The last few months of the year—if not the last few days—are the most important time for fundraising. During this time, donors rush to make last-minute gifts to good causes, and ensuring the cause they give to is yours can be challenging.
This giving season, maximize your year-end revenue by branching out to new audiences, experimenting with marketing strategies, and leveraging new fundraising and communication tools. To help your nonprofit make the most of this time, this guide will explore strategies for earning more donations and establishing long-term donor relationships that last beyond the new year.
1. Send Reminder eCards
The end of the year is hectic for many, and often supporters don’t donate simply because they forget. This is especially the case with annual donors, who usually give in significant amounts but don’t have automatic giving set up and need to remember to donate every year.
Solve this problem by sending out reminders, like eCards. eCards are electronic greeting cards that nonprofits can send via email, text message, and social media. Rather than just being a plain donation request, eCards combine fun visuals with quick messages, making them entertaining keepsakes supporters will want to hold onto.
In the weeks leading up to the end of the year, send out eCards to wish your supporters happy holidays. This doubles as a reminder to give and a way to solidify your connection with donors. eCardWidget’s guide to charity eCards has a few examples of this type of holiday eCard from the nonprofit One Tail at a Time:
Follow One Tail at a Time’s lead and create festive eCards for the season. These eCards will stand out to supporters, especially compared to plain text email reminders, and some donors may even share them with friends or family if they really like their designs.
2. Encourage Recurring Giving
Nonprofits often see a rush of donations at the end of the year, but to maximize revenue, they need to turn these one-time donors into year-round supporters. The most straightforward way to do this is by promoting recurring gifts.
Recurring gifts allow supporters to donate automatically after the first time they give to your cause. This means if you can persuade year-end donors to sign up for a recurring gift on the days when generosity and the giving spirit are running high, you can retain them long-term.
A few ways you can promote recurring giving include:
- Prompt donors to make their gifts recurring. Make recurring giving as easy as possible and give donors multiple opportunities to opt in to it. For instance, you might add a checkbox on your donation page that says, “Make my gift recurring.” Alternatively, add a pop-up after donation processes asking supporters if they’re sure they only want to give once or upgrade to a recurring gift.
- Create donation levels. Donation levels, also known as suggested giving amounts, are recommended donation amounts supporters can choose from. To incentivize recurring giving, design your donation page so recurring giving levels and one-time levels are next to each other. Donors will see the comparatively lower recurring giving levels and may decide it’s a better deal to give in small increments repeatedly rather than making one large gift.
- Provide impact examples. Let supporters know why a recurring gift is so much more valuable to your nonprofit than a one-time donation. In your donation descriptions, add details about how your nonprofit will use the donated funds so supporters have concrete examples of how their gifts are being used.
Of course, before promoting recurring giving, ensure your donation processor can handle recurring gifts. Before the year-end giving season begins, assess your donation processor to determine if it will be capable of managing a sudden influx of donations and will keep your supporters’ sensitive financial information safe.
3. Promote Matching Gifts
Some of your donors may be able to give more during the holiday seasons than they first thought, all at no extra expense. Corporate matching gifts are additional donations that your supporters’ employers make when their employees give. For example, if a supporter donates $50 to your cause, they may be able to request a matching gift. If their application is accepted, their employer donates an additional $50 to your nonprofit.
360MatchPro’s guide to marketing matching gifts recommends a few ways to promote this underused giving method:
- Provide social proof. Many of your supporters are likely new to matching gifts, and real-world examples of matching gifts in action can persuade them to learn more. Include the names and logos of companies with matching gift programs, share the number of donors who have submitted a matching gift to your organization, and provide an estimate of how much your nonprofit can raise through matching gifts.
- Consider your communication cadence. Determine who you will promote matching gifts to and when. Use your donor database to identify supporters who likely qualify for matching gifts and send them messages encouraging them to check their eligibility and apply for a matching gift. Many employers have matching gift application deadlines at the end of the year, so it’s especially important to remind supporters to get their requests in during the year-end season.
- Use multimedia. Text is useful for straightforward explanations, but it doesn’t catch the eye. Use multimedia like images, infographics, and videos to explain what matching gifts are and how supporters can access them.
Matching gifts differ from other corporate grants in many ways, but one of the most important is the lack of competition. Rather than vying with a hundred other nonprofits for funding, your nonprofit should almost always receive funding from a matching gift application as long as the supporter is eligible and filled out their request form accurately.
4. Offer Donations as Gifts
The year-end giving season is also the holiday season, and many supporters are likely looking for gifts for friends and family. Empower them to give the gift of making a difference by offering them the opportunity to donate in someone’s name.
Usually, when a donor gives, the donation is tied to them and they are the one who receives the thank-you for the gift. However, some nonprofits give supporters the ability to donate on someone else’s behalf. In this situation, they are given the credit for the generous gift.
Make donating as a gift appealing by offering extra thank-yous and rewards. For example, you might add an eCard option for donors to send to whomever the gift is in the name of. This allows them to send a custom greeting card explaining the gift and wishing them whatever holiday message they want.
5. Sell Merchandise
The end of the year is the perfect time to sell unique and creative merchandise. Supporters can buy it for themselves or for friends and family as gifts. A few holiday fundraising merchandise ideas include:
- Holiday sweaters
- Postcards
- Ornaments
- Calendars
- Hats and scarves
- Mugs
Not everything you sell has to be holiday-themed. Think about what types of visuals are likely to interest your audience and how you can add them to your merchandise. For instance, environmental groups and animal rescues can add cute and majestic photos of their subject matter, while arts and performance nonprofits may feature photographs of their work.
If your nonprofit tackles issues that don’t make for good postcard photos, you’re not out of luck. Get creative with illustrations and typography to create merchandise that shows off your nonprofit’s brand. This might be a stylized version of your nonprofit’s name, drawings of concepts related to your nonprofit, or just your nonprofit’s brand colors arranged in a stylish manner.
The last few months of the year can fund your nonprofit’s work for an entire year. Capitalize on the rush of generosity with strategies that encourage donors to increase their gifts and keep contributing in the new year. Start planning early to have your technology and strategies ready to go far in advance.
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