What the flower shop taught me about donor follow-up

As someone who raises funds to cover living and ministry expenses the local flower shop reminded me of an important lesson –  make follow-up personal.

Last Saturday, while running errands, I somewhat spontaneously decided to stop by a local florist to purchase a dozen roses for my wife.

Mid-week, I received a personal card in the mail from Ann, the woman who sold me the flowers.  “Wow,” I exclaimed to my wife, “that’s impressive!”  As someone who buys based on good customer service, this company definitely has it going for them.  Fifty-four cents of postage and three minutes of employee time will definitely go a long way in getting my return business.

Of course, in her card, Ann also reminded me that she could help meet my floral needs at Valentines day.  I don’t mind the shameless plug for Valentines, this company wants my business and I like that.  It shows me they care about having me purchase there again.

Makes me wonder why I often struggle to write that thank yous for donations of any size to our ministry, especially when helping students discover Jesus is way more exciting to get a card about than a dozen roses.