End-of-Year Planning Starts Now
The holidays may be the last thing on your mind right now, but it’s never too early to begin making plans for the biggest nonprofit fundraising season of the year.
Prepare Your Nonprofit Fundraising Appeals
Your organization can never be too prepared for the holiday nonprofit fundraising season. Year end success is a must-have for your organization: 31% of all giving occurs in December and 12% occurs in the last three days of the year.
When you start early, your team can put more time and energy into creating the most effective fundraising appeals possible. According to npEngage, successful appeals contain the following:
- Compelling stories
- Clear calls to action
- Powerful images
- Dynamic subject lines
Keep that information in mind as you perfect your nonprofit fundraising appeals for this year.
Plan Stellar Fundraising Events
Organizing a truly outstanding nonprofit fundraising event takes a lot of work. Throwing a fundraiser together at the last minute is never a good idea, and will likely result in fewer donations and less enthusiastic supporters.
If you get started with your planning now, you can ensure that your event leaves a lasting impression. Your donors will be excited about giving to your organization, and you can draw in more people who otherwise may have never heard of your organization.
As an added bonus, the extra prep work will make the process a much less hectic experience for your staff and volunteers. With a solid plan in place, the fundraiser can go off without a hitch, and your team can avoid dealing with any major headaches on the day of the event.
Modernize Your Methods
Before the important holiday nonprofit fundraising season begins, you should start thinking about how you can make giving more convenient for your supporters. Modern technology like mobile giving apps enable your donors to give from anywhere, at any time — whether attending your fundraiser, on a break at work, or stuck at home with the flu.
By getting this technology set up early in the year, you will have no speed bumps in your way as you approach the key giving days in December. You can use the summer and autumn months to spread the word about your new giving methods, so your supporters already know how to make use of your mobile giving app.
Communicate With Your Supporters
Even if you don’t have a nonprofit fundraising event on the books until the end of the year, staying in touch with your supporters is imperative. Maintain an active and visible social media presence. Send out regular email newsletters to keep donors posted.
The more your supporters stay engaged with the work you are doing throughout the year, the more likely they will be to make regular contributions to your cause. They will not forget about you when the holiday giving season arrives, because you will make sure that your organization is still on their minds. You will see the proof of your successful campaign in the year-end donation tally.
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