8 Fundraising Strategies to Improve End-of-Year Giving

A robust and well-thought-out end-of-year giving campaign is crucial for any nonprofit fundraising strategy. The year-end giving season can help you reach your nonprofit fundraising goals. Start planning today for a successful year-end fundraising campaign. 

CEOs or board members often ask fundraisers if direct mail is still necessary. Because it is costly, including printing and postage, they ask, “Couldn’t we just send an email?” 

The simple answer is no. Direct mail is still king! Think of it like a hot dog. The direct mail appeal is the hotdog and bun, and the email campaign, online donation page, and social media posts are the delicious toppings like mustard and relish. You can have the hotdog alone, but no one wants just a bowl of relish. 

The hot dog and your campaign are best when all the elements are included. 

The direct mail appeal points donors online with a link or a QR code to customized donation pages, but no year-end campaign is complete without a solid direct mail fundraising letter. 

We gathered our top 8 fundraising strategies to improve end-of-year giving. Use these recommendations to enhance year-end donations today. 

 

Addressing the Email vs. Direct Mail Question 

Donors who receive emails from a nonprofit organization throughout the year are three times more likely to renew their gifts. The email should be personal, heartfelt, and from a real person. 

We are sorry to inform you that those attractive, overly-designed mass emails from Constant Contact® just don’t cut it. 

These emails shouldn’t feel like mass marketing. They should look and feel like they came from a real person. This is not the time for photos or fancy formatting and design. 

Use mail merge into Outlook® or automation, like AutomateGenius, to send donors personalized emails directly from a team member’s email. An 8:1 nourishment ratio can improve donor relationships and help ensure end-of-year giving. Try a plan to send 34 emails throughout the year, with just four being asks for donations. 

Remember, gratitude is essential; not every communication should have a call to action. When writing four yearly emails asking donors to act, ensure the links lead them to a personalized donation page. You can customize donation pages for a variety of donors. 

A sample timeline for end-of-year fundraising efforts 

October/early November 

• Shower donors with attention in October to early November 

• Create your audience and donor segments 

• Draft your year-end letter (talk with your print house; in some areas, you may need files to the printer sooner than October) 

• Prepare your data file & set up personalized ask strings 

• Update donation forms 

• Establish campaign goals 

November 10 

• Year-end appeal Letters arrive in homes 

• Send companion emails 

Throughout November 

• Add an email signature block that calls attention to year-end giving 

• Send additional heartfelt emails 

Giving Tuesday 

• Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday following Thanksgiving in the United States; create a plan for this special giving day 

• Build up to this date with social media posts and email reminders 

December 5 

• If you have budgeted for a second direct-mail appeal reminder, this is the time it should be hitting mailboxes to get ahead of those last-minute donations 

December 20 

• This is an excellent time for a thank you campaign, such as using ringless voicemail to thank donors for previous giving 

December 20-year end 

• These last days of the year are essential to use email and social media to support your direct mail appeal efforts. This can also be a time when you encourage peer-to-peer fundraising. 

• A sample plan might include a December 26 email and social media post, a December 27 email, a December 28 social media post, and a December 30 email and social celebration for what has been raised to date 

 

Once the end-of-year giving timeline and essential elements are in place, it is time to up your game with these eight strategies. 

Strategy 1 

Promote qualified charitable distributions (QCD) to a specific segment of donors. Those who are 70 ½ years old can donate directly from their IRA and those who are 72 years old are required to take the required minimum distributions. Help donors understand the tax incentive of giving through this method. 

Strategy 2 

Focus on renewing existing donors. Many boards may discuss the importance of acquiring new donors, but new donors often see a meager response rate. 

The renewal rate may be between 40 and 70%, so it is much more cost-effective to focus on LYBUNT donors. LYBUNT donors gave last year, but unfortunately not this year…yet. 

Draft an email communication specifically to LYBUNT donors and let them know you appreciate and miss them. 

Strategy 3 

Ask each donor for the perfect amount. It is an outdated approach to ask every donor for the same $100 donation. Apps like AskGenius use an algorithm to set the perfect donation amount for every donor, considering their previous giving. 

Strategy 4 

Update your email signature block with a special year-end message about your giving campaign. Consider something like, “Make a difference and save on taxes with a gift today” or “273 people have already given.” These messages can spark donors’ attention to make that special gift and be part of something special. 

Strategy 5 

In mid-December, email donors to let them know you appreciate them and provide helpful information, such as your nonprofit’s holiday office hours. Let them know online giving will be available until the ball drops on New Year’s Eve. 

Strategy 6 

Strategy 6 flips the script a bit; this recommendation is a what-not-to-do: Don’t send a postcard. Many organizations question the cost-effectiveness of postcards, but the response results do not add up. 

Fundraising communication differs from marketing because it requires personalization and heartfelt messaging, and a postcard does not meet these criteria. While personalization for every donor might seem like an insurmountable task, there are automation tools such as Microsoft Power Automate or AutomateGenius that can help.  

Automation tools can help draft e-mails to specific donor segments, and tools like AskGenius can help you set the perfect ask string for every prospective donor. These technologies can be like an extension of your team.  

Strategy 7 

This is also the time of year to follow up on outstanding pledges and communicate with donors. Consider creating a dashboard in the donor database to list outstanding pledges or setting up workflow automation to send pledge reminders.  

Let them know you realize life changes, and if they cannot complete a pledge, that is okay. It is more important to salvage the donor relationship. 

The donor may need to make additional arrangements for fulfilling the pledge. Always thank the donor for their previous generosity. 

Strategy 8 

Lastly, consider ringless voicemail. While ringless voicemail is not suitable for asking for donations, it can be a fun way to thank donors or wish them happy holidays. Always check FCC guidelines and any state regulations before you use this method. 

Fundraisers may feel overwhelmed by the end-of-year giving season. By planning and using available tools and automation, your team will celebrate a successful campaign in the new year. 

Through all the personalized communication they receive, donors will feel appreciated and have a stronger connection to your nonprofit. Board members will be delighted by the donor response and the fact that the fundraising goals have been surpassed. 

And your team will have fewer headaches in future years thanks to the strategies you put in place. 

For more insights, check out the Everything You Need to Know About Year-End Giving webinar. If your team wants to impress donors with personalized ask amounts, request an AskGenius demo.  

AskGenius can help your team set the right amount to ask for every donor every time. 

To learn more about AutomateGenius and what this technology can do for your development office, check out Using Automation Tools to Personalize Donor Communications.  

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