This presentation provides nonprofit organizations with the nuts and bolts of planning a donor driven year-end fundraising campaign.

1. BEST PRACTICES FOR
YEAR-END FUNDRAISING

2. of all donations come in
between 10/1-12/31
Source: Blackbaud

3. Giving Trends Monthly
Source: Blackbaud

4. December Giving Trends
Source: Blackbaud

5. 70 Days Left Until 12/31

6. How Do You Raise Money
Between Now And 12/31?

7. STEP 1:
Get Internal Stakeholders
Aligned

8. STEP 2:
What’s Your Story?

10. SMART Principle
• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Timely

11. SMART Principle
• Is there a project you want to get funded for immediate use, before the
end of the year or early into next year? Donors are motivated by a
sense of urgency.
• What is a realistic goal for the timeline and your community?
• Will you have a matching gift?

12. Leverage Matching Gift

13. STEP 3:
Set Your Fundraising Goal

14. Fundraising Goal: Raise $50K by December 31st.
Existing Donors: Increase year-over-year donation
amount by 5%.
Number of Donors or Donations: Increase the
number of donors by 10%.
Recurring Gifts: Encourage one-time donors to make
a monthly gift.
Goal Examples

15. STEP 4:
Define Target Audiences

16. Who Will You Be Targeting?
• Time Period: Donors who donated in 2019
• Service Lines: Supporters of Children’s Hospital
• Non Donors: On your email and DM list
• Board Members and Advisors
• Volunteers
Segment Examples

17. STEP 5:
Optimize Donation Pages

18. 1. Suppress global navigation.
2. Do not ask for any information you don’t need!
3. Pre-select a donation amount for donors.
4. Add 3rd party endorsements like Charity Navigator rating.
5. Add a secure transaction logo and link to your privacy policy.
6. Provide your mailing address, phone number, and email address
on your donate page.
7. Test your donation page. What problems or errors did
you encounter? Was it easy to make a donation?
Optimization Tips

21. STEP 6:
Market Year-End Across
Multiple Channels

22. Year-End Calendar
Map Out The Following For Each Channel:
• Launch dates and schedules.
• Who is doing the creative and content?
• What approval is needed?
• Which messages are being targeted to which audiences?
• What landing pages and source codes are needed?

23. Email
Component Of An Email Campaign
• Create story through an email series
• Get internal approvals
• Create Schedule – Weekly and then last three days of the year
• Define target audiences
• Determine Segments – Based on open rates, donation conversions
• Identify signer(s)
• Conduct A/B Testing – Subject line, creative, etc.

24. Website
Integrate Calls To Donate On High Traffic Pages:
• Foundation homepage
• Hospital line sites
• Key landing pages
• Blog

25. Website
Test Different Calls To Donate:
• Website hijack or overlay
• Popup graphic after someone is on your site for a few seconds
• Hero image call to action

26. Website

27. Website

28. Direct Mail

29. Social Media
71% of nonprofits worldwide agree that social media is
effective for online fundraising.

30. Giving Tuesday Spans Social Networks:
• Facebook — GivingTuesday
• Twitter — @GivingTuesday
• Snapchat — givingtuesday
• Instagram — givingtuesday
• Use the hashtag #GivingTuesday
• Use the #UNselfie hashtag to talk about how you
are giving and why
• Create your own hashtag, i.e. #Give2Inova
Social Media

31. The Stats
• 29% of online donors say social
media is the communication tool that
most inspires them to give.
• 87% of donors who first donate from
a social network make their 2nd
donation from a social network.
Social Media

32. The Stats
• 34% of nonprofits globally have paid for
social ads.
• Social Media drives 57% of traffic to
fundraising campaign pages.
Social Media

33. The Stats
• 55% of people who engage with nonprofits on social media end
up taking some sort of action.
• 59% of those people donate money.
Social Media

34. What social networks have
nonprofits said are the most
important for their cause?
Social Media

35. Social Media

36. Facebook
• Facebook refers 29.4% of traffic to donation pages on
#GivingTuesday.
• More than 29%+ of mobile donation traffic came from
Facebook on Giving Tuesday.
• 84% of Facebook users share content to show their support for
a cause.
Social Media

37. Twitter
• 55% of people who engage with nonprofits on Twitter end up
taking an action.
• Twitter users send 700% more visitors to donation pages on
Giving Tuesday than on a typical day.
• 77% of Twitter users feel more positive about a brand when their
Tweet has been replied to.
Social Media

38. YouTube
• 28% of nonprofits are on YouTube.
• 6 billion nonprofit videos viewed in 2016.
• 57% of people who watch nonprofit videos go on to make a
donation.
Social Media

39. Instagram
• 30% of nonprofits use
Instagram to raise money and
awareness.
• 75% of Instagram users take
action, such as visiting a
website or making a purchase
after looking at an Instagram
advertising post.
Social Media

40. Identify and Cultivate Ambassadors
 Certain stakeholders can be your social media champions to help share your
campaign before, during, and after through their own profiles.
 Identify and secure social media ambassadors and send them all
supplemental materials prior to launch.
 Consider recruiting volunteers, stakeholders, department heads, star nurses,
former and/or current patients, donors, board, etc.
 Ensure time commitment, and provide a clear outline of expectations.
Social Media

42. Ambassador Success Story
University of Wisconsin-Madison’s touring troupe enlisted board members
and volunteers to take on specific roles in the campaign as:
• Contributors to a match fund
• Spot-donors at specific times during the donation day
• Social media reporters and storytellers
• Cheerleaders and commentators
Social Media
5x more raised from 6.5x more donors than their
previous #GivingTuesday campaign.

44. Toolkit for Board, Staff, Advisors, Ambassadors, etc.
• Sample messaging tailored by social network
• Shareable graphics to help you promote the
campaign
• Relevant links
• Instructions for creating an outstanding fundraiser
• Cover photo options for social networks
Social Media

45. Social Media

46. Social Media

47. Offer Multiple Ways to Engage
Give - Donate to the hospital and/or a designated hospital
fund.
Share - Spread the word on social media with hashtag
#GivingTuesday and sign up to our email list.
Thank - Thank a doctor, nurse, etc. who saved you or a loved
one's life. Use hashtags #Give[Hospital] and #GivingTuesday
Social Media

48. Social Media
facebook.com/ProfilePicFrames

49. Social Media

50. Facilitate Engagement, Play on Current Events
Maryland SPCA used current
events to launch a campaign
around midterms.
The fundraising campaign
engaged donors with the
opportunity to “vote” with
donations.
Social Media

51. Social Media

52. Social Media
The campaign was shared across social networks,
targeting past and current donors, and volunteers.
They raised $11,000 more than their goal.

53. Social Media

54. Social Media
Provide Campaign Wrap-up Across Networks

55. Mobile/SMS

56. Step 7:

57. Share Fundraising Progress:
1. Send email updates highlighting your progress and to spur
more donations.
2. Use social media to update donors in real-time.
3. Post video with mid campaign updates and to encourage more
donations.
Share Results

58. Step 8: Thank Your Donors

60. What Strategies Can You
Realistically Add To
Year-End Fundraising?
Contact Info:
Email: Allyson@radcampaign.com
Website: www.RadCampaign.com