Year End Giving: The Step-by-Step Guide For Nonprofits

The end of your (fiscal) year is maybe around the corner—the single biggest fundraising opportunity of the year! This guide will show you how to create a year-end fundraising campaign that will effectively reach the hearts and wallets of donors during this spike in end-of-year donations. 

If you’re looking to end your year right? Chat with a GiveSmart expert today. 

Donors get involved with nonprofits over the holidays for four primary reasons:

• To be happier by helping others
• To feel good about themselves by making a difference
• To be connected to something positive
• To take advantage of tax deductions

There are three steps to a year-end giving campaign: plan your strategy, implement best practices, and promote and coordinate your year-end appeal across all channels.

During the planning phase, nonprofits should segment their donors based on their communication preferences and how they prefer to give. Once the end of the year giving campaign goes public, the remaining fundraising goal will be met by following the next steps of following best practices and promoting across all channels.

Step 1: Plan Your Year-End Giving Campaign Strategy

Target Donor Demographics

Segment communications to engage donors and reach new ones

One of the most effective ways to breakout of the noise is creating segmentation in your communications. Different age groups respond to different messaging and on different platforms.

The important thing to remember before moving forward with your-end of the year giving strategies is that not everyone should be receiving the same message. Your organization should be delivering the appropriate year-end appeal that resonates with the donor on a personal level.

Here is some helpful information on your different donors:

• Gen Z: Donors born after 1997 are most likely to donate via mobile, social media, watch short videos, and almost exclusively via mobile. Appeal to these donors by keeping things simple and genuine. These supporters respond to texts and are active daily on social media. 
• Millennials: Donors born between 1980 and 1996 are most likely to donate via mobile, watch campaign videos, and prefer to give via peer-to-peer fundraising. These supporters respond to texts and are active daily on social media. 
• Gen X: Donors born between 1965 and 1979 are most likely to fundraise on behalf of your organization, make a pledge, and volunteer. These supporters respond best to e-mail, phone calls, and texts and stay up-to-date on social feeds and trends. 
• Baby Boomers: Donors born between 1946 and 1964 are most likely to make recurring gifts. These supporters respond to phone calls, check email regularly, and are mainstream adopters of text messaging and social media. 
• Greatest Generation: Those born before 1945 are most likely to respond to direct mail and give by check. Wealthy seniors are more likely to own smartphones and donate by credit card. 

Year-End Fundraising Campaign Goal Planning

Set specific goals for year-end fundraising and donor engagement.

Fundraising and donor engagement campaigns with specific goals consistently outperform those that have open-ended objectives. Think about what your mission is and what you are trying to accomplish at the end of the year within your organization.

A clear-cut focus will make it that much easier for you to succeed.

Primary goals: 

• Existing donors: Increase year-over-year donation amount by 1% 
• New donors: Inspire new supporters to receive your newsletter and subscribe to your social 
  media channels and sign up for your next event 

Supplemental goals: 

• Recurring gifts: Encourage donors to give year-round instead of one-time 

• Ambassadors (those who help raise donations and for your cause): Inspire ambassadors to contact everyone in their social circle 
• Volunteers: Increase engagement among volunteers 
• Social media followers: Mobilize social media followers to increase event participation 

Integrated End of the Year Campaign Branding

Every donor touchpoint should have a consistent look and feel.

Branded campaigns raise more donations than non-branded ones, and these donors are more likely to become repeat donors to your nonprofit. Sit down with your team to ensure that every element of your year-end campaign ties together and creates a seamless experience with increased levels of donor engagement along the way! 

Also note, the majority of online donors make a gift after watching a video, making it the most effective form of media. 

Brand identity elements that are specific to your campaign:

• Campaign Name Get creative so that you stand out 
• Logo and colors Increase awareness with a visual identity 
• Description Have a unique and consistent tone 
• Photos Capture the essence of your mission 
• Videos Show people why your mission matters 
• Testimonials Quotes from program recipients 

Storytelling to Inspire Year-End Charitable Giving

Share and promote videos, photos, and testimonials without asking for money.

Showcase the impact of of your mission to prime donors for future calls-to-action. Always follow the 3-to-1 rule which is to share 3 pieces of compelling content before asking for a donation.

Smartphones make it easy to create compelling videos and photos that: 

• Showcase the good you are doing 
• Share stories of individuals that have been touched by your mission 
• Highlight the transformative impact of giving 
• Compel audiences to take action 

Remember: In terms of views, likes and shares, raw footage—like that which has been captured on a smartphone—consistently outperforms professionally produced videos and photos.

End of Year Thank You to Donors

Thanking donors is perhaps the most important part of your campaign.

Spread the spirit of gratitude across your network of supporters by intentionally thanking donors of all ages. There is a direct correlation between thanking donors and receiving future donations.

Six ways to share your gratitude for support: 

• Embed a video on your donation page confirmation screen 
• Send an automatic email with a photo and tax receipt 
• Personally post a thank you and tag donors on your social media wall 
• Send a personal text message 
• Call them over the phone or leave a voice mail 
• Send a handwritten note by mail 

Did you know? The top reason donors don’t give again is that they are unaware of the impact their donation had on your cause. So don’t forget or you may lose donors for your future fundraising campaigns.

Showcase Year-End Fundraising Totals

Encourage your followers, donors, and ambassadors as you make progress towards your goal. Remember that many of the donors are more than willing to make an additional contribution in the last three days of the year to ensure you can succeed in your mission. 

Five ways to showcase fundraising results: 

• Display a live fundraising thermometer on your website and in your office 
• Link to your thermometer in campaign communications 
• Use your social feed and Facebook Live to update supporters in real-time 
• Pre-plan communications with 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of goal updates 
• Post videos with mid-campaign updates challenging supporters to do more 

Remember: The most important people you need to update and encourage throughout your campaign are your fundraising ambassadors. Be sure to also plan to promote a matching fund towards the end of your giving campaign to ensure your reach your goal.

Donor Data Analysis Is Key

Make real-time campaign decisions to maximize giving and participation. It is vital to the success of your campaign that you understand who is making donations, when they are made, and where they are coming from. 

Use analytics to gain insight into campaign effectiveness and make real-time adjustments to your website, donation page, and messaging. 

Some tracking you should make sure you line up: 

• Google Analytics 
  • Track conversion rates on your website and donation page. This integration is included with every GiveSmart plan.   

• Social media 
  • Track your reach on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more 

• Shortlinks (like bit.ly) 
  • Track the number of people that click your links 

• Donor records 
  • Track average gift sizes and frequencies via your CRM or fundraising management reporting.  

Tip: Only require fields on your donation page that help you get to know your donors without making it hard to give—the fewer the better. Donating should be quick and easy!

Step 2: Implement Best Practices

Year End Giving Campaign Tips and Ideas

The more resources, training, and accountability you provide to your team of ambassadors, the more money you will collect. 

Here’s the deal: 

If you follow these end-of-year giving best practices, your campaign will be a success. This is a huge opportunity for your organization so you want to make sure you do not turn away any would-be donors. 

One of the most important things you have to remember is to make it as easy to give to your cause, volunteer, or fundraise on your behalf. 

Raise more donations than ever before with these year-end giving ideas:

• Make it easy to give from any device at any time 
• Make it easy to volunteer for your organization 
• Empower your supporters to collect donations 
• Leverage corporate partnerships 
• Kick off your year-end giving on #GivingTuesday 
• Boost end of the year giving with a live event 
• Implement a multi-channel New Year’s Eve solicitation 

Convenient Donations at the End of the Year

Make it easy for donors to give.

Give your supporters multiple ways that they can give: 

• Online (from any device) 
• By check 
• By cash 
• Over the phone 
• By swiper (in person) 
• By text message with a text-to-give keyword 

Keep supporters updated and easily track your goal with a live campaign fundraising thermometer. 

Tip: Strengthen in-kind donation programs by making it easy to give with a credit/debit card.

Volunteer Empowerment

Make it easy as possible for people to get involved in your mission.

Volunteers are nearly twice as likely to donate as those that do 
not volunteer. Make it easy to get involved.  

Volunteering is the best way to gain contributions for your cause that don’t involve money. Volunteers are more likely to become lifelong donors to your cause even if their first interaction with your organization wasn’t a donation. Sign up volunteers from wherever they are with mobile and online solutions that make it easy to get involved 

• Embed a video on your sign-up form 
• Gain more volunteers with text message registrations 
• Keep volunteers connected with text reminders 

Crowdfunding Ambassadors

Empower supporters to raise donations from friends and family.

One-third of all online donations are a result of peer-to-peer fundraising  

Peer-to-peer fundraising is one of the most popular types of crowdfunding, giving your supporters the option to either donate directly to your cause or volunteer to fundraise on your behalf. They can recruit their family, friends, and social networks to do the same, amplifying the effectiveness of your fundraising simpler and easier than ever before. You can enable: 

• Ambassadors create their own page in seconds 
• Donations go directly and securely to your cause 
• Pages are easily shared via social media, email, and text 

Corporate Partnerships

Empower your corporate partners with crowdfunding.

Corporate partnerships are a great way for nonprofits to raise more donations while allowing a business to do good by fundraising for a cause. Often companies will advertise your campaign to their customers as well as their employees, resulting in you reaping the rewards of both increased donations and heightened exposure for your organization. 

• Showcase your partnership with the community 
• Corporate employees can create their own fundraising pages 
• Sign-up forms can be embedded on corporate websites 

#GivingTuesday

Empower every follower to give and promote your nonprofit.

Keep Your call-to-action for donations simple 

The more you provide your ambassadors with training, content to share, encouragement, and support, the more your #GivingTuesday campaign will be a success! 

• Ambassadors create their own page in seconds 
• Synchronize all communication channels 
• Encourage followers to post #unselfies 
• Use shortlinks and keywords to make giving easy 
• Empower ambassadors with fundraising pages 
• Showcase donor names and totals as they roll in 

Boost Year-End Giving with a Live Event

Create excitement by showcasing donations and ticket sales in real time.

Donations displayed live on-screen makes giving at events fun 

Inspire dinner, luncheon, or virtual event attendees to donate with a unique giving experience they’ll never forget. The fundraising thermometer provides a visual cue to show attendees not only how to give, but how close you are to your goal! Watch as the donations roll in and the thermometer rises while your emcee recognizes donors as their names are displayed on-screen in real time. Make to capture all donation types including: 

• Mobile pledges appear live on screen 
• Include ticket sale totals 
• Include out-of-towner gifts 
• Include on and offline donations (cash and checks) 
• Include donations collected with a swiper 

New Year’s Eve Solicitation

Send a communication to your supporters on December 31st.

Step 3: Promote the End of the Year Campaign Across All Channels

Year-end giving campaign promotion

Impact on your year-end fundraising campaign success is the ability for donors to make quick and easy donations to your cause from anywhere. No matter what device they are on or what channel they heard your year-end appeal for donations. 

Any unnecessary steps a potential donor must make to support your cause can lower the success of 
your campaign. We find that nonprofit organizations that use a multi-channel approach to their 
year-end appeal, yield better results. These channels can include: 

• Online: website, partner sites, media and blogs, video, advertising, SEO
• Email
• Social media
• Text messaging
• Direct mail
• Television and radio promotion
• In-person events
• Phone

Donations On Your Website

Online giving should be fast, simple, and secure from any device

Remove all obstacles to completing a donation on your website:

Your GIVE button should be prominently located on your website and Facebook page, and when clicked, should open your secure (https) and mobile-friendly donation page.

The design of your donation page should reinforce the impact of year-end giving with: 

• Online form optimization (desktop, mobile, and tablet devices) 
• Campaign branding 
• Videos and photos 
• Suggested donation amounts 
• Recurring gift options 
• In memory/honor of option 
• Custom data collection fields 

Donations from Email

Make it easy to give in response to emails read on any device.

One-Click donations from emails 

Make it easy for supporters to click your DONATE button in emails and give in seconds from a computer, tablet, or smartphone. 

Best practices for email fundraising: 

• Embed a video on your sign-up form 
• Track every donation from e-mail traffic 
• Strengthen email campaigns with text reminders 
• Link a screenshot of your year-end donation page 

Donations from Social Media

Conveniently collect donations from all types of social media posts and pages.

Promote your donation page shortlink in posts and text-to-donate keyword in images and videos 

Make it easy and obvious for your social followers to make donations. 

Practices for social media fundraising: 

• Encourage followers to click shortlinks in Facebook and Twitter posts 
• Encourage followers to text-to-donate in photos on Instagram 
• Embed your donation page inside your Facebook page 
• Encourage followers to text-to-donate on Facebook Live and shout out donors as they appear on your fundraising thermometer 
• Empower social followers to make micro-donations of $1 or more 

Did you know? Eight in 10 of all potential donors have at least one social media profile. 

Donations from Text Messaging

Send text reminders to strengthen every channel and expand your reach.

Connect with donors using text messages 

When it comes to getting in touch, there’s no better way to talk to your supporters than directly on their mobile devices. Even better, the TCPA allows special permissions for nonprofits, meaning you can upload any phone numbers you have on record and start contacting your donors in a matter of minutes. 

Best practices for sending texts to donors: 

• Send at least three texts with compelling content before asking for a donation 
• Send links to videos, web pages, social campaigns, and sign-up forms 
• Integrate text reminders to increase conversions for every channel 

Best practices for sending text messages: 

• Build a list of mobile subscribers with keywords 
• Build a list of mobile subscribers by collecting mobile numbers on forms 
• Upload and validate the mobile phone numbers you already have in your database 

Donations from Direct Mail

Make it easy for recipients to give online from any device in response to your year-end appeal letter.

Did you know? 35% of donors say they prefer to respond to direct mail by giving online. 

Donations from Television

Give television viewers everywhere a simple way to donate.

Empower celebrities to raise donations For Your cause 

Your call-to-action should include a text-to-give keyword along with your website URL to yield the highest possible donation totals. 

Best practices for television fundraising: 

• Make a clear and concise call-to-action 
• The donate button on your website should link to the same page as your text-to-give keyword reply message 
• Shout out donor names as they appear on the fundraising thermometer to inspire more giving 

Donations from Radio

Make it easy to ask for donations on radio and see real-time results.

From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Eve American generosity skyrockets, causing people to be more generous with their time and money and to make donations, volunteer, and help raise support for causes they care most about.  

Looking for a full-suite fundraising option for your year-end campaign? Get started with GiveSmart today.