We recently received a beautiful, unexpected gift of $10,000. It came directly from an investment company, with instructions to use the funds “where they are needed most.” The gift notification arrived at the end of a hectic week, when once again, I was feeling the pressures of skyrocketing community needs, high levels of funding uncertainty, and decreasing resources. Seeing these much-needed dollars come through that morning brought a moment of lightness and gratitude to our small team, reminding us once again that so many people in our community care deeply about taking care of our neighbors and each other. Let’s just say I may have cried a happy tear or two before picking up the phone to call this generous soul.
But alas, a thank you call was not meant to be. Nor was a handwritten card. Or a gratitude-filled letter. Not even a quick thank you email. Why? Because this generous donation, which will bring help and hope to so many people in our community, came with no contact information. And despite my best efforts, I could not figure out how to get any. Google got me nowhere. The investment company won’t release any additional details, which I think we can all agree is a good thing. But dang if I didn’t want to tell this person how grateful we truly are for their support.
If, by chance, dear donor, you stumble across this letter, I hope you can feel the love.
In some ways, the lack of contact information adds another layer of beauty to any gift. These generous donors aren’t doing it for the accolades. They don’t want to see their name on our website or in our annual report. They don’t need anyone else to know they are silently and steadfastly supporting the community they love. They don’t even need me, the nonprofit CEO, to know who they are, to share how grateful I am, or to tell them how hard our small team will work to stretch those dollars as far as they can possibly go.
To be honest, I kind of love this. And I respect it. Which is why I won’t spend any more time trying to figure out how to reach these wonderful folks. But I will express my gratitude here, to you and all the other Unknown donors.
Dear Unknown Donor,
Please know how much your gifts mean to us. As a small nonprofit trying to do big things, we truly believe that every dollar matters., and that every donation can change a life. We see your gifts come in, and we are full of joy and gratitude.
Sometimes, you elect to remain anonymous, and we will respectfully honor that wish.
Occasionally, we receive a gift with a name but no contact information. And we will honor that as well. We promise not to spend our precious resources trying to track you down. We will not ask our dedicated team to dive deep into the internet to send heartfelt thanks to someone who may or may not be you.
Other times, you give through your employer or a third-party system that doesn’t share your information with us. Maybe you have to opt in for contact information to be shared and you didn’t know. Or maybe you think we’re getting your information from the payment processer and we’re not. Or maybe it just feels good enough to give without being showered with gratitude.
But gratitude is in our veins. We love saying thank you. And we truly mean it from the deep within our hearts.
Missing out on the opportunity to appreciate you is tough, but we will soldier on. We will keep doing the important work that you want us to do. The work that you trust us to do. The work that you support with your generous, anonymous contributions.
To all of our wonderful Unknown Donors out there, we want to say this:
If you’re not getting thank you cards, calls, emails or letters from United Way of Whatcom County, it’s only because we don’t have the information we need to contact you. Or because you have asked us not to.
But oh how we love you so!
With heaps of gratitude,
Kristi Birkeland
President/CEO, United Way of Whatcom County