A life assurance company, with which I have had a life policy for about 35 years, addresses me as “Dear Sir or Madam” when writing to ask for the premium every six months. I feel they should know me well enough by now to be able to specify my gender with some certainty.

I have the same feeling towards charities asking for money. The more they show they know about me, the more vain I tend to be!

I have received two letters on the same day, illustrating different ends of the ‘donor care’ spectrum. We have been contributing for some 20 years, each year at this time of the year, to ELF – Elimination of Leukaemia Fund. Many letters from other charities try to massage one’s feelings and start off by thanking for one’s ‘generous support’ over the years, before making the ask. The letter from ELF, however, is a standard letter, on the basis that I had never heard of them.  It concludes “…if you would like to know more about ELF or our work to help you make a decision to support us, please contact me”.  Not a good way, I submit, to approach a committed donor.

The other letter was from the Royal College of Surgeons of England. A very nice ‘thank you’ letter already had been received. This, however, was a follow-up in the form of a personal letter of thanks fom the President of the College, adding that he was sorry he would not see us at an event (to which we had been invited earlier and had declined), and hoping there would be an opportunity in the future to thank in person.

Bearing in mind that a donation from me is not exactly on the scale of the Wellcome Trust (a very generous benefactor), that kind of care for the donor is, I think, a fine way to lay the foundations for future donations.

Charities, I believe, need to remember that many donors (myself included) like to feel that their donations (whatever their size) really are appreciated. I think it’s nice when a donation helps the cause and buys one a ‘warm feeling’ inside.

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