This document provides 10 things that non-profits can do to improve their year-end giving campaigns. It recommends starting early with planning, cleaning mailing lists, preparing for online donations, testing donation pages, reviewing giving levels and forms, drafting appeal letters, thanking donors, connecting with major donors, reinforcing the campaign through PR, and planning tax procedures and staffing for processing donations. The overall message is that advance planning across multiple channels can maximize donations during this key fundraising period.

1. 10 THINGS YOU CAN DO
RIGHT NOW FOR YOUR
YEAR-END GIVING
CAMPAIGN
Stephanie Titus, Vice President of Philanthropy
Retirement Housing Foundation

2. Stephanie L. Titus, M.B.A., CFRE
Vice President of Philanthropy
Retirement Housing Foundation
911 North Studebaker
Long Beach, CA 90815
(562) 257-5100
Stephanie.Titus@rhf.org
www.rhf.org
Enhancing quality of life through affordable housing and services for
older adults, families, and persons with disabilities since 1961.

3. CALENDAR YEAR-END IS A KEY
TIME TO FUNDRAISE.
DONORS ARE IN A GENEROUS
MOOD AND LOOKING TO MAKE
TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS
BEFORE THE END OF THE
YEAR.
TO MAKE THE MOST OF THIS
SEASON OF GIVING, YOU NEED
A CLEAR PLAN.

4. 1. START PLANNING.
 Begin internally.
 The spirit of the season is in your favor. There is
ample evidence to show that Americans make
charitable donations around the holidays.
 Make sure your staff gets inspired by the big picture
of what this campaign means for your organization.
(And make sure you all share the same big picture.)
 Set a realistic goal.
 Create an achievable goal that outlines a timeframe,
as well as specific monetary and donor amounts.

5. 1. START PLANNING.
 Set your theme - compile compelling stories
and photos.
 Identify stories that showcase the impact your
organization is making. These stories will be the
basis for your letters and e-newsletter solicitations.
 This is the time to promote your achievements:
number of people served, increased service areas,
new programs, or renovated communities.
 Your stories should focus on the people you serve and
the life changing enhancements you create for people
who live (and work) in your community.

6. 1. START PLANNING.
 Think multi-channel.
 Using multiple channels - e-mail, direct mail, phone,
and social media - will bring in more money than
relying on one channel alone.
 Coordinate any direct mail with an online campaign
that reinforces the message by using your website, e-
newsletter and/or social media. Mention your website
donation page in the direct mail piece and vice versa.
 If you cannot afford to do a direct mail piece or are
pressed for time, make sure you mention the
campaign on your web site, on social media, and in
any newsletter that goes out before December 31st
.

7. 1. START PLANNING.
 Inventory your supplies in advance.
 Think letterhead , response envelopes, etc.
 It will be difficult to arrange to have these printed
during the holiday break.

8. 2. CLEAN UP YOUR MAILING LIST.
 Size it up.
 Take a look at both your e-mail and regular mailing
lists.
 Determine which one is larger, newer, or more
complete. Each list will have its strengths.
 Ideally, you will use both for your year-end
campaign.
 Segment your list.
 Divide your donors into categories.
 People are unlikely to change their normal behavior
for year-end giving. If you understand their typical
behavior, you can leverage your messaging
strategically to each group.

9. 2. CLEAN UP YOUR MAILING
LISTS.
 Review your mailing list.
 Look for duplicates but make sure you copy
information into the appropriate record before
deleting any addresses.
 Personalize your e-mail list.
 Look at your e-mail list and determine how many
first and last names are associated with your e-mail
addresses so that you can personalize your
solicitation.
 See if you can add more names to the personalized
list. Determine how many e-mails you have with
names and with no names.
 If you don’t have a name, “Dear Friend” can be used,
but try to keep these to a minimum.

10. 2. CLEAN UP YOUR MAILING
LISTS.
 Add new names and addresses.
 Purge the hard bounces (e-mails that have bounced
back to you undelivered because they weren’t
accepted by the recipient's mail server).
 Determine how many soft bounces (e-mail that has
bounced back to you undelivered after it has already
been accepted by the recipient’s mail server) you
have, and clean out those that have bounced twice.
 Add any new members to your e-mail list from events
and other sources.

11. 3. PREPARE FOR ONLINE GIFTS.
 Make sure your website can receive online
gifts.
 Can visitors easily find where to click to
donate?
 Make it easy to see.
 Make it easy to give.
 Make it BIG.

12. 3. PREPARE FOR ONLINE GIFTS.
 It’s not be too late to tweak your web site.
 What do potential donors see when they visit your
homepage?
 Will they understand your work and the urgency
around their year-end gift?
 Can they donate easily?
 Consider embedding a donation form on your
homepage with a compelling case for support.

13. 3. PREPARE FOR ONLINE GIFTS.
 Make Giving Tuesday count. It’s 12/2/2014…
 Promotes charitable giving just after the high-profile
shopping days Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
 Many nonprofits that have participated in Giving
Tuesday campaigns say they raised much more that day
than they typically do on a day in early December.

14. 4. TEST YOUR DONATION PAGE
NOW.
 Test your donation page before starting
your campaign.
 Ask a few staff or board members to donate online
and then give you objective feedback.
 Is it easy to find the “Donate Now” button?
 Does the information collected make sense?
 Were there any glitches?
 Any frustrations?
 Did they get a thank you e-mail immediately?
 Fix any of these problems before sending out your
appeal. If it’s not easy to donate, your supporters may
decide to give elsewhere.

15.  Make it easy to give.
 Not everyone wants to donate online.
 Nearly 80% of all donations are still checks, so make
it easy.
 Put your organization’s mailing address on all
correspondence and prominently on your website
for those people that prefer to send a check.
 If you send a direct mail piece, include a reply
envelope.
4. TEST YOUR DONATION PAGE
NOW.

16. 5. REVIEW YOUR GIVING LEVELS,
ASK FOR RECURRING GIFTS,
CREATE SIMPLE FORMS.
 Make your donation forms simple.
 Don’t ask for more information than you need.
 Is it easy to enter billing information?
 Can donors easily set up recurring payment or enter
a message if they are making a contribution in
someone else’s honor?

17.  Link to the Donate Now button page only.
 Your direct mail letters and e-newsletter messages
should link directly to the donation page.
 Don’t send them to any other page.
 The call to action should be clear - DONATE.
5. REVIEW YOUR GIVING LEVELS,
ASK FOR RECURRING GIFTS,
CREATE SIMPLE FORMS.

18. 6. WORK ON YOUR FIRST APPEAL
LETTER.
 Write a compelling story.
 Include a compelling quote and some amazing
statistics from this year.
 If you send a direct mail piece, plan a day for
volunteers and staff members to personalize the
letters.
 Show donors why your work is relevant and
important to them and why they should care.
 Tell them what you have done in the last year, and
what your plans are for the coming year.
 Show how their gifts make a difference.
 Remind them that the tax-deductibility deadline is
near.

19. 6. WORK ON YOUR FIRST APPEAL
LETTER.
 Make your impact clear.
 Include colorful charts and graphs that show your
impact in letters and e-newsletters.
 Show the progress of your appeal.
 Your website’s home page is the best place to keep a
daily record of your campaign’s progress.
 Telling potential donors how well you are doing is
especially helpful if you make a second e-mail or
direct mail push to ask people to help you to get over
the top.
 Make sure you publish your list of all year-end
donations in January after the end of the appeal.

20. 7. THANK YOU, THANK YOU,
THANK YOU.
 Review your current donor stewardship
plan.
 Is there something you want to edit, add or test this
season?
 Draft your year-end thank you letters now.
 Everyone who gives a gift, whether by check or
online, should receive a paper thank-you letter.
 Online givers should get a thank-you letter that does
not look or sound like a receipt within a week.
 Utilize board members and volunteers to
call to say thank you.

21. 7. THANK YOU, THANK YOU,
THANK YOU.
 Three times, three ways.
 Resolve to thank donors at least three times
1) When they make a donation,
2) When they get your e-mail receipt, and
3) When they get your thank-you letter in the mail.
 Assign a staff member or volunteer to send out
thank-you letters once a week during the last six
weeks of the year.

22. 8. CONNECT WITH YOUR MAJOR
DONORS.
 Send handwritten cards to your major
donors and plan for appointments.
 Send thank-you cards during Thanksgiving week and
divide up the personal contacts among board
members and key committee chairs.
 Start making appointments to discuss the year-end
campaign with these, your most invested friends and
ask them to make a year-end gift.

23.  Make in-person visits to your top givers.
 Your most important donors should not get a letter or
an email. They need to be contacted in person.
 Take time to build and strengthen relationships with
those who have committed their resources and
leadership to your mission.
8. CONNECT WITH YOUR MAJOR
DONORS.

24. 9. REINFORCE YOUR CAMPAIGN.
 Coordinate with your PR department to
reinforce your relevance this season.
 Does the community know what you accomplished
this year?
 Raise awareness about your work.
 Speak to civic groups.
 Send a press release to local media.
 Send an e-alert or special newsletter about your
campaign to your mailing lists.

25. 9. REINFORCE YOUR CAMPAIGN.
 Matching gifts are highly appealing.
 Ask your board members to consider making
additional gifts to match any new or increased
donations during the year-end appeal.
 Don’t forget corporate matching gift programs.
 Some donors might be willing to give again if they
know it will double (or triple) their gift.
 Other donors like to come in at the last minute to
help the organization meet its goal.
 Keep your website up to date on your campaign
progress and your gifts to date.

26. 9. REINFORCE YOUR CAMPAIGN.
 Make giving non-traditional or non-cash
gifts easy.
 This will likely involve personal interaction.
 You can also create a downloadable PDF for your
online giving page.
 Make instructions available and easy to find.
 Reach out to your organization’s legal
representative, banker or broker.
 Know their availability for stock and securities gifts
during the holidays.

27. 9. REINFORCE YOUR CAMPAIGN.
 Recognize your donors.
 People want to see their name.
 Publish the list of year-end donors in the your
newsletter or send an email to everyone in January.

28. 10. PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND IN
ADVANCE.
 Make sure everyone understands the idea of
“evidence of delivery”.
 i.e. Keeping copies of envelopes and anything else
coming in from donors which indicates the year they
should be receipted. At this time of year, it's critical.
 Review all the year-end tax procedures.
 Check if any legislation has changed regarding
deadlines and eligibility of certain types of donations.
 In July, the House passed the America Gives More
Act of 2014. It allows gifts made until the
individual tax filing deadline, April 15th
, to be
deducted in the prior year’s taxes.

29.  Plan beyond gift processing.
 Consider your monthly reconciliations, reports and
data extractions. Factor these delays into all of your
deadlines.
 Include holiday contact information and
hours on your web site and email.
 Prepare an internal contact list for your
staff and volunteers.
10. PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND IN
ADVANCE.

30.  Have a plan for getting caught up in the
new year as quickly as possible.
 Outline and discuss your staffing needs.
 Schedule volunteers, if needed.
 Get overtime and other resource requirements
approved in advance.
 Have fun!
 The occasional staff lunch, muffins, pizza and a few
other treats for staff make longer than usual work
days and a heavy work load more enjoyable.
10. PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND IN
ADVANCE.

31.  Remember, your donors, and prospective
donors, still require the level of service they
have come to expect and enjoy from your
organization at other times of the year.
10. PLAN ACCORDINGLY AND IN
ADVANCE.

32. FINAL THOUGHTS…
QUESTIONS?
Wishing you a successful
year-end campaign!