The thank you messages are an important aspect of how we work, as it is through these that our donors can really feel directly connected to the people they have helped. It is an opportunity to show our donors the difference their generosity is making, and encourage them that giving through Acts 435 is a worthwhile thing to do.

1. After a request has been met in full and the funds have been sent to your organisation, the request moves to the status "Action Required". You now need to confirm the date the applicant received the help or item requested and then write a thank you message which will go directly to the donor(s) who generously gave to support your request.

2. At the start of their email, donors receive the following standard text:
   
   “Acts 435 Advocates, based at the local participating church, are able to directly write a thank you message on behalf of the individual or family helped which will specifically go to those donors who gave to that request.

The following message is therefore intended for you:”

What then follows is what you have written. Write naturally, either from your own perspective or directly from the applicant (if they have given you a message) 

3. Bear in mind a lot of our donors give a small amount to various requests, and many are repeat givers, so please ensure your message helps them identify what the original request was for. For example: "Thank you for your help. It has made a great difference" doesn't provide much context or detail. Much better to say: "As a single mother of 5 children it has been really difficult for this lady to keep up with the washing since their previous machine broke, especially as   the launderette is too far to go to with children. She wanted us to pass on this message; "Thank you for my new washing machine. It has made a great difference"". 

4. While we appreciate that recipients might not always be effusive with their thanks, or simply might not know how to express it, in those situations please consider writing the message from your perspective as the Advocate, knowing the difference this gift has made. Imagine meeting the donor and what you might say to them on hearing that they had given to that request.  

E.g: "Like many of the people we support, B is not someone who is ever going to make an eloquent thank you speech. He is a person of few words, who prefers not to be the centre of attention. He did say "thank you, that will be really useful", but we want you to know that your compassion and generosity towards him has been a huge blessing. Thank you for your support."

5. If a donor gives to 4 or 5 different requests, all in different locations, and only gets one thank you, say from Hull, they are more likely to give to Hull requests in the future. It is in your own benefit to make the time to write these thank you messages. The emails come to us first to be edited (if necessary), authorised and sent, but of course the less editing we need to do, the quicker they will go out! It is also in your own benefit to get them done quickly because the request will still be fresh in their mind. Sometimes donors really connect to an applicant and ask if they can do more to help!

6. Some lovely examples:

"Thank you so much for your generosity in supporting this family. Your support has made a massive difference, not only in providing a washing machine which was desperately needed but also in providing a positive boost to this family who now know that others care for them. Thank you again for your kindness and generosity. "

"T couldn't find the right words when we told him that he was able to have help with his move. He broke down in tears, he was just so grateful. Having the opportunity to start over means the world to him. He could only muster the words "thank you" as he was so overwhelmed by your help. I know that he is so grateful- thank you for your kindness."

"Thank you very much for your help, I don't know what I would of done without it. I have had such a terrible year and you have made my day. There really are some wonderful people out there. I can`t stop smiling- I am going to be debt free and that is a lovely feeling!" 

7. Thank you messages for Debt Relief Orders (DROs) can either be done early, in faith that the Applicant will be successful, or await full completion and therefore appear to be a very late thank you- we advise our donors that this is because the DRO process can take some time. In the case of an early acknowledgement of a DRO, Advocates may wish to use the following (or similar) wording, including a more personal line of thanks directly relating to the Applicant and the impact this gift will make: 

“The DRO process is long-winded and we hope and trust that X will successfully get to the end of this process. He/she will be supported through it. Please be assured that if for any reason X is unable to complete the process, your donation will be reallocated to someone else who needs to go through this process and cannot fund the fee”.