#YouMadeItHappen – why it always pays off to thank your supporters

Last Monday something really exciting happened. My Twitter timeline – and the rest of the UK’s, according to what was trending – was chock-full of charities and community groups thanking their supporters and celebrating their successes using the hashtag #YouMadeItHappen.

Our research tells us the public want to hear about how their support, in time and money, helps make a difference. They want to hear about what the charity has achieved and the difference it has made in the lives of its beneficiaries, and they really appreciate hearing that this has been made possible because of their donations. You only have to look at the continual success of Volunteers’ Week to see how simply saying thank you goes a long way.

So we decided – alongside partners CharityComms, the Small Charities Coalition, the FSI, The Institute of Fundraising, Acevo and supported by Lightful – to use the power of our shared networks to give charities a day to show the impact we all have together. By charities all using #YouMadeItHappen on the same day, we were able to make a real impression across social media. On Twitter alone, #YouMadeItHappen reached 5.4 million people and was tweeted or re-tweeted from nearly 10,000 accounts.

We thought we’d share some of our favourite tweets from Monday with you, to celebrate the success, and to inspire any charity who didn’t take part this year to get the date in their diary now for next year.

We saw lots of charities sharing facts and figures, a simple but incredibly effective way of demonstrating impact:

Thanks to YOU, our wonderful supporters, we were able to attend thousands of events throughout last year and treat thousands of people who needed our help, from bumps and grazes right through to cardiac arrests. We couldn't do what we do, without you. #YouMadeItHappen pic.twitter.com/iIz1P7iLeE

— St John Ambulance (@stjohnambulance) November 19, 2018

We want to say a huge thank you to over 4,700 Employers in the UK who have gone the extra mile to help worker’s keep their heads above the water by paying the real #LivingWage #YouMadeItHappen https://t.co/hvdmuKe82R pic.twitter.com/PT0cUC8oso

— Living Wage Foundation (@LivingWageUK) November 19, 2018

https://twitter.com/Compton_Care/status/1064443328098381825

The Giving Time project, giving people with criminal convictions access to volunteering opportunities, means reductions in crime, re-offending and re-admittance #YouMadeItHappen pic.twitter.com/momevtjWqm

— VoluntaryActionLeeds (@VolActionLeeds) November 19, 2018

Others made videos or graphics to share stories of how the charity had helped them in a time of need:

Our supporters have saved more than 700,000 acres of habitat around the world. That’s rainforests, grasslands, cloud forests, wetlands, and more that would have been lost. Here is a snippet of what you've done this year- for this, and everything else, thank you. #YouMadeItHappen pic.twitter.com/LQQx1HCXbP

— World Land Trust (@worldlandtrust) November 19, 2018

You've made a huge difference in the past year alone,
to 5,400 households in England who now have a home,

Lives have been changed because you thought to take action,
so we want to say THANK YOU, because #YouMadeItHappen pic.twitter.com/5rfXayF3TG

— Shelter (@Shelter) November 19, 2018

Thanks to our supporters, we've been able to work with over 11,000 young people this year and win policy changes to improve the lives of more than 550,000 children. #YouMadeItHappen
We heard from one young person who knows how much this support means. pic.twitter.com/iq9L6Q8XIc

— Children's Society (@childrensociety) November 19, 2018

In the past twelve months, we've galvanised thousands of volunteers and turned our vision into action. #YouMadeItHappen pic.twitter.com/QpShaFeWye

— London LGBTQ+ Community Centre (@LdnLGBTQCentre) November 19, 2018

Animal charities put their best paw forward, making sure all of their thanks included plenty of images of furry friends.

https://twitter.com/RSPCA_official/status/1064499284488400897

https://twitter.com/DogsTrust/status/1064556408794951680

Today is #YouMadeItHappenDay – a reminder that everything we do for cats is because YOU, our supporters, are with us every step of the way.

Here's what you helped us achieve in 2017: https://t.co/4xD7mibW1g. Thank you, #YouMadeItHappen ❤ pic.twitter.com/ZejdzRczQ3

— Cats Protection (@CatsProtection) November 19, 2018

With the help of over 250 volunteers & 11 partner organisations, the little tern has been given a helping hand! Almost 3,000 little tern chicks successfully fledging at 26 sites around the UK over the past five years. A huge thank you to all those involved, #YouMadeItHappen! pic.twitter.com/Yd0RT9FFp7

— RSPB (@Natures_Voice) November 19, 2018

One charity even took the opportunity to thank everyone who has taken the time to add Gift Aid to their donations:

Thanks to all of our supporters who’ve opted in to Gift Aid. We raise £30 million through Gift Aid every year, funding even more life-saving research: https://t.co/UaUgq2XEnE #YouMadeItHappen pic.twitter.com/VpYSVvW0Qq

— Cancer Research UK (@CR_UK) November 19, 2018

And last, but not least, we got a re-tweet from a very special lady thanking everyone who has supported the charity she herself set up, Lumos:

In 2017, Lumos relocated 599 children from institutions to loving families, family-like settings or independent living. Thank you to everyone who has supported us and our work. It means so much. #youmadeithappen. pic.twitter.com/yXA4KnZVuv

— Lumos (@lumos) November 19, 2018

We think the day went really well for its first time, so we’re going to do it again next year. If you took part – or if you didn’t – we’d really like your feedback on how it went for you and anything you’d like us to do differently next year. Please email me on rosie.walworth@ncvo.org.uk or call 020 7520 2669.