Did year-end fundraising have you feeling stressed? Follow our 4-month plan outlined below to jumpstart your efforts this year and perfectly execute your end-of-year plans in 2021! 

SEPTEMBER - “The Creative Month” 

This is the month you should spend cultivating the creative theme, messaging and imagery that will comprise your year-end fundraising campaign. This is when you should renew your own understanding of your organization’s mission. Go out and talk to the people you help. Ask what they are dealing with right now and what they could do with more support. Knowing your beneficiaries’ needs and stories will inspire your year-end creative direction. 

5 Things to Remember: 

• People give to help a person, not a crowd. 
• Position the individual giver as the hero. 
• Your organization is a conduit between donor and beneficiary. 
• Donors are empathetic – ensure your message is, too 
• Donors need to feel and witness the issue(s) you address, in both writing and imagery. 

OCTOBER - “The Planning Month” 

Now that you have decided on your creative theme and imagery needed, October is a time to organize and plan for the year-end campaign. During this planning month, your team should present the strategy and approach for the year-end campaign to the organization. This includes reviewing various methods that will be used to seek support, the timing and intended outcomes of each solicitation approach. 

5 Things to Remember: 

• You have “donors” – not “email donors,” “direct mail donors” or “online donors.”
• Donors should be exposed to the solicitation story through various approaches. 
• Even if a donor receives a message one time, you need to remind them about the opportunity to give. 
• Extend the narrative of the story across multiple solicitations. 
• Plan stories across all channels based on your audience.

NOVEMBER - “The Learning Month” 

Now is the time to start the process of seeding the year-end campaign by helping your constituents learn about the stories you plan to present. Insert year-end story concepts in newsletters. Start presenting some aspects of the creative strategy to your constituents. Ask your followers to act on behalf of the issue. This is the time to educate and reignite their interest in your cause before they are asked to give. 

5 Things to Remember:

• Performing an act is a reinforcement of their interest and passion for your cause.
• People need to warm up to giving – inspire them before asking. 
• Educate before exposing individuals to big concepts related to your cause. 
• Rather than thank individuals for supporting your organization, thank them for supporting your cause and issue(s). 
• Individuals need a reason to give and that reason is the people you help.

DECEMBER - “The Giving Month”

Finally, it’s time to start asking your following to support the organization and people you serve. The year-end campaign season begins around Giving Tuesday and ends at the end of the year. Don’t forget to spend time asking and thanking donors. Don’t wait until after the season is over!

5 Things to Remember: 

• Make your solicitation memorable by thanking and asking the individual to support your cause.
• Don’t forget to incorporate an ask through phone calls during this month. 
• Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to ask people to start giving. 
• Launch the campaign with direct mail, followed by two emails and a solicitation on the last day of the year. 
• Remove donors from future solicitations if they already gave.
  

About the Author

Clay Williams

Clay Williams has more than 30 years of technology experience, with the past 20 years dedicated to helping causes, nonprofits, and civic organizations leverage technology to fulfill their mission. Clay has architected, built, or overseen the development of hundreds of websites and sophisticated web-based applications. He has guided research and capacity-building initiatives at Achieve and has been a leading proponent of the use of social media and digital marketing techniques to further the goals of nonprofit organizations. Clay holds a BS in Systems Engineering from Boston University.