How to Encourage a Donor to Give AgainÂ â€” and Again

By Bob Levey

It was that Sunday again — the day when all the 1099s and W-2s were in hand and it was time to sort through the tax stuff. I started, as always, with charitable giving.

On a pad, I wrote down the name of each organization that got a check from our family in 2007. Opposite each name, I wrote the size of the check. Then I added up the dollars.

When I reread the charitable-giving list, I noticed that several organizations had attracted more than one gift during 2007