Thanking Donors in a Sweet Way

The Office of Institutional Advancement thanked donors and volunteers a little differently before Thanksgiving this year. One hundred twenty-five pies were either mailed or delivered to major donors and alumnae boards. IA partnered with the Dining Hall who ordered the pies. Apple pies were chosen for ease of packaging and shipping and because apple pies are universally loved.

Many donors appreciated their “treat on the porch” or by mail and made the following comments.

“We LOVE an apple pie moment! Thank you all so much! I hope you and our amazing team in the office of Institutional Advancement have a wonderful Thanksgiving!”

“Thankful for Meredith College – the Angel friends made, the relationships I still have with several professors, the memories, and now this apple pie!”

“We love this so much that it will be gone before the end of the day!”

“Today we received a lovely pie IN THE MAIL! That was a first. We are so excited and plan to have a warm piece of apple pie for dessert tonight!”

Whenever a new stewardship opportunity is created for donors there is always a learning curve. The idea came together the first week of November for the Advancement Services staff and they worked on sourcing the products, ordering the supplies, designing packages, and other little details.

“David Penney and Michelle Casale from Campus Dining were great. They sourced several pies and helped us pick the most delicious and beautiful apple pie. They stored them as we worked to deliver them and responded to our changing needs. We could not have done this project without them,” said Astra Ball, director of advancement services.

Ball was pleased by how the project turned out.

“After lots of adjustments, all of the pieces came together and we were able to deliver a delicious product that our donors and volunteers were grateful to receive. Gratitude for gratitude is always the end goal in stewardship, it’s especially satisfying during this time of year.”