A not-for-profit that knows how to say thanks

Here at Nyman Ink, we often counsel our clients on the issue of saying thanks. We talk about how important it is to thank your donors and we stress that small personal gestures can make an impact. In fact, ensuring that your organization offers up a simple thank you should be paramount for any not-for-profit wanting to make a difference in the crowded marketplace.

And this week, we found ourselves at the receiving end of just such a thank you.

Dale Roy, the Marketing and Communications Associate for Sketch Toronto, a great not-for-profit that Nyman Ink recently made a donation to, came in to our office, in person, out of the blue, to thank us for thinking about Sketch. He brought us a gift of some great "snow people" cards, designed with art made by the kids who benefit from Sketch's work, and took a little tour of our office, meeting all our employees and saying a personal hello to each of us. (To be fair, our office is very small, so it's not like this took all day.)

It was an incredibly touching gesture.

These days, thank yous come at donors in a variety of different ways. You can thank your community with a tweet, a newsletter, a personal email, a print card, even a video. And you do. Not-for-profits the world over are "thanks happy." And in the din, it's easy for donors to become overwhelmed and to lose sight of your thanks in a sea of other gestures.

The thank you we received from Sketch transcended all that. Dale's visit was short and sweet and the gesture was simple, but it made a real impact. I know I won't forget Sketch in the coming year, and now that I'm writing this blog post, perhaps you won't either.

That's the power of an old-fashioned, in-person thank you. I wonder, have you ever received an in-person thank you from an organization you donated to, or gone out of your way to thank a donor in person? Tell us about it.

_{Header image taken from the Sketch homepage and modified by Nyman Ink. Body image of the snow person cards taken from Sketch's facebook page.}