charity: water Knows how to Say Thanks

You don’t need the fourth Thursday in November to remind you to be thankful. charity: water proves that with a recent series of “Thank You” videos to donors.

I was alerted to this awesome idea when I saw that I, personally, had been thanked and named in one of these videos. After spending seven minutes watching everyone on my team of 30 get thanked by name, I was in awe. Never had I seen a charity do something so unique to express gratitude for those who had made a financial contribution.

Of course, as it turns out, the folks at charity: water decided to thank a lot of people via video on YouTube in honor of their fifth birthday. It’s a small gesture, but one that still takes an immense amount of time, energy, and resources. But, in a world where we’re all used to the form thank you letter (for tax purposes, of course), this breath of fresh air reveals that nonprofit organizations can push the technological envelope when they need to in order to spread the word about their work.

Beth Kanter, author and nonprofit technology expert, wrote about the idea on her blog. She said, “If you look at the videos, they don’t have many views and that isn’t the point.   charity: water is successful because they know it is about building relationships over time.”

Bingo. Nonprofits today must have a view for the future. It’s not enough to get someone in the door to give you something today; it’s about developing something interesting and meaningful that keeps them inside of the door for life.

What do you think about these videos?

Are they a good way to express gratitude and generate some buzz? Or are they a waste of time that staff could better spend on delivering services? Let the debate begin below.