Yesterday someone from Stitch Fix sent me these flowers.

Stitch Fix is a multi-million-dollar online clothing retailer that uses personal stylists to sell its products. The idea started in the founder’s Cambridge apartment in 2011 while she was earning her master’s at Harvard. The company now has 8,000 employees, 7 distribution centers, 12 exclusive brands and 3.6 million customers.

I don’t know anyone at the company. It is not my birthday month. I have not complained about anything or reached some milestone purchase point. I am a once-in-a-while-when-the-mood-strikes type of customer.

The way Stitch Fix works is that customers fill out a questionnaire. Then you take an online style survey. A stylist selects five items which are called a “fix” and sends them to you. You keep what you like and send the rest back. The fun part is having someone you don’t know do the shopping. They’ve surprised me with choices I definitely would not have picked for myself, like the black knit jumpsuit I got a few months ago. I thought it was awful until I tried it on. Now I wear it all the time.

Their focus is on making it easy for customers to look their best. So, why the flowers?

Stitch Fix sent the bouquet to congratulate me on recently getting married. The only reason this knowledge is in their system is because I sent the last two fixes back without buying anything even though I really loved everything and made that clear in the feedback I sent. I added a note that said I’d just gotten married and it had been a month in which expenses were high so I wouldn’t be buying anything. My stylist pushed that information up the management chain and the flowers appeared at my door with a note that said:

Jenn told us you were recently married and we wanted to say congratulations to you and your spouse and wish you many years of love and peace.

Love,

Your friends at Stitch Fix

Beyond the act of kindness, here’s the takeaway for fundraisers:

What are we doing with the donors and prospects who give us a reason when they say no to the gift? The ones who say, We just got married. We just bought a house. I started graduate school and we had our first child. I was laid off, or I’ve left my job to care for a sick family member.

Are we sending something from higher up or simply noting it in the database?

Are you combing the notes from the calls your annual fund employees make?

Do you have someone who is worrying about “in the meantime” stewardship?

Love is an unusual word to see on a card from a corporation like Stitch Fix. I’ll remember it. I’ll remember the flowers, too.

What will your donors or prospective donors remember?

Kindness Counts: What a Clothing Retailer Can Teach Fundraising Professionals