“I feel overwhelmed by Giving Tuesday & Year End Giving.” 😱
Practically EVERYONE in the non-profit sector is feeling it right now:
You. Are. Not. Alone.
Here are some immediately actionable tips you can implement NOW:
ENGAGE ALL DEPARTMENTS AT YOUR ORG
Make sure your development & marketing departments are not just communicating, but collaborating. Engage your leadership and your board.
Talk to your staff: what’s going to invigorate THEM? You may find out that a junior employee JUMPS at the chance to run your org’s social media or that the head of your org actually LOVES writing handwritten appeal notes as they watch tv.
CRAFT EVENTS (that suit YOUR organization)
I’m ALL about crafting “Events” for fundraising Asks. Giving Tuesday & Year End Giving are already in the zeitgeist, so I recommend you take advantage of them!
Sharing specific, numerical YE goals with your community can also be EVENTS: You community will follow your success & understand THEIR role as you “kick off,” “reach the halfway point,” & “enter the final stretch” of your campaign.
BUILD A MULTI-LAYER COMMUNICATION PLAN
You can’t send just one appeal letter, some rote social media posts, and a few “doom and gloom” emails & expect results. You should be intentionally engaging with your community ALL YEAR ROUND. You can start building out your communication cadence NOW (emails, social media posts, appeal letter deadlines, phone calls…) & start connecting with community members before Halloween.
CREATE A “PRODUCTION CALENDAR” (work backwards from 12/31!)
Set aside time to get ALL communication moments onto that calendar NOW. You can take the gal out of theater but you can’t take theater out of the gal: I recommend that you think of 12/31 as the “Closing Night” performance, 11/29-12/31 as the “Run” of the show, & Giving Tuesday as “Opening Night.”
PHONE CALLS ARE A PHENOMENAL TOOL (SO ARE VOICEMAILS!)
If you know me, you know I LOVE fundraising phone calls! Call specific community members as part of your communication cadence:
the additional, personal touch WILL pay off. LEAVE VOICEMAILS: Ask for a specific amount and let the community member know the various channels available to make a gift.
MATCHING GIFTS ARE MAGIC
Are you currently working with your board and major donors to secure a Matching gift for Year End? If you aren’t, you should be. I have so much to say on Matches–look for a full post on that next week! ✨What are YOUR Go-To Year End Fundraising Tips?!
Want to learn "8 Phrases NOT to use in Fundraising?" 🤦♀️
Download my free guide here: https://lnkd.in/ebazkRe6
I guarantee you're using at LEAST one of them--let's stop you from sabotaging your success!