Although the weather remains hot and your donors are still on vacation at the beach, it’s the time of year again when you are working on developing strategies for your year-end giving campaign. This is a very critical time and many charities raise most of their revenue during the last quarter of the calendar year.
So, what are strategies you can use to enhance and expand the program you already have in place?
1. Messaging
Set the tone for the following year’s efforts by highlighting for your donors everything that your organization accomplished in the current year. Year-end giving should be used as an opportunity to not only fundraise, but to bring supporters up-to-date with the successes that have happened. In addition, you also want to set the vision for the coming year and what you are looking to accomplish with their continued support.
2. Mid-Level Campaigns
Mid-level campaigns help you cultivate higher levels of commitment from your existing donor file, who are likely your most loyal supporters. This type of campaign will help your organization generate immediate new income by segmenting donors “in the middle” of the giving arc, offering them special treatment and benefits and asking them to increase their level of giving.
3. Anniversary Giving
Analyze your database and see when donors are giving. Make sure to solicit those who give during the year-end, even if they have not given within the last year or more. When you approach them at other times of the year, make sure you send them information and news about what is happening at your organization and always thank them for being a loyal supporter to your non-profit.
4. Three-Part Solicitation Series
Charities are often reluctant to send one solicitation after another; however, in practice it works. By creating a solid appeal for the initial letter and then following up consistently over a period of weeks to the close of the year-end, you will increase the revenue raised by your organization because you will be reminding your donors and prospects of your need for their support, the benefits to them and the fact that their gifts are tax-deductible.
5. Gift Giving
Gift giving provides a way to always be building your donor base. Year-end giving offers an important time of year to offer donors opportunities to give the gift of supporting your organization in honor of their family and friends. Make sure your charity has outlined what a gift of $25, $50, $75, $100, $250, $500, etc. dollars does in support of your organization and then provide your loyal donors with a way for them to gift this to people they know.
During this critical time of year, and in a fast-paced and ever-changing world, it is important for organizations to be innovative and to consistently be looking at different strategies to increase their fundraising efforts. With year-end giving, your organization has an opportunity to deepen relationships with your donors, obtain new donors by increasing your donor database and add additional streams of income that will only help enhance your fundraising drive and organization’s institutional capacity.
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