Capturing 5-, 6-, and 7-figure donations before December 31 is the dream for many fundraisers. The fact is that many of us work hard to cultivate donors and seek new ways to engage and connect. Structuring, planning, and executing your EOY campaign is paramount, and looking toward December 31 with laser-focus is the key. According to Double the Donation, 30% of annual giving happens in December, with 10% occuring in the last three days of the year.
Donors are becoming more and more diverse. According to a recent Fidelity Charitable study, 75% of Millennials said they consider themselves philanthropists, compared to only 35% of Boomers. It’s important to understand how you can leverage millennials’ passion through omnichannel fundraising leading through December and beyond.
Omnichannel end-of-year fundraising is the cohesive combination of digital and traditional branding, messaging, and touchpoints. As individuals become more engaged with your organization, your campaign should build them from awareness, to donors, to advocates. Below we share some considerations and inspiration for you and your end-of-year fundraising efforts-especially with so many fundraisers diving into things after back-to-school.
Planning Your Year-End Fundraising
Many end-of-year fundraising plans start toward the close of summer and into September. Creating a marketing/fundraising calendar and working backward from important dates such as December 31 (a Saturday in 2022), Giving Tuesday (November 29, 2022), and we also recommend including a day during the first week of November. The first week in November is great because the back-to-school rush has calmed and the holiday season craziness hasn’t fully started yet.
Gather mission stories that have happened this year. Achievements and milestones are also important to collect for the benefit of donors. Tell your stories and their impact which donors have made possible. Utilizing these stories in your efforts is crucial to highlight the fruits of your labor and prove that one donor does and can make a difference in contributing to your mission.
Getting Your Website Tuned Up for End-of-Year Fundraising Campaign(s)
Your website should be the nucleus for all of your campaign efforts. Everything ties back to your website and it should serve as the home for communications and fundraising efforts. Email campaigns, social media posts, and even mailed appeals should be linking back to a specific page on your website, not just your homepage. Because of its importance, it should present your organization, and your campaign efforts, in the best possible light.
Here are a few key things your website should include so you can best tell your story(ies) and inspire visitors to support your organization:
- Communicate the core. All of your mission and values should be clear, concise, and presented in an easy-to-find and easy-to-absorb layout.
- Compellingly tell your story. Video is such a great story-telling medium and your website should utilize it to show what you do and why donors should care.
- Confirm all of your content is up to date and accurate. Nothing will turn away opportunities faster—and you’ll never get a second chance to make a first impression.
- Utilize photos and language in a compelling way, but use them strategically. Make sure the combination of design, imagery, and language are presented in nugget-sized pieces so skimming is easy and keeps visitors engaged.
- Make donating easy-peasy. Streamline your donation process so it can be completed with ease. Many non-profit organizations want to capture WAY too much information from a donor and that can prevent an individual from completing the process. Take a look and make sure your process is simple.
- Design streamlined landing pages for each effort. If you segment your list, create targeted pages on your website that speak directly to the segment. This makes your donors feel more connected to you and the messages relevant to them.
Spruce Up Your Email Marketing Template(s)
Email marketing is a leading, cost-effective method to communicate with your constituents. The abundance of data that they can provide should be allowing you to test, analyze, and improve your email marketing campaigns.
Mobile Devices Account for 41 Percent of all Email Views
Look through your analytics to determine areas for improvement. At the very least, make sure the campaign appears perfectly on mobile devices. According to HubSpot, mobile devices account for 41 percent of all email views—so they need to look great. Large images and short-format text can boost conversions and engagement so refrain from including paragraphs of text in your next email campaign… people just don’t read it all.
You can also personalize your email campaigns more by leveraging dynamic data, or merge data, and tags so your emails make a better connection. Targeting and segmenting your email list based on past activity or engagement is also worth considering as well as how you can automate transactions or email campaigns based on any number of engagements.
Sending Mail to Homes Still Works
Online donations streamline so much about fundraising but don’t immediately rule out a printed appeal. Mailings are tactile and can also be personalized like an email campaign can be. Digital printing allows for relevant images and text to be utilized based on a recipient’s preferences or segment.
A mailing can be as simple as a nicely designed postcard or self-mailer and doesn’t need to be a multicomponent match mailing. Invitations and reports are great tools for a mailed campaign and can help support your digital marketing efforts. We’ve created simple and effective self-mailer campaigns for Union Catholic Regional High School and the Madison Area YMCA.
GivingTuesday Still has Momentum
Since 2012, GivingTuesday has helped encourage people to do good and support not-for-profit organizations. Starting as a single day of fundraising during the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, GivingTuesday has grown into a year-round global movement. However, many not-for-profit organizations still utilize a GivingTuesday campaign to kick off their end-of-year fundraising with sponsored social media posts and digital content.
You can use the days leading up to GivingTuesday to create awareness for the campaign. A matching gift from a top donor is a tried and true method of getting lower-level donors involved and engaging. And Thanksgiving is just a great time of the year to remind individuals and donors of the impact supporting your organization can provide.
GivingTuesday campaigns are ideal for social media. You can utilize a not-yet-crowded social platform to engage with new individuals and established donors. Short video clips or creatively designed graphics (static or animated) can reinforce your end-of-year campaign. Sponsored posts are a great way to expand your footprint to these audiences and are worth allocating budgetary dollars to them.
Fundraising When it Gets Down to the Nitty-Gritty
So much giving happens in the last few days of the year. This December will be no different so having all of your campaigns situated and scheduled is critical. Email campaigns (linking back to your website of course), will play a significant role in success. According to M+R, the average EOY fundraising campaign in 2020 consisted of 12 emails! And this statistic does not include GivingTuesday or non-campaign emails. So emails do work, can be very effective, and should be sent to your segments strategically. If you need help planning or designing what your emails should say and look like, let’s talk.
Your social media activity will also help support your efforts and keep your organization top-of-mind for all of your prospective end-of-year donors. Engaging and interesting content is a must. Your mission stories, impact statistics, and creative presentation will be what elevates you above other organizations vying for the support of donors.
How can you make thank you letters more valuable?
Online donation platforms offer automated thank you notes and receipts but mailed thank-you letters provide another touchpoint for your organization. Consider including additional stories, photos, or a preliminary report of the year-end fundraising. We like to include small full-color slips or cards to attract attention and support a thank-you letter or receipt. The thank you is just as important as all of the other forms of communication.
Let’s make all of your fundraising look and sound right.
Trillion has been helping not-for-profit organizations communicate with constituents and donors for decades. Our creative team can help build the designed assets your fundraising and development teams need to be successful. If you’re wondering what can be improved at your organization, give us a call at 908.219.4703 or complete our contact form for a prompt reply.
