Three tips to boost your EOY fundraising appeal

In this blog, we present three ideas for how to boost EOY campaign performance – and your total income – to set your cause up for a stellar new year.

There are many factors that motivate donors at different times. But we know that traditionally the donor’s propensity to give  is higher around Christmas than the rest of the year. 

The media space generally gets increasingly crowded and competitive from November onwards – building up to Giving Tuesday but also Black Friday or Cyber Monday. This drives up advertising costs as nonprofits are competing not just with each other to reach the same audiences, but also big corporate spenders.

Of course, there are several specific and serious external circumstances that could make people’s propensity to give swing further either way. These include the pandemic, wars, high inflation and soaring energy prices. 

Following are 3 tips on how to tackle such challenges…

Communicating your successes is great, and at the end of the year, many organisations do this. And why not? You should be proud of what you have achieved throughout the year.

While celebrating successes however, you must remember the cardinal rule: It’s not about you. 

Your communication should focus on the people you want to reach, and specifically on answering the questions (1) what did you achieve with the help of people like them and (2) how did you help people like them?

Think about your audience first and how the external circumstances might affect them. Then try to connect that with your messages and calls to action. For example: 

“We understand how soaring energy prices affect all households in this country, and we are proud that we managed to help 200 families and host 300 children in need in our summer camp with the help of generous donors and volunteers. Please help make this happen next year again by donating monthly to our organisation in 2023.”

Cost per lead usually goes up at the end of the year due to the advertising competition mentioned above. So instead of trying to attract new supporters, focus on those who are already there. 

Ask people who follow you on social media to sign-up for your newsletter. Tell them a comprehensive story during a supporter journey with the objective of (regular) donor conversion. Include all your subscribers in this 3-5 chapter journey. 

Send out personalised thank you emails and direct mail to people who donated in the previous year and ask them to either become a regular donor or increase their monthly donation amount.

If you have any unused merchandise then use it as an incentive, offered to new regular donors one-time donors whose donations exceed a certain amount. You can also send it as a gift to existing regular donors (segment by yearly value) to thank them for their support and ask for an upgrade.

Your online community is bigger than you think. Some may follow you on social media, some are subscribed to your newsletter, some visit your website, some are your donors or volunteers, and some are all of these. Be mindful of all channels while telling the story of your EOY campaign. Consistently follow your content calendar and set up automation wherever possible.

Prepare for future campaigns now and build online leads with direct mail, which is a unique channel that should compliment your online fundraising channels. Build your direct mail to communicate in a digital world by incorporating online landing pages, email, QR codes, digital surrounds and creatives. Digital surround campaigns tied to your mail are shown to increase overall response by 15% or more.

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Implement the three steps above to make your EOY campaign more audience-driven and multi-channel than ever before. Maximise this year’s revenue and make 2023 a great year for your cause.

Want help designing your end of year digital campaign? Not sure how to develop your email journey or where to start? Contact us!

Based on our 30 years of experience, we have written a practical guide for fundraisers: ’99 Tips for more Donations’. We explain clearly which techniques positively influence the response.

Download our 99 tips and read more about:

• Tips for a successful newsletter
• Tips for creating a good story
• Tips for testing your fundraising program
• Tips for an envelope

And much more…

99 tips for more donations

This book is a practical guide for all fundraisers. Download the book and apply the tips today!

Download the book