So please get whatever permission you need before you send in your letter.
  • Please send your samples to carolina@sofii.org, in Word (.docx or .doc both OK).
  • And for this exhibit, it’s in-memoriam letters only please.

Then I will get to work on your letters, and before long, the in-memoriam thank-you letter exhibit will be ready for you to use. One last thing – on behalf of fundraisers from Toronto to Tasmania, thank you Lee Saunders for leading SOFII’s thank-you renaissance.

© Lisa Sargent's article was first published on SOFII in 2011.

About the author: Lisa Sargent

Lisa Sargent

Lisa Sargent (she/her) is head of Sargent Communications. She helps non-profits raise more money and keep more donors through better donor communications. A creative strategist and copywriter, Lisa works exclusively with non-profits on direct mail, email fundraising and donor care communications – acquisition appeals, annual reports, proposals, welcome packages, newsletters, thank-you letters and more.

Lisa is a contributing author to acclaimed decision science book Change for Better and author of Thankology, on keeping your donors connected and giving through the power of gratitude (reviewed by SOFII’s Ken Burnett here). Lisa also publishes The Loyalty Letter, a free newsletter for non-profit and charitable organisations read by subscribers around the world. Lisa has contributed regularly contributed to SOFII over the years, including the wonderful thank you letter clinic, which you can read here.

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