Take a deep breath: we’re in the home stretch of annual fundraising. There are less than two months until the year ends (and your annual fundraising calendar wraps up), but you know how crucial these final months are for meeting your fundraising goals.
According to the M+R Benchmarks report, December giving comprised 26% of all online revenue in 2023 and 34% of one-time online revenue. Plus, donations made on December 31 alone accounted for 5% of 2023 revenue.
Your nonprofit has already done the planning required to make these final months of the year a success. So, we’ve compiled five tips to help you execute your strategies successfully, make the most of the year-end giving season, and exceed your annual giving goals.
1. Encourage donors to take advantage of corporate giving programs.
Many supporters who participate in your year-end fundraising campaigns or events can double their impact, and they may not even know it! Corporate giving programs empower donors to maximize their contributions, and many businesses specifically like to support charitable employee contributions around the holidays.
Encourage donors to explore their eligibility for corporate giving initiatives such as:
- Matching gifts. With matching gift programs, companies match donations their employees make to nonprofits or schools. 360MatchPro recommends helping donors research their matching gift eligibility by embedding a matching gift search tool directly into your online giving form. Additionally, emphasize matching gifts in your year-end communications to remind donors to get their gifts matched and increase their impact.
- Volunteer grants. Also known as dollars for doers, volunteer grants are donations businesses make to nonprofits where their employees volunteer. Secure more volunteer grants by promoting these opportunities using website landing pages, email campaigns, and social media outreach.
- Corporate-sponsored holiday donations. As a holiday gift, some companies may offer employees the option to donate to your cause using company credit cards or funds. Use your marketing outreach to showcase your mission and your nonprofit’s impact to encourage employees to support your organization this year.
Many companies set January 1st deadlines for these corporate giving programs, meaning it’s imperative to promote these initiatives proactively in year-end fundraising communications.
Demonstrate the impact of corporate-sponsored gifts to drive home the importance of these donations. For example, send an email saying, “Your $50 donation just helped purchase new clothes for a teenager experiencing homelessness. By contributing a matching gift through your employer, you can give that same young person access to the school supplies they need to last them through the year.”
2. Send seasonal greetings.
During the holiday season, your supporters aren’t just getting emails from your nonprofit—they’re getting bombarded with seasonal promotions and advertising from various brands and even other nonprofits. Sending a no-strings-attached seasonal greeting is a refreshing way to break up the messages asking supporters to contribute.
Spread holiday cheer by sending supporters well wishes and celebratory messages such as:
- Holiday eCards
- Appreciation videos
- Year-in-review recaps
- New Year’s well wishes
BWF’s donor engagement guide recommends personalizing this type of outreach because “donors will respect the time and attention you put into treating them as individuals, strengthening their bond with your organization.” Include donors’ names and references to their past involvement, whether donations or other types of engagement like volunteering or advocacy.
3. Emphasize recurring gifts.
One-time year-end donations help push your nonprofit closer to your annual giving goal, but recurring gifts provide reliable, ongoing support into next year and beyond. Encourage more donors to become recurring supporters by taking these steps:
- Showcase the impact of recurring giving on your donation page. For example, the ASPCA online donation page highlights the impact of giving at different levels using a rotating photo carousel. They explain how different monthly contribution amounts provide specific benefits for animals in the shelter:
- Highlight the benefits of joining your monthly giving program. Donors may receive exclusive merchandise or discounts, special event access, or a newsletter sent directly from your executive director.
- Create personalized impact projections for individual donors. Send donors information about the specific ways they can maximize their impact. If a donor gave $20 to your GivingTuesday campaign, you might thank them for their support and let them know that their gift helped buy groceries for a family in need. In addition, highlight how setting up a recurring monthly $20 gift can help that same family purchase healthy, nutritious food year-round.
Promoting recurring giving sets the groundwork for greater fundraising support and resiliency in the new year.
4. Make the most of year-end events.
If your nonprofit is hosting a year-end or holiday event this year, use it as an opportunity to thank your supporters and secure their long-term support. Level up your strategy by:
- Sending personalized invitations. For example, you might create an invite saying, “Hi, Jill! We appreciated your attendance at last year’s Reindeer Games Gala and wanted to extend a personal invite to this year’s event.”
- Engaging with supporters on social media. Create an event hashtag and encourage supporters to share posts using the hashtag. During the event, leverage social media livestreaming to allow a broader audience to tune in.
- Communicating impact. After your event wraps up, share data that illustrates the event’s impact. For instance, your thank-you email might read, “We raised $28,000 at this year’s gala. Because of your generosity, we can start much-needed renovations to our community playground.”
Ensure staff members, nonprofit leaders, and volunteers engage with as many attendees as possible while at the event. Making time to build personal connections is critical to securing year-end donations—supporters will be much more likely to give when they feel appreciated as individuals.
5. Generate urgency in your appeals.
Reaching your annual giving goals is essential for your nonprofit to prepare effectively for next year. Infuse your fundraising appeals with urgency to express the importance of giving now rather than waiting until the new year.
Here are a few examples of urgent appeals:
- You only have until midnight on December 31st to submit your final tax-deductible donations for the year. Don’t delay—use our online donation form to contribute now!
- We only have $5,000 to go to reach our annual fundraising goal. Can you make a $50 donation right now to get us closer?
- There are only 12 hours left to get your gift matched by a generous anonymous donor. Act now to double your impact!
Use urgent appeals sparingly and strategically to avoid donor fatigue. Too many urgent requests could cause donors to tune out or not take your outreach seriously. Mix in just a handful of urgent appeals with your other year-end outreach and seasonal greetings to maintain a healthy balance of communication types.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with the tasks required for year-end giving and unsure whether you can successfully reach your goals, consider contacting a campaign planning consultant for support. These professionals can oversee your year-end giving campaign and provide strategic guidance every step of the way. Plus, they can help manage reporting for your campaign and analyze your strengths and weaknesses to better prepare you for fundraising opportunities in the new year.