5 Tips to Expand Your Year-End Appeal Reach
As the DNA of a donor changes – donors wanting to give via mobile, give in the moment, share that they gave, and be part of a movement – nonprofits also need to change. This year, more than ever, a successful year-end campaign will depend on how well the campaign is shared.
To increase your appeal reach, leverage your supporters’ personal sharing as it is the most effective way to reach new and lapsed supporters.
Improve your chances of driving this “network effect” by creating a communication plan. In this communication plan, you should calendar which communications you’ll send, through which channels and to which audiences.
A donor database, part of your fundraising software, should be used to help segment these lists and make it easy to send these communications out. Create a sequence of communications that will announce your campaign, tell your story and build excitement leading up to and beyond #GivingTuesday.
At a minimum, we recommend these five best practices to expand your appeal reach:
- Encourage supporters to use ready-made posts, hashtags, tweets, and visuals in the days leading up to #GivingTuesday, and then hourly on the giving day and then again the last week of the year.
- On #GivingTuesday, send email and social channel updates as you reach key milestones, such as 50%, 75%, 90%, and 100% of your goal. Supporters like to know how their contribution is helping to reach a goal.
- Prepare thermometers and other visual elements in advance so you have them handy to share your progress and build excitement during your campaign.
- Maximize your team’s reach while minimizing the time required from each supporter by creating a hub-and-spoke communications model. Organize and distribute content centrally to your key committee members and ambassadors. They can then distribute to a manageable number of contacts and be ready to support and answer questions
- Email your donor base at least once before #GivingTuesday to let them know you’re participating and then again on #GivingTuesday with your fundraising appeal. Don’t be shy about sending out another email later in the day but suppressing those donors who gave earlier in the day.
If you need help getting this communication plan off the ground, Network for Good would love to offer you the tech, tools, and team to help you expand your year-end appeal.
