Donor Communication
The Secret Impact of a Hug Letter
A hug letter is a second thank-you that tells donors what their gift did. Here is how to write one, when to send it, and a full example you can adapt.
A hug letter is a second thank-you. It goes out a few weeks or months after the gift, after the receipt and the first thank-you letter, and it has one job: tell the donor what their gift did. There's no ask, no reply card and no "one more thing." Just a story about the difference the donor made.
It's one of the best ways to build a long-term relationship with a donor, because it answers the question every donor has after giving and almost no one answers: "Did it work?"
If your first thank-you letter isn't in good shape yet, start there with these donor thank-you letter examples, then come back.
Report in the terms the donor cares about
One donor I worked with had a goal of giving one million people clean water in his lifetime. He didn't think about his giving in dollars, so once we learned that, we stopped reporting it that way. Every update told him how many people his projects had reached and how far he was toward his million.
That's exactly what a hug letter is for. A receipt tells the donor what they gave. A hug letter tells them what it became, in whatever terms matter to them: families fed, kids in school, people with clean water.
Step one: Find your story
Before you start writing, find your story. What is it about your work that speaks to this donor? What moved them to give in the first place? If they gave to a specific appeal, the story should come from that program. Ask your program staff one question: "What happened because of gifts like this one?"
Step two: Say thank you again
Open with gratitude, even though you've already said thank you once. Fundraising writer Jeff Brooks makes the point that specific thanks, naming the gift and what it did, matters more than anything else in a thank-you letter. "Thank you for your gift in March" is better than "thank you for your support." "Thank you for your $40 in March, which put groceries on the table for a family for a week" is better still.
Step three: Show what the gift did
Now tell the story. One person, one moment, one result. Personal stories are what donors remember, and what makes them feel their gift made a difference. A number helps if you have one, but a single story beats a list of everything your organization accomplished.
Leave out the ask, including the soft ones. No event invitations, no campaign previews, no "if you'd like to do more." The moment a hug letter asks for something, it stops being a hug letter and becomes an appeal, and the donor can tell.
Step four: Keep it short
One page, front and back at most. Include a photo or two if they help tell the story, but don't let the letter turn into a newsletter. Mail it in an envelope with a handwritten address if you can. (A robot pen service can handwrite addresses at scale.)
An example hug letter
This follows the first-time donor letter in our thank-you letter examples, from the same made-up organization, Riverbend Community Food Pantry.
Dear Maria,
In March, you made your first gift to Riverbend: $40, enough for a week of groceries for one family. I promised I'd tell you what happened, so here it is.
One of the families your gift helped is James and his two kids. James started coming to the pantry when his hours at work were cut. For six weeks, he picked up groceries every Saturday, and his kids never had to know how close things got.
Last month, James came in to tell us he'd found full-time work. He didn't need groceries anymore. He wanted to say thank you, so I'm passing it on to you, because you're the one who made it possible.
Thank you for being part of James's story.
Gratefully,
[Name], Executive Director
P.S. The photo enclosed is from a Saturday distribution this spring. Your gift was on those shelves.
When to send it
- First-time donors: six to eight weeks after the first gift, when the first thank-you has arrived and the donor is wondering what happened next.
- Monthly donors: a few times a year, so the giving never fades into a line on a bank statement.
- Major donors: whenever the project they funded reaches a milestone.
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