A lovely and unexpected “thank you”

Last night I heard a lovely story of an unexpected and thoughtful thank you from a nonprofit to one of its supporters. I thought you’d enjoy hearing it as well.

I was facilitating a workshop on donor and member renewals. (More about that in a future post). The participants, who were largely board members and some staff from environmental organizations, were exploring their own experiences with organizations they contributed too.

During our conversation, I asked people to share experiences they had as donors or members — in particular, experiences that really stood out, good or bad.

One of the participants shared this story:

His wife, an artist, was interviewed by the local newspaper. During the interview (and mentioned in the article), she shared her fondness for a particular repertory theatre which she said was one of the things she loved about this State.

Not too much later, the couple attended a play at the named theatre. As they arrived, they noticed an envelope on their seat. Inside the envelope was a note to his wife from the theatre, thanking her for mentioning her love of this theatre in the newspaper article. Also inside was a gift certificate for coffee and dessert after the show at a nearby restaurant.

An unexpected and lovely thank you. A real show of gratitude. Needless to say, this particular act made a lasting impression… and really cemented the love of a fan.

Very nice.