As Mariah has officially declared, “it’s tiiiiiiiiime.” The holiday, aka year-end fundraising season, is officially upon us. And just as Black Friday sales are already trickling out weeks in advance of Thanksgiving, those Giving Tuesday appeals won’t be far behind.
Hopefully, you’ve been hard at work acquiring and cultivating new community members this year. Now is the time to pull out all the stops and convert them to donors, if you haven’t already.
To help you make this year’s giving season a fundraising success—beginning with Giving Tuesday—we’re sharing some of our most reliable tips and tactics. And to make sure all your i’s are dotted and t’s crossed, don’t forget to download our End-of-Year Checklist too.
Meet people where they are, and give them options
Donors come with bank accounts and wallets of all different sizes, and you’ll get better results with messaging that reflects that. Segmented and personalized appeals outperform one-size-fits-all approaches, hands down, but don’t let the recommendation of personalization scare you off.
Outside of major donors, personalization can simply mean acknowledging past giving—or even a respectful nod to the fact someone hasn’t yet given. A few subtle adjustments to your core message can go a long way toward making people feel seen and valued, helping strengthen and build longer-term donor relationships.
We don’t have to tell you—gifts of all types and sizes really do make a difference—make sure this comes through authentically to all potential donors. Your donation form likely includes a variety of giving options, but underscoring the point that a gift of any size matters is a welcoming message and invites broader participation.
Make everyone’s donor dollars go further with a challenge match
Simply mentioning a matching gift opportunity can increase response rates by an estimated 71% and drive up average gift sizes by 51% (source). The most rigorous data suggests the specifics of a match don’t really matter so much as the basic opportunity for a donor to have more impact than they would otherwise.
It’s not just average donors whose money can go further because of a match; the major donors recruited to back them are also getting more bang for their buck by leveraging their gifts to incentivize others. Donor matching funds are the ultimate win-win.
Tap your most engaged supporters to amplify the message
If you want to get the most out of it, it’s time to approach end-of-year fundraising as an all-hands-on-deck endeavor. Your Board, volunteers, corporate partners—they are all likely donors themselves, but they could have exponentially added value when leveraged to reach new audiences.
Consider approaching each of these groups with specific requests tailored to how they could best amplify your efforts. Keep the ask simple, direct, and be ready to provide supporting materials that make it as turnkey as possible: for example, an email template for Board members or a pre-designed flier for corporate partners.
Similarly, don’t sleep on social media influencers. Over half of nonprofits surveyed work with content creators, and that includes help with fundraising. The giving season could be the perfect opportunity to get more creative with leveraging influencer relationships. Filling in the Blanks, a Connecticut-based hunger organization we have the pleasure of working with, does this to great effect by hosting an invite-only volunteer event each holiday season that doubles as an influencer activation. The event not only accomplishes the very real task of packing thousands of holiday meal bags, it also builds meaningful relationships. Last year’s influencer content earned them an extra 150K social impressions.
Get more of our insights on leveraging content creators for good >
Ask for help
The tactics above are tried and true, and you’re probably already familiar with most of them. For many nonprofits, the biggest barrier to success is simply the manpower and bandwidth to put best practices into action. Our team is an extension of our clients’, providing the know-how, tools, and efficiency to foster the support they need to thrive. Let’s talk!
