Did you know that nearly 1/3 of all charitable giving occurs in December? And 10% of all giving is raised in the last three days of the year?
Year-end fundraising is the most exciting, demanding, and engaging time of the year for fundraisers.
The most successful year-end campaigns will take advantage of all the communication channels an organization has available, including direct mail, email, social media, text messages, video, and more.
Think of a year-end campaign as an integrated fund-raising campaign that engages all the senses of an organization – resulting in both increased giving and brand awareness. Include a variety of digital communications in your plan this year while retaining any tried and tested print appeals that continue to motivate more traditional donors.
That’s why it’s never too early to start thinking about your year-end fundraising. A well-planned year-end campaign will increase your fundraising totals.
Here are seven things you can focus on right now:
Check your online donation process from a donor's perspective - it must be easy.
Make sure your year-end efforts are donor centric.
Write a stellar appeal that features a story.
Have a clear call to action in every message you send.
Set a SMART goal.
Say thanks.
Track results.
Design a Donor-Centric Year-End Campaign
As you begin drafting your year-end fundraising campaign, it’s important to put yourself in your donors’ shoes. Keeping donors in mind during every step of your fundraising campaign ensures that your campaign speaks to them and inspires them to take action—that is, to give!
Remember to incorporate donor-centric elements in your year-end campaign:
Show how donations will be used. If your audience has given before, tell them all the great things they’ve done and all the wonderful things that more support will bring.
Inspire trust. Be honest and transparent about your programs, spending, impact—everything. Show exactly where the money goes and what the donor’s investment will do. Demonstrate your trustworthiness by displaying your Charity Navigator or BBB rating on your donation page.
It’s not all about you. Make the donor the superhero of your nonprofit’s success instead of talking only about how great your organization. Be clear that their support is vital to your mission.
Make it easy. Ask donors to give, and then make it incredibly easy so they have a hard time saying no. Be sure the donation button is easy to find on your website and in all your emails so donors can simply click and give without wasting time hunting for your donation page.
Say thanks. Send a thank you message as soon as you can—and make sure it does just that: says thanks. Sending a sincere note of gratitude (without including donation history or another appeal) will be remembered next year!
Write a Story-Driven Appeal
It’s time to write, rewrite, and edit that story-driven year-end appeal!
An effective appeal is equal parts emotion and urgency. You want to pull people into your message with a compelling story, and then push them to act with a specific, clear, and urgent call to action.
Before you begin writing, decide how you’ll tell donors your story. Here are three storytelling strategies:
Strategy #1
Choose one story and allow its arc to mirror your campaign touchpoints. Every story has a beginning, middle, and end. A story also includes rapport building: a conflict, a character trying to solve that conflict, and the resolution.
This strategy works really well in year-end appeals because you’re probably sending two or three (or more) emails, depending on the size of your donor base or campaign. You can divide a story into “chapters” and use them as a core communications tool in your campaign.
Here’s an example:
The Nonprofit: An organization that supports cancer patients and their families.
The Story: A woman whose husband is diagnosed with cancer.
Appeal 1: Introduce the woman and discuss her challenges and uncertainty in coming to terms with her husband’s cancer diagnosis (the conflict). In this chapter, she talks about her thoughts and feelings, what it was like coming home from the doctor that day, and the experience of sharing the news with families and friends. This appeal connects donors to the person their donations benefit.
Appeal 2: This chapter shares the woman’s experience of navigating the medical system and getting her husband the help he needed (the character trying to solve the conflict). In this case, the woman answers these questions:
Did the doctor answer all her questions? Was she overwhelmed? How did she and her husband make treatment decisions? This appeal ties your story directly to the goal of your organization’s work.
Appeal 3: Here we come to the resolution. The woman shares her relief in finding this particular nonprofit, which offered her much-needed counseling and ongoing support during her husband’s treatment. This is where you get specific about your organization’s work and how your donors’ money makes a difference.
Remember: In every communication, include a call to action (a donate button) that mirrors the appeal.
Strategy #2
Share stories from current donors.
Make it easy for donors to submit their reasons for giving (via email or a submission page on your website). Highlight their stories on your website and blog, in your email and newsletter appeals, and on your social channels.
With each story, include a headline intro such as “Why I Give.” Make your donor stories highly visible—and, of course, include a donate button.
Strategy #3
Tell your story in real time.
Big year-end events like fundraising galas, telethons, or giving days are natural venues for telling the story of what’s happening right now at your nonprofit.
For example, if your organization is hosting a telethon, update your email list in real time:
Morning email: Introduce the event and include a call to action. “Tune in today to our telethon. Give now to help us reach our goal.”
Midday email: Update people on your real-time results—how much money people have given and how close you are to your goal. Again, include a call to action: Ask people to make a gift if they haven’t already, or thank donors for their support and ask them to share your event with their social network.
End of day: This is the “you did it!” email. Give a final tally of your fundraising efforts. Share the day’s successes and show donors your gratitude for their generosity. Offer another opportunity to give for those who haven’t yet. While these storytelling strategies may require a bit of planning, they’ll make your year-end appeals stand out in a crowd of campaigns and ultimately raise more money for your cause.
And remember - everybody has a story to tell, so go find them.
If you don’t already have a great story in mind, turn to your volunteers, coworkers, or the people you help. Their point of view can help potential donors feel more connected to your mission.
Avoid the “kitchen sink.”
Don’t try to relay every single aspect of your organization in a story - this creates information overload. Instead, find one small anecdote or facet of your work and show how it relates to everything else.
Use imagery.
One powerful photo can go a long way in stirring emotion. Pick a clear photo of one person or animal looking straight into the camera.
Make it personal.
Telling the story of thousands of people who need help is too overwhelming. People give more when they feel like they’re helping another person to whom they can relate.
Create a Goal-Hitting Campaign
Is your year-end fundraising campaign focused on getting results?
It may sound like a silly question, but many organizations don’t approach fundraising campaigns with clear, concrete goals. And without clearly defined goals, it’s pretty tough to know if you’re succeeding.
Setting a fundraising goal helps to ensure that you and your colleagues are on the same page with the desired results of a fundraising campaign. Keeping track of where you are in terms of meeting your goal can give you the information you need to adjust your strategy or improve your outreach.
Now is the time to define what results you and your organization want to achieve.
Keep these key pointers in mind:
Set a specific goal for your fundraising campaign.
Before you finalize your plans, know whether your overall goal is to add a specific number of new donors or to reach a certain donation level.
Have a clear and measurable end result in mind.
Decide how you will define success, such as “raise $20,000” or “add 200 new members.”
Check that your goals pass the SMART test.
Remember: Your goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound. That last one is already covered for a year-end fundraising campaign.
Segmentation - The Key to Engagement
You have multiple messages that you will be sending for your year-end campaign. As you plan your cadence, consider who you want to send to and when.
It is not recommended that you email your full contact list every time you communicate during your year-end campaign. Segment your existing donor base for customized messages based on their commonalities with your organization (i.e. major donors, donors to a specific program, etc.).
Some audiences are likely more important than others within the context of your campaign. Do you need your current supporters to mobilize and become fundraisers on your behalf?
Think about your goals and who holds the key to your success. Lack of participation from primary groups can cause your campaign to falter or fail.
Should you include major donors in your year-end campaign?
Knowing your major donors' giving habits is helpful to further engage them in your mission. Personal meetings and calls can be planned in advance of their gift to thank them for their continued support, reaffirm the relationship, learn their specific interests, and request a larger gift.
These meetings and/or calls can be done by the executive director, a trained board member or the development officer. Be sure to record the key findings and outcomes from the meeting in the donor's record in your fundraising software.
A best practice is to have two people from your organization, the executive director or development director and a board member join the conversation. The board member will add a degree of credibility to the ask. Studies have found that personal meetings with a major gift prospect yield higher returns when a board member participates in the meeting.
The prospect/donor tends to study the volunteer while the ask is being made; the board member can respond, "When Anna and I made our major gift, we, too, carefully considered the contribution. We are happy with the investment in X organization and ask you to join us."
If in person meetings are not possible, using virtual tools like Skype or Zoom can still be effective for creating personal engagement with our highest donors.
At year-end, you'll want to consider whether you want to include each major donor in your year-end campaign mailing list. This depends on the timing of their gift and the amount.
For example, you may want to omit the donor from your mailing list if they have recently given, or usually give a substantial amount that is better nurtured through personal contact.
Send major donors updates on program accomplishments and personal impact stories. Include a tagline like “made possible through your generosity”. Make sure the donor knows they made a real difference for someone.
Even if you decide not to include your major donors in the direct mail and email appeals, you may want to have your board members call the donors to thank them. This is best done prior to Thanksgiving so you can tie in the theme of gratitude.
Using Personal Video Messaging can be a great alternative to leaving a voice mail. It will be well-received and could yield a (surprise) year-end gift if the donor has the ability and interest to do so. You can make these calls on any day of the week, but Friday afternoons are better than you might think people typically answer their phones and are pleasantly surprised by the gesture.
To make the effort easier for you, you can create additional administrators in your fundraising software (at no additional cost) that have limited views. For example, a board member or staff person can view contact information and record call notes but will not see the sensitive donation information.
If you’re having trouble clearly defining your goal, ask yourself these questions:
What are you trying to accomplish? Picture what your ideal end result will be.
Who are you trying to reach? Decide on your key audiences before planning your campaign.
What do I want them to do? Give your supporters a clear call to action. Will you ask them to donate a specific amount or pledge a recurring gift? Make sure this is baked into your planning and communications.
What is the best way to reach my audience? Once you’ve identified your audience and calls to action, think about the best way to reach and activate your supporters.
Once you’ve established a clear goal and communicated it to your staff, your whole team should be ready to make the big push to hit it.
Amplify Your Year-End
If you are looking for more ways to increase year-end giving, here are some ideas to take your fundraising to the next level:
Secure a Matching Gift
A highly effective motivator for a year-end campaign is a matched or challenge gift. Matched funding is one a big motivating factor for donors to give, even more so than emergency appeals or religious or other cultural festivals.
A dollar-for-dollar donation match can boost overall giving and is a great hook to leverage across email and social media channels, especially on Giving Tuesday and in the final days of the year.
Do you have a major donor who would be willing to contribute a matched gift? If so, you will want to line up the matched gift{s} - you can have multiple donors contributing towards a bulk matched gift – by the end of October. This way, you will be able to include messaging about the matched gift{s} when you draft your communications.
Tips to find a matching donor:
If you have worked with a matching donor in the past, consider asking them first. This is a great way to keep them engaged with the organization.
If you have not worked with a matching donor in the past, review your major donors from the past two years. Is there anyone who has not given yet this year who might be a good fit? Ask them if they are planning to make a year-end gift this year, and if so, if they would consider allowing your organization to use it as a matched gift. This donor could be recognized in your communications or anonymously depending on their personal preference.
Consider forming a coalition of board members to pool their normal year-end gift into a more significant challenge to the community. A board member, preferably the chair, is likely to be the best person to lead this initiative.
Participate in Giving Tuesday
Many organizations that launched a Giving Tuesday campaign saw more success at year-end overall: in past years, our nonprofit customers who participated in Giving Tuesday raised an average of 369% more in December than our nonprofit customers that did not participate.
Try Social Fundraising
Social fundraising is simply equipping your supporters with the tools to raise money on your behalf. Also known as "peer fundraising", your supporters can help you expand your nonprofit’s reach and bring in new donors who will fall in love with your cause.
Ask your most dedicated followers to create and start promoting a peer-to-peer campaign just before Thanksgiving. The campaign would run through December.
Launching a social fundraising campaign during the year-end giving season is a great way to form a deeper relationship with current supporters and an excellent way to acquire new donors.
Use social media to celebrate the success of individual fundraisers and continue to encourage your fundraisers to promote their campaign.
Promote Monthly Giving
Promote sustaining/recurring giving by including monthly/recurring donation language in your solicitations and double check to ensure that it is an option on your Everyday Giving Page. We recommend setting "monthly" as your default frequency.
Typically, a year-end campaign will run a minimum of eight weeks (mid- November to early January) but the earlier you begin to plan the better.
Components of the campaign typically contain at least:
One direct mail appeal - consider a second reminder direct mail appeal or postcard inviting recipients to make a secure online gift.
10+ emails to your donors and contacts.
1-2 group video messages to donors and contacts.
Lots of social media posts-plan on two to four per week with impact stories, donor profiles, and board member profiles so you can build engagement, sharing, and giving.
Phone calls or personal video messages to key donors who you want to invite to participate in the campaign-board members and other volunteers
Engagement tactics in January to touch and retain donors, including thank yous and new donor welcome kits.
Your communications schedule is a critical part of your success—leveraging multiple channels and timing the communications for the greatest response. Test and learn from the times that you sent your emails.
Note the dates of all communications so you have a starting point for next year. For example, data shows that giving is concentrated between 12-7 p.m. on December 31st. Popular times to send emails during the week are 6 a.m., 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday is great for reaching contacts who use their work-related email.
Sometimes the weekend is smart for youth-oriented, arts, animal, or other similar missions (or if you have predominately personal email addresses). Your best bet is to test email dates and times to see what works best for your constituency.
Here is a timeline you can use to schedule your campaign. Tasks with can be easily performed in your fundraising software.
Late October – Early November
Website and Social Media
Create an Everyday Giving Page in your fundraising software for your year-end campaign. Design a banner or pop up/light box for your website’s homepage promoting the fundraising campaign. The banner will run on your website for the next two months.
Draft a plan for social media content—pull together core messages and photos so you’ll have a sense of your inventory, and they will be available when needed. You can fill in more detail once ramp-up starts.
Social Media
Begin ramping up your social presence (25-50 percent more activity). Post regularly for the next two months so you are at the top of newsfeeds during giving season. Spotlight key volunteers and service recipients, share exciting happenings and impact from the year, begin sharing goals for the coming months and year. Where appropriate (but not on every post) link to your donate page.
Note: An election year will likely impact your fundraising calendar. Be sure to consider the timing of your campaign against the very crowded political messaging environment.
Share a few of your organization’s major accomplishments from this year. Highlight how the support of generous donors helped you advance your mission. It’s important to re-engage donors your mission before you share personal stories and ask for contributions.
Send an email to tell a story in the third person that highlights the tangible impact of your work.
Mid November
Phone script
Develop the phone script for board members and other volunteers to make their calls. The goal is deepened engagement—ask what inspires your giving, etc. Collect and leverage their stories.
Direct mail
Time the arrival of your direct mail letter to land in mailboxes by or around mid-November. This letter matches your year-end theme and the graphics used in your campaign emails and social posts.
Optional: send a second letter or postcard to those who haven’t responded to arrive by the end of the first week of December. The additional touch can be a useful reminder for well- meaning procrastinators.
Late November
Phone call or Video message
Board members make thank you phone calls or send personal video messages to the top active donors. There is no direct appeal for funds in this communication. Record any relevant contact feedback/notes in your donor management system.
Handwritten Notes
Send handwritten thank you notes to top 10-20 donors to arrive before Thanksgiving.
Email (Text or Video)
Thank you emails can go out to volunteers, the board, etc. to express appreciation for all they do and wish them a happy Thanksgiving.
Alternatively, you can send a thank you text or video message.
Social Media
Thank you post on social media. This can include a nice harvest picture or one that shows the joys of volunteering/contributing. There is no ask for a donation, instead focus on gratitude for the support you have received from so many volunteers and donors over the year(s).
Website and Social Media
Launch a banner on your website’s homepage for Giving Tuesday and add the Giving Tuesday logo to your campaign donation page. Post a “save the date” on social media for Giving Tuesday. You can find a handy Giving Tuesday toolkit (with logos) on the official "Giving Tuesday" website.
Send an Email blast to promote the power of numbers on Giving Tuesday— consider announcing a matching gift to encourage contributions.
Text Message
Fill out the form within your fundraising software to begin sending text messages. Send a get ready to make an impact on Giving Tuesday text message. Repeat again on Giving Tuesday.
Very End of November
Email and Text Message
Up to three emails and text messages promoting day-of giving on Giving Tuesday. Use Giving Tuesday logos/hashtags where appropriate.
Early morning (around 5 a.m.): Please join our National Day of Giving.
Noon: Updating your contacts on your progress against your goal and encouraging prospects to give by the end of the day.
Early evening (around 7 p.m.): Announcing that time is running out and you are sooo close to your goal (or that there is still time to give)—please help us! Show a progress thermometer or another graphic that highlights your goal.
Social Media
Posting throughout the day to encourage giving, share gift results/momentum, and highlight impact.
Use logos/hashtags for Giving Tuesday where appropriate.
Early December
Website
Post a thank you banner for gifts received on Giving Tuesday and remove Giving Tuesday logos and wording from website banner and campaign donation page.
You will want to officially remove any reference to Giving Tuesday in your banners and on your donation pages by the Thursday following Giving Tuesday, so there is complete focus on your year-end campaign.
Rest of Social Media
Increase your posting cadence to at least two to three times per week. Spotlight your programs, incredible volunteers, profile a major donor. Slip in an ask (modeled after your campaign theme) every three posts.
Email blast to encourage giving during the year-end campaign (suppress anyone who has given so far). Tell a story, use a testimonial. Use some of your communication language in a social media post the next day.
Phone Call
Board members call lapsed major gift donors (or those who gave early in the year and you’d like to request another gift) to thank them for their prior giving and to ask them to give before the end of the year. “Your contribution will help XX [service recipients] and enable us to expand our outreach.”
Last Week of December
Email and Text Message
Ramp up asks for giving through the rest of the year. A short pitch can be made at the end of a content related post.
Send reminder emails mentioning that there are only a few days left to give this year. If possible, announce a matching gift to propel additional gifts.
Send the final email of the campaign to encourage gifts by midnight on December 31.
Send a thank you email to all who contributed.
Include an update on dollars raised and good tidings for the New Year.
Last two weeks of January
Email and Direct Mail
Create an internal campaign report to highlight results and lessons learned. Ensure your data from the year-end campaign is clean and organized in your fundraising software.
Identify any first-time donors (they are tagged in your fundraising software) and put them into your queue to receive newsletters and other general communications.
Consider asking a board member to make thank you calls or send personal video messages to new donors.
As an engagement tool, consider sending a donor welcome kit (welcome letter and brochures) by direct mail to new donors. Set yourself up for a smooth and successful year.