Preparing your Nonprofit Year-End Giving Campaign
It’s time to start planning your Year-End fundraising! Most nonprofits make 40% of their yearly revenue within the last 6 weeks of the year. Supporters are motivated by the holiday-giving spirit and take advantage of the opportunity to submit tax-deductible gifts. So it’s important to start thinking about how you can maximize your fundraisers and year-end giving opportunities.
When getting ready to plan your campaign, it is helpful to review your previous year's fundraiser.
Think about:
Did we reach our goal?
Was our fundraised total more or less than our goal?
Who were our biggest supporters/donors?
What were the demographics of our donors?
Which marketing platforms had the best engagement?
What was the average donation size?
What can we improve on from last year?
From here, you are able to adjust your fundraising goals, brainstorm new strategies to engage more donors, and decide the best marketing strategies to maximize your campaign.
Next, you’ll want to build your case for support.
Tell your supporters why you need their donations and how they will help - you can use this as the foundation of your end-of-year giving letter.
Include individual stories and examples of your nonprofit’s mission, and the impact you are creating. You want to connect with your audience; not only telling them what your nonprofit does but showing them the differences you have helped make.
Choose a long-time volunteer or someone who has been impacted or benefitted from your nonprofit to feature. Explain the issues you are trying to tackle with your year-end fundraiser. And tell your donors how their gifts support your nonprofit - be clear and transparent about your fundraising goal, how much is needed, and just how valuable their donations are to your nonprofit.
With any campaign you create, you’ll want to have consistent branding.
For your year-end fundraising campaign, create your marketing materials with the intention of showing your organization's brand. Include your colors, logos, fonts, and tonality that are consistent with your nonprofit. Aim to create a theme that is eye-catching and memorable. Include important information and highlight the importance of your donor’s support, while maintaining a balance between simplicity - including too much may disrupt the attention of your donors.
Once you have your campaign design created, think about how and when you want to reach out to your supporters. It’s a good idea to stagger the communication with your donors so they don’t feel bombarded, but are still receiving enough contact to remind them about your campaign timeline. During the last couple weeks of the year, increase your communication efforts to nudge your supporters and remind them that their last opportunity to give in 2022 is approaching.
You will also want to think about the giving experience your donors have on your donation platforms. Optimize your giving platforms to make giving as painless for your supporters as possible.
By starting your fundraising planning now, you can help minimize any headaches and iron out any issues before inviting your donors into your campaign.
If you need any help or want to learn more, contact us to set up a consultation a find out how we can help you with your year-end giving campaign and future fundraisers.
