Lessons on Gratitude from GM & ATT

Detroit is my hometown. So, of course, it was with great sadness as I witness the bankruptcy of the once mighty General Motors. Many of my friends are greatly affected by this turn of events. On a personal level, I was negatively impacted by GM because of their Dexcool antifreeze that made it necessary for me to buy another car just before I finally had it paid off. Let's just say that I did not buy another GM product.My girlfriend and I were discussing the bankruptcy and lamented that as former GM owners; the company never did anything to get our business back. It was this attitude that made me a former customer. I brought my Pontiac Grand Prix out of loyalty and it cost me dearly.Which brings up the point... how do ministries treat our donors in our organizations. Are we really grateful for the sacrifice or do we feel that they SHOULD give because it is required as a part of stewardship? Have your organization thanked them or continuously badger them for more and more money without a thank you?Today, I received a coupon from ATT to change my phone service back from the new company. Well, I had sent them a letter requesting some type of price break because I don't often use my land line phone. I asked for the same type of assistance from my cell phone company. Well the cell phone company, replied in writing, that I had the lowest price available for my package. I never heard from ATT therefore I decided to switch my home phone service to the cell phone company. More than price they acknowledge my letter.Hopefully you will realize that it is important to show gratitude while the donor is a current donor. It is less expensive to retain a donor than to get a new one or woo a spurned one back.When bad things happens, it is best to learn from the mistakes made. GM has a long hard road ahead of them, but hopefully as ministry leaders; we will see how important it is to be show donors how important they are to our organization.