For nonprofits, holiday season is also giving season. It’s a time when many people’s thoughts turn to helping others.
Approximately 30 percent of annual giving happens in the month of December and up to 10 percent is done within the last three days. Although supermarkets are still packed with Halloween candy, the holiday season unofficially begins the moment the last trick or treater calls it a night. These nonprofit fundraising tips will help get you started now so that your organization can make the most of this year’s giving season.
Craft a carefully worded ask letter
With the majority of organizations reaching out to so many people during the holidays, you need to make your request memorable. Make it clear what the money will be used for and use statistics to show the value of donations. According to donorbox, asking for “support” instead of a “donation” and using “you” to make people feel included are likely to generate more incoming funds.
Get personal
Another way to set your appeal apart from other nonprofits is through personal storytelling that clearly shows the impact of the important work you do. It could about a teacher who helped a struggling student get back on track or a delivery of food that got a financially challenged family through a difficult time. Make sure you have permission from everyone involved before sharing their story. Personal stories create an emotional connection that inspires would be donors to get out their checkbooks.
Coordinate your campaign
All of your communication channels should work in concert to spread the word about your holiday fundraising campaign. Customizing your home page of your website with an appeal and donation button as well as creating a custom hashtag to use on social media are two ways to spread the word about your campaign, while making it easier for people to donate.
Consider a #GivingTuesday campaign
Giving Tuesday continues to be an effective hashtag. Last year, the one day event created to counteract the commercialism of Black Friday, raised $380 million online, which was an increase of 38 percent from the year before. This year’s event is happening on December 3rd and according to the website anyone can participate for free. The website has tools to help you organize your campaign.
Get your thank you ready
People like to have their contributions acknowledged. It shows you value their support for your cause. According to the Philanthropy Centre, people who get a thank you note give 60 percent higher gifts than people who don’t. Like anything else, showing your appreciation needs to be done in the right way. An estimated 69 percent of people surveyed for the 2018 Giving Report preferred to be thanked by email, as opposed to 14 percent who favored a print letter, six percent who wanted a text, and two percent who would like to receive a phone call.
The time and effort you spend putting these nonprofit fundraising tips in action now can help your organization reap the benefits during this giving season…and all year long.
