1) Create focused communication programs for your special constituencies, such as volunteers.

2) Create memorial giving programs.

3) Promote planned giving opportunities.

4) Acknowledge all gifts, and do so as personally and as quickly as possible.

5) Email newsworthy information to those who have given you their address.

6) Mail a year-end tax statement to current donors.

7) Send a postcard to those who have not given you their email address, offering them with an incentive to go to your website to register or to provide feedback

8) Recognize and encourage cumulative giving.

9) Offer monthly giving options for those who want to give more, but may not be able to do so with one gift

10) Send a welcome kit to new donors.

11) Send a survey to donors to get feedback on how you are doing on both accomplishing your mission and communicating your progress.

12) Monitor costs closely and ask vendors for suggestions on how to lower them

13) Mete out your budget to maximize the number of meaningful communications sent to each segment, each donor.

14) Once a multi-channel communication program is established, stay on schedule and stick with it for at least a year; preferably two or more, allowing for some tweaking along the way

15) Target a special appeal to a special constituency or segment. Messaging and approaches for this vary widely so we have not been able to feature a specific example here, but if you would like to discuss and obtain further details please contact Liz Brown at lbrown@drsol.org or 508-313-1007.