Let's Talk Fundraising
Welcome to "Let's Talk Fundraising" with Keith Greer, CFRE! This podcast is your go-to resource for mastering the essentials of fundraising while discovering how innovative tools and technology can supercharge your efforts. Whether you're a new fundraiser looking to level up your skills or a seasoned professional seeking timely reminders and fresh insights, each episode is packed with practical advice, creative ideas, and inspiring stories.
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Let's Talk Fundraising
When Donor Thank-Yous Feel Rushed
Every fundraiser knows the weight of unwritten thank you notes—that pile on your desk, the rushed emails sent just to clear your to-do list, the nagging guilt when your gratitude doesn't sound quite right. You're not alone in this struggle.
I share a personal story about working at an organization where the CEO expected impossible levels of personalization in donor thank yous. They wanted handwritten notes with intimate details for hundreds of weekly donors—references to tennis games, grocery store encounters, and family conversations I couldn't possibly know. This unsustainable expectation nearly broke me, and it highlights a crucial truth: when thank yous feel rushed, it's not because you don't care enough—it's because your system wasn't designed for your reality.
The solution isn't working harder; it's establishing rhythm. Donors don't need literary masterpieces crafted entirely from scratch. They need to feel seen, valued, and appreciated through timely acknowledgment that sounds like you. When we lack this rhythm, donors wait too long for generic notes, and we carry unnecessary guilt that drains our energy.
This is where thoughtfully implemented AI can transform your gratitude practice. Not by replacing your voice, but by providing strong first drafts that eliminate the blank page and give you a foundation to build upon. With this approach, you can generate hundreds of personalized drafts quickly, allowing you to add those special touches that matter most while ensuring every donor hears from you promptly.
The mindset shift is powerful: gratitude isn't less authentic when you use support—it's more authentic because it arrives on time, carries your voice, and reflects care without burnout. Using templates or AI isn't cheating; it's choosing presence over perfection. It's sustainability that lets you keep showing up consistently for your donors over the long haul.
Ready to transform your thank you process? Join me in the Fundraiser's AI Starter Suite to learn how one short lesson can help you build a rhythm that gives you back your breath while strengthening donor relationships.
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There are a few things that weigh heavier on a fundraiser's heart than donor thank yous that don't feel right. Maybe it's the pile of notes on your desk that you never get to. Maybe it's the rushed email that you send just to clear the task from your list. Or maybe it's the guilt that comes when you realize your gratitude didn't sound like you, and you're not alone in that. Every fundraiser I know has felt the tension between wanting to be warm and specific and simply not having the hours to keep up. And after the break I'll tell you about one organization I worked at where the expectations for donor thank yous were so impossible they nearly broke me. And how, looking back now, I can see a rhythm that would have made it not just possible but steady. So let's talk fundraising. Let's stay with this question of thank yous, because it's more than just a polite gesture. Gratitude is at the very heart of fundraising. It's the space where trust is either strengthened or quietly eroded. But here's the space where trust is either strengthened or quietly eroded. But here's the problem. The pressure to make every thank you highly personalized can crush even the most dedicated fundraiser, and I want to tell you a story about that.
Keith Greer, CFRE:At one of the nonprofits I worked at. The CEO had been leading the organization for more than 30 years. In that community everyone knew them. They were the face of the organization and, like a lot of people outside the world of professional fundraising, they once heard that the best way to retain donors was to send handwritten, personalized thank you notes, not just a handful of them, all of them. And because this was a small community, the CEO believed these notes should reference personal connections, things like it was great running into you at the grocery store last week, or I enjoyed playing tennis with you, or your father was bragging about you the other day, and I couldn't agree more.
Keith Greer, CFRE:Now here's the kicker. The CEO wanted me to draft all of those notes, not just the formal part of the letter, but the personal details too. They somehow expected me to know who they played tennis with, who they bumped into at the store and what conversations they were having with people's family members. And it wasn't for a dozen donors, it was for hundreds. We were talking about 500 gifts coming in each week for a month or two after a mailing went out, and at my previous shop we used one thank you template per month and maybe the executive director would scribble a quick personal note on a few of them. That felt manageable.
Keith Greer, CFRE:But 500 individualized thank yous filled with details that I couldn't possibly know, that wasn't just overwhelming, it was impossible. And, I'll be honest, it left me feeling guilty. Guilty because I couldn't meet the expectation. Guilty because I worried the donors would notice the gap between the personalized ideal and what actually went out. Guilty because the weight of trying to make gratitude perfect left me too drained to make it consistent, and maybe you've lived some version of that yourself. Maybe not with handwritten notes from a CEO, but with a board member or leadership who wanted every donor touched in a highly personal way. Or maybe with your own internal pressure touched in a highly personal way. Or maybe with your own internal pressure wanting every thank you to shine, but facing a pile so tall you settled for good enough just to get them out the door. Here's the truth I want to name out loud. If thank yous feel rushed, it's not because you don't care. It's because the system around you wasn't designed for the reality you're in.
Keith Greer, CFRE:Gratitude is powerful, but without a rhythm it becomes another source of guilt, and this is where we go back to the principle I named last week. Relief doesn't come from grinding harder. It comes from rhythm. Thank yous are the perfect example of this, because the truth is no one can sustainably write hundreds of individualized notes from scratch every week, and no donor actually needs you to. What donors need is to feel that their gift mattered, that they were seen, that their relationship with your organization is valued, and that can happen through a simple rhythm, a process that ensures every donor gets a thank you quickly, warmly and consistently, without you collapsing under the pressure to do it all alone. When I look back at that season with my CEO, I can see it clearly now. If I'd had a rhythm, a way to pull in donor names, gift amounts, maybe one or two details we did know, the load would have been lighter. It would have given me drafts to shape instead of blank pages to fill. It would have freed me to focus on the touches that really mattered instead of scrambling to invent details that I didn't have. And that's the principle I want you to carry with you.
Keith Greer, CFRE:Gratitude should never be about heroics. It should be about steady rhythms that let you show up warm and authentic week after week without burning out. Because when we don't have that rhythm, two things happen. First, donors wait too long for acknowledgement or they get a generic note that feels transactional. Second, we as fundraisers carry unnecessary guilt that eats away at our energy and our confidence. But when we do have that rhythm, everything changes. Donors hear from us quickly, our words sound like us, not like a form letter, and we can end the day knowing we showed gratitude that was real and not rushed. That's the foundation we're building towards today Thank yous that are steady, specific and sustainable, not overwhelming and not impossible. And that's what sets us up perfectly to talk about where AI fits in. Because, when used with care, ai can help you create that rhythm, not by replacing your gratitude, but by holding the load so you can offer gratitude that's present, warm and truly yours.
Keith Greer, CFRE:So let's come back to that story for a moment the impossible expectation of 500 handwritten, personalized thank you notes. Because when I look back now I can see something I couldn't see then. What made that situation unbearable wasn't just the number of notes, it was the lack of rhythm. There was no structure to hold the work, no system to make sure gratitude flowed steadily. It was all raw effort, and raw effort will eventually break any of us. That's where AI can make such a difference.
Keith Greer, CFRE:And I want to pause here, because maybe when you hear the word AI, you tense up a little bit, and I get that. I've had fundraisers. Tell me, keith, I don't want to lose my voice, I'm not sure it's safe with donor data and I don't have time to learn another tool. And if you've ever felt one of those, you are so not alone. Those are valid concerns and here's what I want you to hear. Ai is not here to replace you. It's here to hold part of the load, so that you can show up with more steadiness and presence. Think of it like this AI is not the writer you are, but AI can hand you the first draft, the starting outline, the raw words, so that you're never facing a blank page alone. That's what rhythm looks like. It's not magic, it's not flashy, it's simply having a trusted place to begin.
Keith Greer, CFRE:Now let's go back to the thank you notes. Without rhythm, they pile up, they get delayed or they get rushed and you end up sending something that feels transactional instead of warm, and all the while, the guilt grows heavier. You know donors deserve better, but the hours simply aren't there. With rhythm, the story changes. The story changes. Imagine you've got a saved process. Maybe it starts with a donor's name, the gift amount and one or two details that you already know about them. You drop those into a rhythm that you trust and AI generates a thank you draft. It's warm, clear, donor-centered. It's not finished, but it's a strong foundation that you can shape in a minute or two Instead of staring at a blank screen for every donor.
Keith Greer, CFRE:You spend your time making small personal touches. You get 500 drafts in seconds. You polish a handful. You send them all out the same week that the gifts arrive. That's what a steady rhythm looks like, and notice what changes here. It's not just about efficiency yeah, you saved hours but, more importantly, you gave yourself back your confidence. Instead of ending the week with a stack of unfinished thank yous and a pit in your stomach, you end the week knowing that every donor was seen, every gift was acknowledged and your words still sound like you. That's the dual win I always come back to. The practical win, of course, is the time back the drafts, faster consistency without burnout. And the emotional wins the relief, the steadiness, the confidence. Both matter, because this work isn't just about getting things done. It's about how you feel at the end of the day? Do you still have energy left for the phone call you've been meaning to make? Do you still have patience for your family when you walk through the door? Do you still feel proud of the words that went out under your name? That's the real measure of success, and this is where AI shines. When it's introduced with care, it becomes part of your rhythm not your whole rhythm, not the hero, just part of the structure that steadies you. So let me give you a glimpse of how this looks in practice.
Keith Greer, CFRE:I want to share something I did recently. While preparing for this very episode. I decided to go back to that old way of writing thank you letters, where each one is personalized for the recipient, except this time. I wanted to see what would happen if I paired that approach with AI. So I put together a spreadsheet of 500 donations Nothing fancy, just first names, gift amounts and a few leveled impacts. I mapped out based on the gift ranges. Then I uploaded the spreadsheets into ChatGPT using privacy-safe settings and placeholders, and in less than a minute I had 500 personalized thank you notes drafted. Every single one was unique to the recipient. Now granted, these letters didn't have the CEO's level of detail about running into someone at the grocery store or chatting with their dad on the tennis court. But here's what struck me when donations used to come flooding in. It could take us six to eight weeks to get thank yous out the door Six to eight weeks. By then, the warmth of the gift was long gone. With this approach, I could have had 500 unique and personalized notes ready the very same day. Imagine what that would have meant, not just for me, not just for my sanity, but for the donors, who felt seen and thanked right away. That would have been a lifesaver.
Keith Greer, CFRE:Here's the key AI doesn't replace your gratitude. It supports it. It makes it sustainable. Because here's the truth Our donors don't need us to write every word from scratch. What they need is to feel that their gift mattered, and you don't need to sacrifice your evenings or weekends to make that happen. When you lean on AI as part of your rhythm, you create space Space to be present with donors, space to bring your voice forward, space to leave work at a reasonable hour and still know your thank yous went out on time. And this is exactly why I built the Fundraiser's AI Starter Suite Not as a tech-heavy program, but as a steady rhythm you can lean on A rhythm that lets you handle thank yous and board reports and prospect research with the same steadiness that we've been talking about, because gratitude shouldn't feel rushed, and it doesn't have to. With the right rhythm, gratitude can feel warm and sustainable and true to you every single time. We've talked about how thank yous often feel rushed because the load is simply too heavy, and we've talked about how AI, used with care, can create a rhythm that steadies you. But now I want to pause on the mindset piece, because this is where so many of us get tangled up.
Keith Greer, CFRE:The limiting belief I hear most often when it comes to thank you notes is this If I don't write every word myself, it doesn't count as real gratitude, and I know that voice. I used to believe it too. Somewhere along the line, we picked up the idea that true thankfulness has to be 100% handcrafted, line by line, and start to finish. And if it's not, then it's not authentic of our donors either. Because what happens when you carry that belief into your work? The thank yous pile up. You put them off because you don't have the bandwidth, you send them weeks late, or you rush them out just to get them done, and then you feel guilty because they don't sound like you wanted them to. And the irony the donor doesn't get a better experience. They either get delayed gratitude or they get a note that reads like it was written under pressure. Neither one strengthens the relationship, neither one feels good. So let's reframe it Instead of if I don't write every word myself, it doesn't count as gratitude.
Keith Greer, CFRE:The new framing is this If I steward gratitude with steady support, my donors feel it more fully and I can show up with more presence. Do you hear that difference? The first frame keeps you trapped in guilt and exhaustion. The second one frees you to offer gratitude consistently, warmly and sustainably. Let me put it this way Writing every word by yourself is not what makes gratitude real. What makes gratitude real is your presence, your intention, the fact that you cared enough to send it and that you cared enough to make it timely and specific. And this is where I think AI, used wisely, helps us embody the true heart of gratitude, because it takes away the bottleneck, the blank page, the endless hours, and leaves you with space to do what only you can do.
Keith Greer, CFRE:You're still the one choosing the words that matter. You're still the one who decides if the note sounds like you. You're still the one who adds that little touch the line about the donor's long history with your organization, or the mention of a program they've always cared about. Ai doesn't take that away from you. It hands you a steady rhythm so that you can bring that presence forward more often. And that's what donors want. They don't want perfection, they don't want a literary masterpiece. They want to know they matter, they want to hear it while their gift is still fresh in their minds. They want to feel your voice and not your exhaustion. So let me ask you which serves your donors better A delayed thank you, written entirely by hand but sent six weeks late, or a timely thank you drafted with support, shaped with your presence and sent the very same day the gift arrives. That's the mindset shift. Gratitude isn't less authentic when you use support. It's more authentic because it arrives on time, it carries your voice and it reflects the care you want to give without the burnout.
Keith Greer, CFRE:And here's the second belief I want to name. If I lean on support, I'm cheating and I felt that one too Like using a template or a prompt somehow makes me less of a professional. But let's be honest. We've always used support Stationary templates, mail merges, pre-printed thank you cards, shared language for campaigns. Ai is simply the next version of that, a tool that gives us a rhythm we can trust. Using support isn't cheating, it's stewardship, it's wisdom, it's choosing sustainability so you can keep showing up for the long haul, because the real danger isn't that AI will make you less authentic. The real danger is that, without support, you'll keep caring more than you can sustain, and that leads to burnout, brittle relationships and donors who quietly slip away. So let's reframe that one too. Instead of if I lean on support, I'm cheating, our new frame is going to be if I lean on support, I'm cheating. Our new frame is going to be if I lean on support, I'm choosing presence over perfection. That's the heart of this work. Donors don't need perfection, they need presence. And maybe the last mindset shift for today is this I have to figure it out all alone, and we're going to change that to. I can walk with guidance that's built for me.
Keith Greer, CFRE:So many fundraisers feel isolated in their gratitude practices. They think everyone else has it figured out and they're the only ones drowning in late thank yous or transactional notes. But let me tell you every room I walk into, every workshop I lead, the same questions come up room I walk into every workshop I lead. The same questions come up how do I save time, how do I keep my voice, how do I protect donor trust? And you don't have to carry those questions alone. You deserve support. You deserve rhythms that hold you. And that's what changes everything. Because once you release the belief that gratitude only counts if you do it all by hand, you open the door to rhythms that make your gratitude more consistent, more timely and more present than ever before. So let this sink in. Your donors don't need you to suffer over every word. They need you to be present with them. And you can do that when you let support steady you. That's the mindset shift that changes rushed thank yous into real ones. Here's what I want you to carry with you.
Keith Greer, CFRE:Gratitude should never feel like punishment. It should never feel like one more task you can't quite get to, or like a rushed note that leaves you guilty instead of proud, or like a rushed note that leaves you guilty instead of proud. Gratitude is meant to breathe. It's meant to feel steady, it's meant to remind both you and your donors why this work matters. And the truth is, you don't have to carry the weight of everything you alone. You don't have to spend six weeks scrambling through piles of notes. You don't have to write until your hand aches just to prove your gratitude is real.
Keith Greer, CFRE:What makes gratitude real isn't the grind, it's your presence, it's your voice, it's your care, showing up on time in ways donors can actually feel. That's what rhythms are for. They steady you when the volume gets high. They give you a foundation to stand on, so you think you stop feeling like a burden and start feeling like the part of fundraising that fills you back up. And if you're ready to build that kind of rhythm, the kind that gives you back your breath and lets you leave work knowing your donors were seen, I would love to walk with you inside the Fundraiser's AI Starter Suite.
Keith Greer, CFRE:The course is designed for exactly this moment for fundraisers who want to send gratitude quickly without losing their voice. For fundraisers who are tired of the guilt and ready for a steady way forward. One short lesson is all it takes to feel the lift by the end of the week. You can find the link in the show notes or at letstalkfundraisingcom forward slash starter suite. And if this episode offered you any measure of relief today. I would be so grateful if you'd take a moment to leave a five-star rating and a thoughtful review. It's a simple way to help this podcast reach other fundraisers who are carrying the same weight that you are. And if you haven't subscribed yet, that's another quick step that makes a real difference for you and for the fundraisers this show could serve.
Keith Greer, CFRE:So this week, let gratitude breathe. Don't chase perfection, don't carry it alone. Just take one small step that steadies you. That's enough. Next Monday, we'll shift our focus to the season that makes almost every fundraiser feel frazzled Year end. We'll talk about how to prepare now so that, instead of scrambling through December, you walk into it steady, focused and ready to show up for your donors. Until then, remember this You're not behind. Gratitude doesn't have to be rushed, and one steady rhythm is enough to give you back your breath. I'll see you soon, my friend.
