Thank you for following along with me in this series.

I’m sure you haven’t done everything.

I haven’t either.

I also haven’t finished updating my passwords since my Google Mail was hacked. I need to get back to that. (See How to Navigate a Data Breach.)

It’s not too late to take notes from your incoming Christmas mail.  I often find out about a new phone number or email address. Record these changes and your ministry partners’ family news. These will help on your next phone call to your financial partners.

Your January Guide: Part 4 of 4

Here are a few more things I do in January, including free downloads.

Again, links for the rest of this series are at the bottom of this page in NOTES.

Let’s look at the Reminder System and plan your thank-you notes for the next year.

The Reminder System

This section is for Cru staff.

I check The Ministry Partner Reminders report on the StaffWeb every two months, starting in January.  I make sure everyone who should (or shouldn’t) receive a reminder is receiving one. Always check actual donations against this report.

Sort on any of the columns to help you make changes or to create a task to follow up on someone.

I sorted on the Reminder Status column and discovered we have:

• 74 monthly donors.  15 received at least one reminder letter this last year.
• 26 are giving at other frequencies. 4 received at least one reminder.

I’ll make some adjustments for a few of the 26 ministry partners.

When I sorted the Last Reminder column, I saw that seven ministry partners received letters in January. Two have gone to be with the Lord, so I changed their status to “Not Reminded.” The rest have not given (second column) since the reminder letter went out. I created a task to research these five and then decide what action we will take.

Check out more details about using this report in Remind Your Ministry Partners.

Thank-you Note Wording

I’ve written over the years about having five thank yous that I rotate. These annual thank yous make it easy to write a response that’s different from the previous year.

I  checked my Various Thank Yous document to see if I needed to update it. It’s ready for you to download.

Besides the annual thank yous, you’ll also find:

• Rotating thank yous for an increase in donations.
• A thank you for a new monthly donor. (One of our long-time occasional donors started giving monthly. Yay!)
• The wording for a response to a large donation. (Buy an extra-special thank you card!)
• A thank you to a donor who has to quit.
• Sample notes if your donor is in hospice or has gone to be with the Lord.
• Thank yous for a church and for someone in Christian service.

NEW!: As a bonus, here are my birthday and anniversary greetings. Use these in a five-year rotation. You won’t need to come up with what to write every year.

Thank-you Note Story Insert

The downloads in this section are for Cru staff.

Every January, I choose a ministry story to insert in thank-yous. I do this so every ministry partner receives a broader view of Cru’s impact beyond what we do.

This is the one I made for 2025. I found the photo and story in “Cru Ministry Stories & Impact 2024” posted on Workplace on November 11, 2024.

• Download my free thank you note inserts. You’ll only need a minimal edit to make these your own. All are half-sheet inserts created in Word (landscape orientation).
• I also write a note on the bottom of the sheet: “Thank you! Your donations make stories like this possible.”
• Be sure to record that you enclosed the story in your thank-you note. By the end of the year, all financial partners will have received a story.

As a bonus, here’s a Cru-themed thank-you note template.

Thank you for following along. I hope you found some useful ideas in this series.

NOTES:

• MPD is Ministry Partner Development
• The planned series:
  • Part 1
    • Finish up EOYA tasks
    • Address January greeting cards if you haven’t done so.
  • Part 2
    • Make a year plan for prayer letters. Start your January letter.
    • Start your reimbursement spreadsheet for the year.
    • Start a digital folder for your medical PDF files.
  • Part 3
    • Make financial MPD plans.
    • Make correspondence MPD plans.
    • Finish prayer letter.
  • Part 4
    • Update the Reminder System on the StaffWeb
    • Update thank-you note wording for the year.
    • Create thank-you note story insert.
• Photo by Pete Pedroza on Unsplash