Show Your Donors Some Love: Tips for Building Stronger Relationships This Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is all about showing appreciation and fostering meaningful connections, making it the perfect time to engage with your donors. Whether you’re strengthening ties with longtime supporters or reaching out to new ones, the day offers the opportunity to show donors how much they mean to your organization.  A Valentine’s Day-themed stewardship campaign is a fun and engaging way to strengthen donor relationships. 

Segment Your Donors for Personalization 

 Not all donors are the same, so segmenting your donor base into meaningful groups allows you to tailor your Valentine’s Day outreach for maximum impact.  

For example, you may want to create the following segments to receive different messages: 

• Donors who have previously given to your organization (LYBUNTs and SYBUNTs) 
• Loyal supporters/Major donors 
• New donors 

Tip: If you use Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge NXT®, you can use dynamic lists and filtering capabilities to create these segments effortlessly and ensure that each message resonates with the recipient. 

Send Heartfelt Messages to Supporters  

Valentine’s Day is the perfect occasion to show gratitude through heartfelt messages that stand out. When crafting your message, consider the following tips: 

• Use creative themes: Design emails with a Valentine’s theme, using warm colors, heart motifs, or playful subject lines like “We ❤️ Our Donors!” or “You’re the Heart of Our Mission.” 
• Highlight impact stories: Share a success story that illustrates how donor support has made a tangible difference, connecting their contributions to real-world outcomes. 
• Create a call to action. Include a link to your website so donors can see what you’ve been up to, sign up for an event or maybe make a donation.  Because this is an appreciation message don’t link directly to your donation page. 

Sample Emails for Valentine’s Day Campaigns 

We’ve created some sample emails that you can leverage and personalize to easily create a Valentine’s Day campaign for your organization’s supporters.  

For LYBUNTs and SYBUNTs: 

Be our Valentine! 💖 We deeply appreciate your generosity and dedication to [organization name]. Your past support has enabled us to achieve our mission of [mission], and your donation has made a tremendous impact! Thank you for being an essential part of what makes [organization name] strong. 

As we continue our journey, we invite you to renew your support and help us reach even greater heights. Please consider making a donation today to further our mission and make an even bigger difference. 

With heartfelt appreciation, 

[Your Name] 

[Your Title] 

[Organization Name] 

For new donors: 

This year, you’re our Valentine! 💖 We deeply appreciate your generosity and dedication to [organization name]. Your support enables us to achieve our mission of [mission] and your donation has already made a tremendous impact!  Thank you for being an essential part of what makes [organization name] strong. 

With heartfelt appreciation, 

[Your Name] 

[Your Title] 

[Organization Name] 

For loyal supporters/major donors: 

This Valentine’s Day, we want to express our deepest gratitude for your unwavering support and generosity. Your commitment to [organization name] has been instrumental in helping us achieve our mission of [mission]. 

Thank you for being a vital part of our community and for making a significant difference in the lives we touch. You are truly our Valentine! 💖 

With heartfelt appreciation, 

[Your Name] 

[Your Title] 

[Organization Name]