Holiday season is the mission-critical period for nonprofit organizations; in the calendar of nonprofit fundraising, this is the time to reach out to new supporters and drive in more donations. At the same time, this is also the time to give importance to the already existing donors in your record.
In this article, we will be looking at a few ways in which nonprofits can be all set to nail the holiday fundraising task. There are a lot of charities out there who would be fundraising during holidays, yet what matters is how you stand out and how you do things differently.
Begin early
Anything that is well begun is half done, therefore preparing early is the perfect way to begin. It is advisable to prepare at least two or three months in advance; for example, it would be perfect to start strategizing for #GivingTuesday in the month of October or even September end. Waiting till November of December would only increase the chances of missing out on new donors and building an impactful awareness about your fundraising.
Donor monitoring
It is very important to monitor and segment your existing donors. What is the gifting frequency of each donor? How many of them are recurring donors? It is also a great idea to re-segment your supporters. For instance, if a donor who gives quarterly wishes to become a recurring giver, then you will have to re-organize your list so that the right reminder message reaches the right recipient.
One big campaign
The larger the campaign, the more planning it requires. You will have to invest time into deciding on an overarching theme. Let us cite an example of church fundraising; your fall nonprofit fundraising may be related to helping the less fortunate church members and your christmas fundraising may be focused on driving donations for church run schools. These two however come under the same umbrella as they’re both related to the church. Having a big campaign would not only help you get organized in a better way, it would also help your donors understand your mission to a great extent.
Brand building
The construction of your brand and your fundraising must be around your mission. A lot of your donors and potential donors may be comparison shoppers; they would read about several missions and activities of different nonprofits before deciding on the one cause that they wish to donate to. These supporters on search you up on the net, your website and social media. The key is to build a strong online presence in terms of videos and pictures.
Variety in calls to action
Throughout the campaign, your communication with your donors largely define the outcome. The call to action that you send out to your donors need not be the same every time as that would get monotonous for the recipient. Instead of asking donors to donate for four months or six months straight, you can deliver a different call to action every few weeks. If you ask your supporters to join your monthly giving program in October, you can ask them to give their gift of gratitude in November. Then in December, your message can consist of asks for holiday gifts. It is important to remember that this mini campaign should all boil down to your general theme.
Nonprofit fundraising campaigns, if planned and executed right can work wonders for your nonprofit. Going digital with your campaigns and adopting mobile giving as a method are great options to consider. Plan ahead, communicate well and get more people to support and talk about your campaign.