Did you know…
Nearly one third (31%) of annual giving occurs in December.[1]
Year End Giving is still King.
This is a staggering statistic. How can so much be accomplished in one of the twelve months of the year!?
It gets even crazier than that…
Did you know..
12% of all giving happens in the last three days of the year.[2]
Further statistics show that 28% of nonprofits raise between 26 – 50% of their annual funds from their year-end ask.[3]
So is your nonprofit ready for this big month?
There are three pivotal aspects to successfully utilizing the Year End Giving season.
- Becoming mobile friendly
- Ensuring multiple “touches” to donors
- Following Up
Let’s take a look at each of these aspects –
Become Mobile Friendly
Yes, it’s absolutely vital that your emails, (branded!) landing pages, and website is all mobile friendly.
Without simple mobile friendly platforms, your organization will loose out on major opportunities and breadth of your reach and audience.
BUT that is just the beginning.
“Mobile Friendly” is commonly used to mean “compatible with mobile devices”, but we challenge you to think more personally about your mobile interactions with your donors.
You want to engage your audience personally. And let’s face it, our mobile devices are where we spend a lot of our time and gain a lot of our attention.
During the holiday season, everything is fast and busy.
Your window for reaching out to donors is not long either.
This is why fast, personal, and engaging content on mobile devices is the biggest bang for your buck during Year End Giving outreach. Unless you have a longstanding fundraising event around the holidays, it is hard to get even loyal donors to commit to another event during the holiday season. Direct Mail can seem to pile up between Christmas and New Years (the most important time of Year End Giving!).
Consider donations through text message with your loyal donors.
A simple “text-to-give” campaign can be extremely successful. Back in 2010, a“text-to-give” campaign with the American Red Cross collected $43 million for Haiti after the devastating earthquake.
Obviously, your nonprofit might not be as reaching as the American Red Cross. But something so quick and easy prompted by something as necessary as your cause can have impressive effects.
Try out using video in online fundraising.
Another proven campaign during Year End Giving has been video sharing. Research has found that “57% of online donors make a gift after watching an inspirational fundraising video.”[4]
Video is a more personal engagement than straight text.
This doesn’t have to be a video that would be nominated for the Academy Awards – just something that puts a face to your cause and helps bring your audience to a better understanding of what your organization is all about!
This is a shareable and easy way to make some waves in your social media outreach
Employ multiple “touches” to donors.
A social media campaign or a text-to-give campaign or a email newsletter are all fantastic ways to reach out to your donors and potential donors.
But why not do all three?
There is immense impact to Year End Giving when an organization employs multiple “touches” to donors.
Use a multi-channel outreach strategy (like both email and direct mail).
Follow up with donors to show how donations were used.
Remember to follow up with donors and let them know what their contribution helped your organization accomplish!
This is good practice to help them understand what they did mattered.
But it’s also a way to begin a relationship with new donors.
Every donor relationship (hopefully) is not a one-and-done transaction, but a long-term friendship and partnership.
Treat your donors in such a way to show them that you care about them and see them as a part of your team!
We’d love to be apart of your team as well! Contact Charity fundraising to receive zero-risk auction items for your next charity fundraiser!
[1] https://www.neoncrm.com/10-year-end-giving-statistics-every-fundraiser-should-know/
[2] https://www.networkforgood.com/nonprofitblog/year-end-giving-data
[3] https://www.neoncrm.com/10-year-end-giving-statistics-every-fundraiser-should-know/
[4] http://www.mobilecause.com/online-fundraising-guide/fundraising-videos/
