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According to Network for Good, most nonprofits raise about 1/3 of their revenue in December. And 11% of their annual total during the last three days of the year.
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5 Tips For Your Most Successful Digital Year-End Campaign
Category: Ask
How To Get Matching Funds from a Major Donor
Matching funds are the easiest way to make everything you do (appeals, events, newsletters, you name it) raise more money.
And your easiest source of matching funds are your major donors.
We’ve had great success helping our clients get their major donors to donate matching funds. When done correctly it engages the major donor, gives the major donor a chance to multiply their impact (who doesn’t like that?) and helps you raise more money towards your development goals.
Here’s how we go about it. And of course every major donor is different, but here’s the approach that’s worked for us . . .
Review your major donors for the right donor(s)
Look for a donor who either a) hasn’t given a gift yet this year, or b) you think has the capacity to give another gift at year-end. At year-end, I think approaching majors who haven’t yet given a gift this year is your best move.
Approach the donor with a question
Use the opening question of, “Would you like the chance to multiply your giving and increase the impact of your generosity?” You want to — right away — get the donor in the frame of mind that they can increase their impact by donating matching funds.
Share the stats with them
Make it clear to the donor that they will be multiplying the impact of their own giving. Here’s why: not only do they get their gift matched by the rest of your donors, but there’s additional giving that takes place because of the match!
Look at these stats from MailChimp. I would share these stats directly with your major donor, and talk about how their donation can make results like this possible:
- Matching funds increase average gift size by 41%
- Matching funds increase the # of donations by 110%
- Matching funds increase revenue by 120% (and that’s not including the matching funds themselves!)
Do you see how a match does more than double the money you raise? You get 2x the original amount because you have the match, and the funds raised to match it. But then your fundraising performs better than average too! This is an instance where 1 + 1 = 2.5. THAT’s the opportunity you have to give your donor!
Give them a deadline
If your donor is interested but doesn’t commit, give them a deadline that’s reasonably soon. You want to make them feel like opportunities to multiply their impact like this don’t come around that often (which is true). Tell them that if they say “no” you are going to contact another donor because you need the match to increase fundraising results.
And if you haven’t heard from them by the deadline, contact them to check in. Then if you need to talk to another donor, talk to the next person on your list.
Having a match really is the easiest way to increase your fundraising results. And if you want those kind of increased results for your year-end fundraising? Figure out what major you should be talking to right now and approach them right away.
Guest-Post Bonanza!
This month I was honored to write three guest blog posts for Analytical Ones, the leading nonprofit donor data analysis firm.
The three posts tell the story of how we came up with our Ask, Thank, Report, Repeat system – and how to use it to raise more money and build trust with your donors. Plus there’s a short section on using the simple system with Mass donors as opposed to Major donors.
Here are the links:
Part I: The story that successful fundraising organizations tell their donors
Part II: Simplicity Before Complexity
Part III: Building Trust
Enjoy!
What I Wish I Knew Then
Note from Steven: This is a guest post from Lisa, an experienced Development Director who is on the Better Fundraising team.
When I was a new development director, there never seemed to be enough time, money or man power to get everything done. It was overwhelming. Sound familiar?
I knew I needed to prioritize . . . but even that was hard.
As you sit in your seat today, wondering how you can have the biggest impact possible, take this advice from a person who played every role in her development department. Here are three things I wish someone would have told me right at the beginning . . .
Make it clear what the donor’s gift will do
Specifically, make it clear enough so a donor could easily repeat it to their friends.
Your organization probably does a lot of great things, but you need to focus on just one powerful thing. It’s ok if what you ask donors to do is only part of what your organization does. I’ve noticed that most donors respond better to one simple thing than having to learn about all your organization does.
Always have a system to thank your donors promptly
Donors should be thanked and receipted 24-48 hours after you receive their donation. If they give online they will get a digital thank you right away, but follow that up with a thank you in the mail. For larger gifts, you may want to call and personally thank the donor.
As I built relationships with donors over the years I learned that you cannot thank a donor too quickly. But, thanking a donor to slowly is a surefire way to losing donors over time.
Show each donor the difference their gift made
People give because they want to make a difference. So let them know how their gift made a difference! For most of your donors, this can be done in your organization’s newsletter. Or an e-update, but in my experience e-updates aren’t nearly as good at engaging donors as a printed newsletter.
And for major donors, do whatever it takes to show them.
Take them on a site visit, prepare a special report just for them, whatever it takes to show them how their gift made a difference!
Do these three things and you WILL see improvements in your program. Better Fundraising gets this. Their Ask, Thank, Report, Repeat formula teaches and emphasizes the fundamentals of fundraising, helping you prioritize and work on the things that really matter!
3 ways to maximize your year-end fundraising letters
The most successful year-end fundraising campaigns all share some key features. They use tested, proven strategies that win year after year. And year after year, organizations just update the letters and send them out again.
That’s right.
They send the same message year after year. And get a fantastic response, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars!
You can get the same fantastic response by taking the three tips below to heart.
Tip 1: Ask boldly. Ask often.
Don’t wait until the end of your letter to ask the donor to give. Try asking in at least five or six places throughout. It helps to be specific and concrete when you ask a donor to give. Remind them that the people or cause you serve need help. Tell them what will happen if the money isn’t raised, and the specific impact their donation will have.
Tip 2: Talk about the people who need help, not your organization.
It’s a common mistake to make your organization the hero of your story. It’s also a big one. Your donor should be the hero of the story. Use your letter to explain how the donor can directly make an impact, not how they can help your organization make an impact.
Tip 3: Create urgency, include a deadline and a goal.
Year-end is a natural deadline to highlight in your letter, especially since December 31 is also the deadline for federal charitable tax deductions. Repeat the “midnight, December 31” deadline throughout your letter, on the OE, and the response device. Remember to always pair it with a clear monetary goal.
Get proven year-end fundraising letter samples
Would you like to see some real letters that used the principles above — and brought in more and bigger donations at year-end? And what if we said you could steal from these letters to create your own letter to your own donors?
You can get these samples — and see why they worked, as well as get in-depth instructions on how to use them to create your own successful year-end appeals — for just $129. That’s just $129 to raise thousands more!
We want you to raise more money for your great cause.
Better than a class
Buying these proven samples is better than a fundraising class or conference. With those, you spend anywhere from $150-$500, lose a day of work, and maybe learn something. Hopefully you’re a better fundraiser than you were before.
With these samples you’ll spend $129, upgrade your entire year-end fundraising, and raise thousands more dollars while spending less time doing it. This is a “the best money we’ve ever spent” kind of opportunity.
“Remind, Don’t Persuade”
When I said it, everybody in the room wrote it down.
That’s generally how I know I’ve said something helpful. Here’s what it was:
“At the end of the year your job is to remind, not persuade.”
Here’s why I said that. We’ve done a lot of year-end campaigns for a lot of organizations. We analyze the results of every single one.
When you look at them as a whole a pattern emerges. The successful campaigns? They aren’t beautiful writing that would make Shakespeare weep. They aren’t powerful case statements or success stories.
Here’s what the best campaigns tend to do:
- Remind donors of the problem that your organization exists to help solve
- Ask them to give a gift before the end of the year to help solve that problem
That’s it. You’re going to want to talk a lot of other things. And that’s fine — as long as the main messages you send — the first things your donors see and read — are the Need and your Ask for a gift.
You see, you don’t have time to persuade. In November and December, your donors are moving FAST. Your donors love it when your organization is clear about what you want the donor to do and how their gift will help. Because your donor is also getting a lot of other mail — mail that spends three paragraphs talking about the color of the leaves this time of year, or how excellent the year has been, or telling a story that makes it sound like they’ve already helped everyone.
The time for Thanking and Reporting to your donors for their previous gifts? That was before. Make sure you’ve done that by mid-November. Year-end is a time for Asking.
In our tests, year-end fundraising that spent significant time Thanking or Reporting raised less money
This is not just theory. This whole post is an attempt to explain testing results!
It may be hard. It may be counter-intuitive. (And it’s especially hard for smaller organizations that don’t communicate with their donors more than a couple times a year).
But trust me. The job of your fundraising from mid-November on is to remind your donor to send in a gift, not to persuade them. Just Ask. Ask Boldly. Ask without fear. Ask knowing that your donors love your cause and your organization’s role in helping them make the world a better place!
1/3 of Your Annual Donations Are at Stake This Year-End — Do You Have a Plan?
When a third of your annual donations are at stake, you must make sure your donors receive the right message at the right time — and in the right way.
Come mid-November, you’ll find yourself in this exact situation.
So … do you have a great plan?
Introducing Your GREAT Year-End Fundraising Calendar
We’ve worked with and talked to hundreds of nonprofit leaders like you. Most of them don’t know exactly what to do and when to do it to make the most of their year-end. So, we developed a calendar.
Your Best-Ever Year-End Fundraising Calendar shows you the days, times and places you need to communicate with donors at year-end. You’ll know exactly when to mail letters, send emails, update your website, and post on Facebook!
The guesswork is gone!
Vision House Raised 22% More Than They’d Ever Raised Before
Last year, we used the calendar with Vision House, a client that serves homeless families in the Seattle area. They needed to raise a significant amount of money last December. Together, we reviewed their planned list of November and December donor communications against our suggested calendar.
We discovered they were missing out on key opportunities:
- There was space in their calendar for another print appeal
- They needed to do more communication online
We added a timely print appeal and three emails to the end of December. And the results were powerful — a 22% lift over their previous best year-end!
How much more would you raise with a 22% increase in revenue? Would spending $100 to achieve that be a good investment?
Raise More Money at Year-End — Just Like Vision House
You can run the most successful year-end campaign you’ve had yet – in half the time and with far less stress.
But you need to get started right away.
Get your Year-End Fundraising Calendar now!
Hidden Pitfalls: Not Following Up on a Pledge
Is your organization good at following up on pledges from donors?
In my experience, most organizations aren’t. And it’s especially apparent with major donor pledges.
The lack of follow-up usually comes from fears around ‘bothering’ or ‘badgering’ the donor. People fear they will ‘drive the donor away’ or ’cause a problem in the relationship’ — especially when the donor is a major donor or a board member.
And only one person needs to voice these fears and they spread like wildfire.
But these fears are mostly unfounded and do far more damage than you think.
When follow-up on a donor pledge is absent or insufficient, here’s what that communicates to the donor:
It says that the donor’s gift isn’t important.
Because if their gift was important – if it really mattered – the organization would be in touch with the donor early and often. It would be telling them how important that gift is. The organization would actively be trying to get the gift!
It says that the donor herself isn’t important.
Donors know that other people are giving to your organization. They imagine that you’re out having wonderful lunches with the big donors, happily giving and receiving, making the world a better place and enjoying it while you do. So when a donor isn’t followed up with, they feel like they must not be important enough to get the good treatment.
It says that your organization doesn’t have its act together.
The donor knows you have to pay bills, pay salaries, and use money to help the people who need help. When a donor makes a pledge and doesn’t hear enough about it, it feels to her like your organization must not track money very well. It makes her wonder what happened to the other donors who made pledges. And if you’re really raising as much money and helping as many people as you say you are.
The donor doesn’t feel like their gift makes a difference.
The most important one. If a donor doesn’t hear directly and often about her pledge, she wonders if her pledge was really going to make a difference. Because if it was really going to make a difference – if it was really needed – wouldn’t the organization have gotten in touch with her? Maybe her gifts don’t make that much of a difference after all . . .
Makes you want to do a good job following up with the pledges you receive, doesn’t it? Here’s a quick list for how to do that well:
- Always have a deadline. Deadlines are amazing at causing action to happen – both on your part and on your donor’s part!
- Communicate with your donor(s) early and often about their pledge. I recommend 3 times: once immediately after the pledge, once about halfway from the pledge to the deadline, and once a month before the deadline.
- In your communications, mention that their gift is important, that it matters, and that it will make a difference. You want your donor to know that her gift matters and that it is needed.
- Be sure to mention that you understand if circumstances change and they can’t give the amount they pledged or fulfill their pledge by the deadline. You want to give your donors an honorable way out.
Think of the whole thing as a ‘kind business process’ that’s honoring to your donors and honoring to your cause or beneficiaries. Don’t let fear get in the way of loving follow-ups! If you do, you’ll lose revenue and harm relationships with donors.
5 tips for a successful year-end fundraising campaign – and the one tool to rule them all
We know staring at December on the calendar can make your palms sweaty. It puts a lot of pressure on you.
We’ve been in your shoes many, many times. And…
You don’t have to do your planning alone
First, here are 5 tips for you to focus on. Then when you’re done here, go Get Your Best Ever Year-End Fundraising Calendar. Take advantage of years of experience and testing, and use the calendar to know what to do and when to do it.
Five tips to help you plan
Tip 1: Choose a goal
You want to know how much you need to raise so that you can build a plan to reach your goal.
Tip 2: Communicate to your donors multiple ways
Direct mail is still the number one way to raise money at year-end — but email, your website and social are raising more and more!
Tip 3: Think about all of your donor communications as a single combined campaign
Make sure you’re communicating the same message, modified to fit each channel, whether it’s a Facebook post or a letter in the mail.
Tip 4: Ask early & often
Some people give early, some give later, and some take multiple reminders before they give. Start early, and repetition is your friend!
Tip 5: Do a lot at the end of the year
There’s a HUGE surge in giving after Christmas. Be sure you’re in front of your donors multiple times between Christmas and New Years.
Next, get our Best Ever Year-End Fundraising Calendar (and our other year-end products) to help you rock your Year-End fundraising! You’ll exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to say it!