It should come as no surprise that donors want assurance that organizations know—and are grateful for—who they are as people (not as wallets). Why would a donor continue to support an organization that can’t even get their name right?

Though a generic thank you note is adequate for the middle school party circuit, it’s not okay for donor communications. And yet adult versions of this one-size-fits all acknowledgment continue to proliferate our mailboxes—an astonishing amount written by those of us in the business of THANKING DONORS.