How to Transition From #GivingTuesday to Year-End Fundraising

Year-End Countdown: Four Weeks To Go

How was your #GivingTuesday? Hopefully, it was a great experience full of new donors and a needed revenue boost. Now that we’re on the other side of things, it’s time to wrap things up and focus on the year’s BIGGEST giving days: December 30 and 31, also know as #GivingTWODays.

Wrapping up #GivingTuesday:

Send thank yous. First things first, thank your donors! Don’t depend on your donation receipts. A thank you should be meaningful, personal, and heart-felt. If you’re not sure how to do this, grab a copy of The Complete Donor Thank You Guide for a full serving of tips, how-tos, and templates.

Compile your data. How many people donated to your campaign? How many were recurring donors? How many of them were new donors? What was your average gift size? The answers to these questions are crucial to retaining and building donor relationships, which is the foundation for long-term fundraising success. The information should be easy to find with a few clicks in your donor management system.

Evaluate your campaign strategy. Think about the messages you sent and what mediums you used to spread the word (email, social media, etc.). What worked, and what didn’t? Where did your new donors hear about you? How could you change, edit, or enhance things next year? What can you improve or repeat to help with your year-end push this month?

Switch Focus to #GivingTWODays:

Craft your appeal. Note: your year-end appeal communication should NOT be combined in the same mailing or email that functions as your thank you from #GivingTuesday. It needs to be separate; your thank you should not include a direct monetary ask.

The best appeals are strategically targeted with one specific message and call to action. Pull your best stories that show the impact of your mission and individuals’ donations. Have it come from your best messenger (it’s not always the executive director, often it’s a volunteer or someone who has benefited from your services). Your goal is to pull at your donors’ heartstrings and make them feel that their gifts are going to have real impact. Not sure where to start? Check out this step-by-step appeals guide.

Reach out to major donors. December is the time to put the extra effort into seeking out your major donors and encouraging them to make a gift. Dig through you database and see if there are middle donors that have potential to grow with a little personal encouragement. If you’re a relatively new organization or aren’t sure where to look for potential major gifts, check out this on-demand webinar, 5 Simple Steps to Start a Major Gifts Program.

Finally, don’t forget to sign up for this week’s Nonprofit 911 webinar, 31 Days, 31% of Annual Giving, on Tuesday, December 6 at 1pm EST. We’re going to be talking about how to optimize your campaign to make the most of the December giving season. Even if you can’t make the time, register anyway and we’ll send you the slides and recording.