Making the Most of End of Year Gifts and Fundraising
With the holidays behind us and the new year ahead, it’s important for nonprofits and cultural institutions to make the most of their end of the year fundraising efforts.
Most donations are made toward the end of the year, with 31% being made in December and a majority of those funds being made the last 3 days of the year. Cultural institutions need to be at their best during the holiday season and be in a position to use their funds wisely and plan for the new year.
Below is everything you need to know about how to make the most of end of the year gifts and fundraising.
Giving Tuesday vs End of Year fundraising
Giving Tuesday, which always takes place the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is another huge opportunity for organizations to raise money. While most nonprofits place a lot of importance on Giving Tuesday, it’s also important to plan for end of the year fundraising and create a robust plan for 2022.
The end of the year is an opportunity to reach out to new donors and long-time members when they are most likely to donate to your cause. Not only will community members be in the spirit of giving at the end of the year, they’re also motivated by tax-deductible donations that will increase the number of last-minute donations and gifts.
How to run a successful year-end fundraising campaign
In order to run a successful year-end fundraising campaign, you need to plan accordingly and prepare for the future. THe below tips will help ensure that, moving into 2022, you use your funds wisely and set yourself up for success in the future.
- Review past failures/successes
- Some of the best data available to you is in your past fundraising efforts. By reviewing past failures and successes, you can avoid pitfalls, predict outcomes, and create a more informed fundraising strategy. Where did you see most of your donations coming from? Where were your least effective marketing efforts? And how successful was your retention rate? Asking the right questions will help you utilize your past successes and failures to make better decisions.
- Set clear goals
- One of the ways to become more efficient and successful in your campaign is to set clear and realistic goals. Based on your previous efforts, you define achievable goals that will put your funding to good use. Identify the right KPIs to measure your success and distribute your metrics to your team so everyone is on the same page.
- Create a narrative
- Like all campaigns, you need to create a story and narrative that will communicate your goals and inspire your donors. You should come up with a theme and mission-based appeal that is aligned with your overall mission statement and objectives, and you should integrate your narrative into your custom email marketing strategy and other communication pipelines.
- Optimize your website
- It should be easy for donors to make donations on your website. Utilizing the right ticketing and donor management tools will help you connect with donors and increase your donor rates. You want a solution that allows you to send custom messages to potential donors, customize email confirmations, and seamlessly create a platform that will take users to payment pages after they select their donation amount.
- Cutting-edge CRM capabilities
- Your CRM is your donor management and marketing best friend. With a powerful CRM, you can track donor engagement, understand+ donor trends, communicate more effectively with your donor base, and develop your marketing strategies into 2022.
- Donor segmentation and analytics
- Donor segmentation is an essential part of managing your donors and engaging them effectively. Segmenting your donors into subgroups based on their interests, donor patterns, and engagement will allow you to create more personal and optimized marketing campaigns so you can cater to specific donor interests and demographics.
- Emphasize your impact
- When you reach out to donors, it’s important to underscore the impact you’re making in the email or message. Donors want to see how their funds are being used, and you can highlight the various accomplishments you’ve made throughout the year to demonstrate the efficacy of your fundraising campaigns.
- Saying thank you
- The thank you letter is an important aspect of any donor cycle. Show your appreciation by writing an effective thank you letter or email where you can give a sincere thanks and show how their donations will be used in any upcoming campaigns. Make donors feel valued and build lasting relationships for continued support.
How Acme can help…
ACME is an all-in-one ticketing solution for public-facing institutions including museums, zoos, aquariums, historic houses, and nonprofit organizations. We advance ticketing, membership, and donation management through cloud-based solutions that create a seamless experience for your visitors and staff.
ACME’s many advanced solutions include donation features that allow you send custom donor messaging, custom and automated emails, and a quality thank-you letter.
Try the demo today to see how ACME can help you with your fundraising campaigns into 2022.