There are two ‘i’s’ in Fundraising – they should stand for inspiration and innovation, not imitation and irritation.
Ken Burnett
Action precedes funding. Planning precedes action. If you have ever launched an year-end fundraiser, you must know that planning becomes priority. Year-end appeals are a tricky process for most fundraisers as it consists of three complicated things :
- The problem that your nonprofit is addressing and how to make it relevant to the donor.
- The solution to the problem that the nonprofit and how to address it so that the donor is convinced to help you.
- The purpose and amount of the gift that you are requesting.
These elements are critical to consider. Moreover, year-end appeals become even more complicated due to the sense of urgency that they bring along. You must convince your donor to act now, during the biggest giving period of the year. Therefore, to raise funds during your year-end fundraiser the most important thing is raising funds without much expenditure. Traditionally, nonprofits ended up spending a lot of money on creating the appeals and circulating them. But you should not do that. You need to be resourceful and familiar with all kinds of fundraising techniques.
GiveCentral presents a modernized solution to run such a campaign.
Take a look : GiveCentral Capital Campaigns & Annual Appeals
How does GiveCentral make your year-end appeal better? There are various steps that lead to a successful campaign :
Planning
Remember the three elements talked about earlier. Set up your goals, and we can help you plan on how to present it to your donors.
Read : The SMART way to nonprofit fundraising
Such a campaign begins with assessment of a lot of data, as this is an example of donor-centered fundraising. This is the time when you need your donors the most. So segregate your supporters according to their affiliation with you. If someone has donated to you in the past, it is important to retain them. If they are on your database, as a volunteer, a parent, a subscriber, an alum or anything, you must acknowledge their connection in your appeal. For donors with a higher donation range, you can ask them for a specific amount that matches or is-greater than what they have given previously.
We believe updating databases and maintaining records should no longer be a manual task. The time consumed in such processes must be used by your staff to focus on your mission and your community. Our software tries to eliminate these mundane tasks for you. It helps you update your records and keep them up-to-date.
Communication
Once your campaign objectives have been decided, the next step in heading towards a successful year-end appeal would be to spread the word as far as possible. Now, with our software, you can easily get attention by getting into your donor’s email inboxes rather than spending money on printing direct mail pieces. If you are working on an email campaign, our team helps improve them with an in-depth analysis of your donor base. We help you target current, lapsed or potential donors with strategically personalized email campaigns. This is not just time saving, but also reduced expenditures.
With customized messages, we help you remind your donors who might have missed a gift with a link to pay online. Moreover, you can set up automatic donor gift-confirmation, personalised receipts and thank-you messages with your organisation’s branding and logos. This is a much more direct way of soliciting donations, and helps the urgency of the moment.
Running the Campaign
As you initiate your campaign, and set the goal of your fundraiser, our software simplifies the donation experience of your donors. We believe that making giving easy increases donations. Therefore, we give multiple online donations options to your donors. If your donors want to use different payment methods, like check, ACH, remote deposit, or credit and debit cards, GiveCentral accepts them all.
Moreover, we bring the most simplified options of donations with Text-to-Give and Text-to-Donate, giving your donors the ability to donate with their mobiles – with just a click, from anywhere. Text-to-Give also helps your organisation engage with donors who might have not yet given to your appeal.
Read : Mobile Giving – The easiest way to introduce digital giving
Management
What after your campaign is over and you achieve your goal? It is the time to thank your donors for their contributions and create long-lasting connects with them. Our system offers advanced analytics with a variety of reports and data mining techniques to identify additional funding opportunities. It is compatible with your database and integrated data completely.
Therefore, you can now update the data of your clients that have helped you in achieving the goal of your annual appeal. Hence, you can use this data in future fundraising events. When you fulfill the purpose of the appeal, you can notify your donors with emails, conveying them the status of the completion and your gratitude for their contribution. This will make them feel more connected with the organisation and would help you establish trust among them. Later, you can also ask them to set up recurring donations for your organisation on our software. With our Text-to-Connect services, you can also connect with them with a click (a SMS), and you will be able to update their information directly in your database.
Our mobile applications will help you manage your contacts and campaigns on the go, so that you never are too far from your supporters.
Our team has years of experience across various year-end appeals. Our customer service is a phone call away from assisting you. We have a team that is knowledgeable and understands the best practices to help clients and donors. Join hands with us! Contact us now.
