Last week for The Chronicle of Philanthropy I co-hosted a Google+ Hangout on Air on creative thank you’s–and the legal requirements that accompany them–for your year-end giving campaign.

With me were:
Claire Axelrad, fundraising consultant at Clairification.com
Gene Takagi, Esq., principal of the Nonprofit & Exempt Organizations law group (NEO) and contributor to Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio
Cody Switzer, my co-host and web editor at The Chronicle

It was Halloween fun, valuable info and over 200 hung out with us!

I’ve got takeaways:
— if you’re a small, local nonprofit, use it to your advantage: visit your donors with small thank you gifts
— Claire bakes, so she brings cookies or brownies to donors’ homes to say thanks—that’s incredible!
— handwritten notes are very rare, so they’re special; use them for an informal thanks within 48 hours of the gift
— there are lots of inexpensive ways to give a sincere thanks—watch the vid, below
— if you use video and kids are included, get a simple release from parents (Gene had more on video, so watch below)
— all formal acknowledgements have to include name of nonprofit, date of gift and amount
— for gifts of $250 or more, add a description if it’s not cash and a statement whether your donor received something in exchange

Here’s the video. (It ends abruptly because the host computer rebooted and kicked us all off. Well, not all. Claire, Gene and I kept the show going, hoping that the recording hadn’t ended, but it had.)

Thank you Claire, Gene and Cody! And Margie Fleming Glennon at The Chronicle for organizing us!

p.s. Here’s Gene’s blog on our Hangout.