A list curated and sponsored by: Classy––a social enterprise that creates world-class online fundraising software for nonprofits, modernizing the giving experience to accelerate social impact around the world.
Picture this: it’s the day after Giving Tuesday and your nonprofit has met or even exceeded your campaign goals. You might be thinking, “What more could we want?” How about another $10,000 in donations? On top of the influx of donations that come in on Giving Tuesday, there are still many donors looking to donate to year-end fundraising campaigns.
In fact, Classy data shows that Giving Tuesday is just the kickoff of the most lucrative time of year for nonprofits, with 29% of annual donations occurring from Giving Tuesday through December 31. What’s more, overall giving statistics show that 11% of annual donations happen during the last three days of the year.
So, brew another pot of coffee because it’s not time to turn on the holiday music and relax by the fire just yet. To help your team make the most impact with your end of year fundraising, we rounded up eight of our top resources for year-end campaigns.
1) Year-End Fundraising Checklist
The first step in planning a successful year-end fundraising strategy is to ensure your team is aligned on your goals, messaging, timeline, and the execution steps of your campaign.
This interactive year-end fundraising checklist will guide your team through the entire process, from goal-setting to campaign follow-up, and provide expert tips along the way.
Kick-start your year-end giving campaign with this digestible checklist full of actionable tips from Classy’s experts.
2) Email Templates for Giving Tuesday Through Year-End
Use these 16 free email templates to create an efficient email marketing strategy that will seamlessly steward newly-acquired Giving Tuesday donors to your next campaign, and appeal to supporters who didn’t participate in Giving Tuesday.
The guide includes an easy-to-follow timeline, the two email segments you should use, and expert tips on how to include design elements, engage donors, and write efficient calls-to-action.
3) Year-End Email Appeals That Are Sure to Flop
Above we shared templates you can use to write stellar year-end emails, but it can also be helpful to see what we shouldn’t include. This blog post shares six different ways your appeals can inadvertently hurt your chances of earning donations. Read on to find out if you’re guilty of any of these mistakes so you can course-correct before it’s too late!
4) Year-End Survival Kit: How to Optimize Your Year-End Strategy
Packed with a holiday fundraising guide, one webinar, two blog posts, and two infographics, this Year-End Survival Kit will give your team the insider information you need for your most successful year-end campaign yet. As an added bonus you’ll get five fun activities to get your team into the holiday spirit from a Classy customer care team member.
5) Email Templates for Nonprofit Annual Communication Plan
This guide provides nine email templates that will help your nonprofit develop a strong donor stewardship and outreach strategy.
The emails cover nine touchpoints you can use throughout the year including holidays, year-end giving, sharing campaign progress updates, and saying thank you to your donors.
These nine email templates that you can use to create an outreach strategy that will engage and delight donors all year long.
6) The Playbook to 10X Your Year-End Giving
Co-hosted by Community Boost and CauseMic, this 10X Your Year-End Giving webinar shares how nonprofits can increase their year-end fundraising ten-fold by using marketing automation and digital tactics like Google Ad Grants, social media marketing, remarketing ads, and more.
Learn what your team can do to get your year-end campaign seen by more potential donors than ever before with the help of these nonprofit marketing gurus.
7) How to Easily Unite Your Giving Tuesday and Year-End Campaigns
We know some nonprofits are afraid of donor fatigue if they send asks too soon after Giving Tuesday, but our platform data shows that the donor demographics are different for those who give on Giving Tuesday and those who give during the last five days of the year. By uniting your Giving Tuesday and year-end campaigns, you can make sure you aren’t leaving any donations on the table by appealing to all potential supporters. Read this post to learn how The Salvation Army Western Territory created a seamless transition from Giving Tuesday to their year-end fundraising campaign.
8) How to Leverage Your Giving Tuesday Results in Year-End Messaging
By approaching Giving Tuesday as the launchpad of the giving season instead of one powerful day of giving, you can increase your donations and consequently, your impact. When potential donors see the success of your Giving Tuesday campaign, it acts as social proof that your organization is capable of reaching your goals and that you already have a community of dedicated supporters. In this post, learn how to leverage your Giving Tuesday results in year-end messaging.
In previous years, Classy’s Why America Gives report has focused on consumer giving trends, what motivates donors to give, and their plans for Giving Tuesday and year-end giving. In our third-annual edition of Why America Gives, the 2020 report measures these year-over-year changes in giving sentiments and behaviors; in addition, it also analyzes how current events—specifically the COVID-19 pandemic and the social justice movement—have altered giving trends.
