It Is Not Too Late for a Year End Campaign (Part 2)
Donor Detectives Team
More than 17% of overall US giving occurred in December of 2014, and 12% of the gifts came in during the final three days of the year. Some organizations become the pacesetters in taking advantage of this most generous time of the year by handpicking strategies that work.
But what does it take to supercharge a Year-End Digital Campaign? Do you still have time to get on the bandwagon?
Great news – it’s not too late! Below are some practical ways to make your organization stand out during this busy time while still making a prudent use of your budget.
1. Not All Donors are Created Equal
Pay attention to the different segments of your donor base. Communicating to your audience appropriately creates an instant connection and helps make your message stand out. Having reliable data is critical to making this happen. Ensure campaign tracking is in place; commission someone that can take ownership of tag audits and the management if tracking issues offer. This may take some initial investment, but it is worth it!
2. Make Giving Tuesday Count
Only in its 4th year, Giving Tuesday has shown 36% year-over-year increase in online giving. It has proven raise a non-profit’s profile and awareness while allowing people to engage via mobile devices. Craft a special mail appeal and make it the core theme of all your donor touchpoints. Touchpoints include customized landing pages, branded Facebook pages, catchy email subject lines, to name a few. Engage your social media crew, staff and as many followers as you can to help spread the word BUT create realistic goals so you’re not stuck if your results did not meet your expectations. Consider Giving Tuesday only as warm up to your Year-End Campaign.
3. Highlight a Matching or Challenge Grant
People are more likely to respond to a fundraising appeal that has a double impact or a challenge for the organization they support. Establish key dates to blast out this message and increase frequency as the end of year approaches. Test countdown verbiage on your Search and Display ads and optimize best-performing creative. Matching or Challenge Grants give a clear sense of urgency; therefore, making the most impact on fundraising.
4. Activate Multi-Channel Approach
Blackbaud reports that 65% of nonprofits require 3 or more clicks to make a donation. Now more than ever, you need to be present in your donor’s channel of choice and have a consistent way to show them the need and ask for support. Integrate your message among these channels and put tags in place for proper attribution.
5. A Timely Thank You
Stay on top of your game by thanking your donors immediately after donations have been completed. These supporters are your dear friends and believe in your cause. Be sure to show them how their funds will be used. Make Thank You pages shareable. Send a personalized Thank You email and update them on the status of the fundraising goal for the remaining days/hours of the year. This will make your donors feel appreciated AND encourage them to ask friends and family to help reach the goals as well.
Based on your bandwidth, start with whichever of these recommendations you can confidently deploy by owning it and have fun with it. If you think your team can still pull all these off and just needs an extra boost, give us a holler. Or we can do it for you or help you every step of the way. Just be sure to do it! A potential 12% of your revenue depends on it.