a greeting card with a pink envelope behind it

Most people appreciate getting a greeting card in the mail, especially if it is handwritten. You can use greeting cards to commemorate special occasions like birthdays or anniversaries or to simply say thank you. However, it is equally important to choose the right cards and send them at the right time.

Let's look at five different occasions to send customized greeting cards and explore what you avoid in specific scenarios.

Birthdays

Birthdays are special days for most people. Even if the excitement around birthdays fades a little the older people become, most are happy to receive a special card in the mail, especially those with thoughtful handwritten messages.

However, remember that this requires the forethought to keep track of client or customer birthdays. For most nonprofits, your donor database should include a dedicated field to include this information. If not, most CRMs offer the option to customize fields, and dedicating a spot to birthdays is well worth the effort.

For businesses, many loyalty card programs ask customers to enter their birthday when signing up, making it easy to extract that information when the need arises.

When it's time to send the cards, it's essential to find the right cards for your clients rather than sending out generic cards to everyone. The more thought you put into the greeting cards you send, the more they will be warmly received.

If your nonprofit specializes in animal adoption, it's safe to say that an animal-themed card will work perfectly for nearly everyone in your database. For businesses, I recommend working with a local nonprofit to design a set of cards that you can send to local customers. Not only are you supporting your local community by purchasing the cards, but you're also sending a message to your customers that you actively support your local nonprofits.

Anniversaries

For closer relationships, board members, and essential volunteers, sending cards that mark wedding anniversaries can be appropriate.

But there are plenty of other anniversaries that you could note by sending greeting cards, as well. For instance, you could send cards to clients to mark the day they signed up for your services or the first time they purchased something from your shop.

Again, looking for customizable anniversary cards of high quality is critical so that your thoughtful gesture doesn't get overshadowed by a generic card or poor-quality materials.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a popular time of year for nonprofits and businesses to send greeting cards to donors and clients.

It is your opportunity to thank them for their business or donations over the last year and wish them and their families all the best for the year ahead.

A quick note here for nonprofits - as you approach the holiday season and begin to send cards around Thanksgiving or Christmas, avoid including any type of solicitation along with your card. It's fine to send a themed-appeal letter any time you want - just don't disguise it as a thank you because neither is likely to be as impactful when the message isn't clear.

The Holiday Season

For most, sending cards during the holiday season is a no-brainer. However, there are still some important considerations to remember with holiday cards, such as avoiding specific religious-themed cards.

It's always better to err on the side of sending general holiday greetings unless you are confident of your client or donor's preferences and religious practices.

Related reading: Should nonprofits send holiday cards?

After a Business Referral or as a client welcome gift

You don't have to limit sending greeting cards to clients or donors on typical celebratory days like birthdays and Thanksgiving. You can also send out cards to thank your clients for specific things.

For instance, if a client has sent you a business referral, it's appropriate to pop a handwritten card in the mail demonstrating how thankful you are for the referral.

In the nonprofit world, sending cards to collaborating organizations, loyal volunteers, or corporate sponsors is a great way to stay top of mind with your stakeholders and express appreciation for their contributions to your organization.

At One Nine Design, I often send cards to new clients as part of my client onboarding process. They are simple (designed with Minted) and include a short message thanking them for choosing my company to design their website or marketing materials, etc., and letting them know I'm excited to work together. It's a quite simple way to make a great first impression.

Where to find corporate greeting cards

While remembering to send the cards and having the information to do so is, first and foremost, sending a card that looks and feels high quality is equally important.

We've all grabbed those cheap, under-a-dollar cards at the store in a pinch. However, if you're taking the time to send a heartfelt message and make a good impression, sending a card printed on quality paper with appropriate designs and wording should also be a priority.

I've found using Minted for customized cards in the past to be easy to order and high quality, although there are plenty of sources online to find what you need.

Final thoughts on custom greeting cards

Regardless of the occasion or frequency with which you send your custom greeting cards, the thought behind the action matters most. Take time to brainstorm what matters most about customer appreciation for your organization and how you might delegate the task to ensure it gets done consistently.

Then, allocate a portion of your communications budget for these activities (it might also include sending client welcome gifts). Like everything else, implementing customer or donor appreciation requires adequate planning and execution.

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