First-Time Donor Welcome & Second-Gift Retention Series
A multi-touch onboarding series engineered to convert the flood of one-time seasonal and crisis donors into retained, second-gift givers — serving the 'measure what you keep' thesis in the first 90 days.
Draft: pending review
This starter document is signed off by a CFRE reviewer before it ships. The guardrails below define that review.
What’s inside
- Immediate tax-compliant thank-you + fast 'your gift already did this' touch
- 90-day welcome journey mapped by channel (email, mail, phone, optional text)
- New-donor survey to capture motivation and communication preferences
- Second-gift and 13-month retention KPIs with cohort tracking
Legal & ethical guardrails
The sector-specific compliance points this document must honor.
- Send a written acknowledgment with required IRS substantiation language; gifts of $250+ require contemporaneous written acknowledgment
- Honor stated channel/frequency preferences and opt-outs (CAN-SPAM, phone/text consent rules)
- Impact claims to new donors must be truthful and consistent with actual use, especially if the first gift came under a restricted appeal
Held for professional review.
The native DOCX and full working text ship only after sign-off by a CFRE reviewer on this exact version. The summary and review requirements remain visible in the meantime.
Not legal advice. Not legal, tax, or accounting advice. The Fundraising Co. provides educational fundraising materials and is not a law firm; nothing here creates an attorney–client relationship or substitutes for advice from professionals licensed in your jurisdiction. Laws and IRS rules vary by state and change over time. Review every document with qualified counsel before use.