Giving feels good. Especially when it's recognized and the gift is well stewarded.

But believe it or not, according to a 2018 survey, only 37% of young alumni feel their gift makes a difference at Williams.

Saying thanks to your donors is an incredibly important part of a class agent's role. For that reason, we recommend that each agent make an effort to say thanks to each assigned donor, and that each class also send out a class-wide thank you talking about the collective impact of gifts from classmates.

In addition, Williams sends each donor a personalized receipt or e-receipt (depending on the mode of their gift), a hand-signed note from a current student, and a message about the impact of their gift, one month after it was made and one year after it was made (if they have not renewed their support of Williams by their gift anniversary date).

Timing

You may have heard that you've got a full year after receiving a wedding present to say thank you. Well, according to etiquette experts, that's not actually true -- and it's especially not true for gifts made to the Alumni Fund!

Do yourself a solid: send your note of thanks as soon as you can after seeing the gift come in from a classmate.

Pro tip:

The Volunteer by EverTrue app can be set up to notify you when one of your assignments makes a gift.

Here are some examples of thank yous that make you feel warm and fuzzy