It’s officially the holiday season – and for your nonprofit, that means it’s also time to get your year-end fundraising campaigns ready to finish the year making a big impact.
These last two months of the year are typically when nonprofits see donations increase when people are feeling generous around the holiday season and want to give back. So it makes sense for you to make a big push to meet your fundraising goals. The end of the year also gives your supporters (both individual and corporate) a final chance to give tax-deductible gifts.
At iATS Payments by Deluxe®, we’re all about helping your nonprofit be successful and help those in need. To help you get started on making your end-of-year fundraising a success here are some things you can do to make this year your best yet.
Review Last Year’s Campaign
Start by auditing your year-end campaign from last year. Which strategies and tactics worked? What missed the mark—and why? This exercise can help guide you towards what best engages your target audiences. If you are incorporating new ideas into this year’s fundraising efforts, use this data to make some predictions about how you can best motivate your audiences into action.
Set a SMART Goal
Your year-end fundraising goal will be the starting point for the rest of your campaign. Ask yourself these questions:
- What is a realistic goal for your mission and your supporters?
- Is there a program or project you want to get funded in the near future?
- What are your projections for the next year? Is there income you need to make up?
- How should you communicate your goal? Should you communicate a monetary value, like SickKids Foundation does for its new hospital? Or should your messaging focus on the benefits that recipients will get?
After this, make a SMART goal for your campaign. The acronym SMART stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
Developing a SMART goal is a good way of coming up with a clear, attainable goal and it also helps you determine a specific and effective action plan needed to achieve it.
You can share your SMART goal with your supporters to keep them engaged and up-to-date on your campaign.
Make a Marketing Plan
You should be engaging with and stewarding your supporters throughout the year. If you have a well-maintained donor database, you should have a good idea of who your supporters typically are.
Segment your donors based on their likes and dislikes, choose how you’re going to reach those segments. You will probably end up using a multi-pronged approach and use multiple marketing channels such as email, social media, your website, direct mail, and ads.
Use #GivingTuesday To Start Your End-of-Year Campaign
Thousands of nonprofits, businesses, and public institutions participate in the drive to highlight and encourage generosity on the biggest day of the fundraising calendar. There is a high level of publicity around Giving Tuesday, which you can use to bring attention to your cause.
You can use the end of your Giving Tuesday campaign to start your end-of-year campaign. Thank your #GivingTuesday donors and tell them how your campaign performed. Create an infographic and tell your supporters how the funds you raised will be used. Then, communicate how Giving Tuesday was the starting point of your larger end-of-year campaign and how you plan to use the funds from your end-of-year campaign.
Develop Your Campaign Strategy
You should make a well-rounded campaign to maximize ROI. Over the last year, we have all had to adjust to COVID and try different methods of fundraising. Here are some things you can incorporate into your campaign strategy:
- Leverage your board of directors. Your board of directors probably have extensive personal and professional networks they can reach out to for support. Ask them to advocate for your cause and promote your campaign. They can even be involved in cultivating and thanking major donors.
- Partner with corporate supporters. Companies are always looking for causes to support. By sponsoring your event or campaign, they can support you while also promoting their own brand. Many companies will even match donations upto a certain amount, helping you reach your goal faster and making your supporters feel like they’re making double the impact.
- Consider unconventional fundraising channels. Depending on the resources you have, try to reach newer audiences through different types of fundraisers. For example, livestream fundraising on Twitch can be a good way of reaching millennials and Gen-Z supporters. You can also expand your audience by investing in Peer-to-Peer campaigns. Your supporters want to see you succeed and will be happy to advocate on your behalf. Make sure you prepare a toolkit for individual fundraisers with the correct messaging and marketing materials.
- Peer to Peer Fundraising. Engaging supporters and volunteers to enhance your year-end fundraising can also be a great way to get people involved. As virtual events are still very much happening right now a simple fundraising challenge using email or social media can be a great way to get people connected and create some festive engagement. Getting people to share their progress online will also help spread the word for your end of year giving.
The year-end is a stressful time for most nonprofits, but it is also an exciting time because of the impact you can make. With the right partners, tools, and strategies, you can absolutely have a successful end-of-year campaign.
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