How to Party with Your Alumni and Donors on Their Birthday!

Birthdays are a great way to personalize your outreach and connect with your donors on a day that’s special to them.

What is the number 1 reason you should send your birthday wishes for donors and alumni through ThankView? The automation! You can easily set up a campaign that runs throughout the year and automatically sends a ThankView to each recipient on their birthday.

Now that you’re setting up a birthday campaign with ThankView, what are some things that your Birthday campaign should include? Let’s take a look at the message, the video, and the call to action for a ThankView birthday campaign.

THE MESSAGE

What’s the message of your birthday campaign? This will guide how you word the email message, shoot the video, and design a Call to Action button.

Do you want alumni of your school, college, or university to feel nostalgic, remembering fond memories of their college years? If so, make sure to feature your campus, students, or recognizable faculty in the message and video.

Are you a non-profit that features birthday gift campaigns? Make sure to send your recipients a reminder a week or two before their birthday so they have time to involve their friends and family in a birthday-gift-giving-celebration.

Here are some great examples of Birthday Subject lines:

• *Your name* wants to celebrate your birthday with you!
• A Special Birthday Video from *Your name*
• Make a wish! Happy birthday from *Your name*!

THE VIDEO

What’s better than a written Happy Birthday? A personalized video saying Happy Birthday!

A ThankView birthday campaign can be scheduled up a year in advance, so this year-long campaign has the potential to be sent to hundreds of your alumni or donors. Knowing that, don’t be afraid to spend a little more time and energy on this video.

Some great birthday mesagage video and recording ideas for your campaign:

• An acapella group on campus singing happy birthday
• A birthday message from your organization’s President or CEO
• Get students, staff and faculty involved for a massive extravaganza on the campus quad or right in your office featuring balloons, streamers, and whistles of course

Check out our Top 5 Most Creative ThankView Videos post to get more inspiration for your video!

In your group video message, make sure to use video sequencing to combine a personalized greeting, followed by a more generic birthday video featuring your staff, students, or mascots!

THE CALL TO ACTION

Unlike an appeal campaign, a birthday campaign’s Call to Action button can be optional. The main Call to Action for your recipients may be to watch the personalized video you made for them.

If you choose to add a CTA, here are some examples:

• A discount code for your school’s gear! (who doesn’t like a gift on their birthday?)
• A link to an Alumni update form. Ask your former students how their life has changed in the past year. (New employment? Life updates? etc.)
• If you’re a non-profit with birthday gift campaigns, make sure to send a reminder and encourage your donors to share their birthday gifts to help you pursue your mission

Your birthday campaign can be scheduled in advance and sending all year long, but your Call to Action button can be edited and changed from month to month. Maybe your CTA button will be different for different seasons of the year?

From your message to the video to the CTA, make sure to connect with your recipients in a special way on their special day!