4 Quick Thoughts from Giving Season 2023

I oversaw 6 Outbound Fundraising campaigns through 12/31. I’m taking this week to hibernate 🐻, but I wanted to share these takeaways while they’re fresh:

1. Givers Give! 🎁

   Time and again, I work with clients who are hesitant to reach out to individuals who’ve already donated within the last year. Those people are your org’s core community: they WANT an update on how your fundraising is wrapping up for the year & there’s a good chance that they’ll be eager to get involved again. Ex: one community member gave $3k in November and, when they learned how close the org was to their year-end goal, they gave another $2k in mid-December.

   The key is to LEAD WITH GRATITUDE: start the conversation by specifically thanking the community member for their last contribution & their overall support of your org.
   

2. Multi-Pronged Communication is Key 🔑

   Here’s where Development and Marketing go together like PB & J. 🥪 Even if you THINK you have enough communication planned for December, I’m betting even more would be helpful.
   
   Just remember that no one form of communication (letter appeals, emails, social media posts, strategic phone calls…) is the silver bullet. It’s instead about the layering effect–each touch point “layers” on what came before it.
   

3. Holiday Fridays were Big! 🎉

   On both 12/22 & 12/29, my clients experienced a major uptick in donations. While I REALLY wish that Year End Giving didn’t coincide with the December Holidays (hence me taking a break this week, instead!), a great deal of people are making their year-end giving decisions right up until the very end. (And the amount of gifts made in the last 48 hours of 2023 was even more staggering! 💸).
   
   Next year, plan ahead: I suspect that Friday, 12/27/24 - Tuesday 12/31/24 will be 5 VERY successful fundraising days. And then take a break until the following Monday, 1/6/25 (that’ll be my plan!).
   

4. Strategic, Personalized Phone Calls are the Icing on the Cake 🎂

   Never underestimate the power of a well-planned, thoughtful phone call to a community member whom you “assumed” would have given before 12/15, but hasn’t.
   
   Yes, phone calls take time & energy (not to mention vulnerability), but personally reaching out to specific community members (after the deluge of emails, letters, and social media posts have reached them) is frequently the extra touch point they need.
   
   🌟 I’ve taught hundreds of nonprofit leaders, staff members, & board members how to make authentic, successful, & efficient fundraising Asks (while also organically building relationships).
   
   If you want to learn more about my 5-Minute Fundraising Ask Training Programs, feel free to reach out for a free 30-Minute Exploratory Convo ✨
   
   And if you have any End of Year Fundraising Takeaways to share, we’d love to hear them in the comments section!