Hi Rabbi [LAST_NAME GOES HERE],

Every donor who gives to your organization embarks on a journey.

The question is…where will it end?

Most nonprofits know how to get a donation. They have step one: the ask. Some even have step two: the thank-you.

But then the donor path peters out. They chose you, handed over their credit card…and fell into a void (until eleven months later when the next campaign begins).

What’s a donor journey supposed to be?

A sequence of touchpoints from the moment they give their first gift until they (hopefully) become loyal advocates of your cause.

What a 12-month donor journey should look like:

*Donor sends a donation*

• Within 48 hours: A real thank-you, with one line about what their gift will do. This is the first step of the journey.
• 7-14 days in: An impact update, also known as a story. What happened since they gave? What is their gift accomplishing? This is a moment many organizations skip entirely.
• Yom Tov/Holiday check-ins: Moments of warmth with no strings attached.
• Regular stories: Regularly share something concrete; a family helped, a milestone reached, a problem you’re closer to solving.

Every lapsed donor is someone whose journey ended too soon.

And acquiring a new donor costs five to ten times more than retaining an existing one.

Draw *your* donors’ journey

Take a piece of paper and sketch a simple line. Mark the first donation on the left, and the yearly renewal-ask on the right. Next, mark every touchpoint you currently have in between.

Find the first gap – the earliest place where a donor could go weeks without hearing from you – and fill it. Send an email, a story, anything that connects.

We operate as a fractional CMO for Jewish nonprofits, helping with marketing strategy, implementation and copywriting that touches hearts. And gets people giving. See our NPO packages

​