Soapbox Engage Blog

Did you know that 30% of all annual charitable giving happens in December? Ten percent of those donations come in the last three days of the year! Professional developers probably aren’t surprised by those statistics. Most nonprofits understand how critical year-end giving is to their annual fundraising goals.

With millions of dollars potentially at stake, nonprofit organizations must have an excellent strategy to get some of those coveted year-end donations. The great news is it’s never too early (or late) to start planning for the best year-end giving campaign yet!

We gathered some essential statistics every fundraiser should know about year-end giving and a few strategies to help you crush your fundraising goals.

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Year-end Giving Statistics That Matter To Fundraisers

Something about the holidays inspires people to be generous. As we said, about 30% of all the annual giving occurs in December. Whether it’s charitable philanthropy or the promise of tax credits, fundraisers and development departments should pay attention to year-end giving trends!

Giving Tuesday isn’t as profitable as year-end giving

Giving Tuesday brought in about 3.5% of year-end online revenue. By comparison, about 30% of the total annual gifts come in December, and 10% are made during the last 48 hours of the year!

GivingTuesday is a significant Giving Day event. Every nonprofit would be wise to take advantage of this day of philanthropy and generosity, but not at the expense of their year-end fundraising strategies.

Organizations definitely shouldn’t ignore Giving Tuesday, but many nonprofits dedicated more time and energy to fundraising on Giving Tuesday than during the last week in December (when more people are making online donations). In fact, organizations sent 16.8% more emails on Giving Tuesday than on December 31, even though the last day of December brings in 927% more revenue.

First-time gifts are bigger in December

According to some measurements,first-time donations are 52% larger in December than at any other time of the year. Maybe it’s the holiday spirit that gets people in a charitable mood. No matter what drives it, organizations should take advantage of this statistic by kicking their year-end fundraising into high gear.

Some organizations raise up to 50% of their budget in year-end campaigns

One survey found that 28% of nonprofit organizations polled raised between 26 and 50% of their total annual income with their year-end fundraising campaigns! October, November, and December are the most profitable fundraising months of the entire year.

Some organizations begin their year-end giving campaigns as early as September. This gives them plenty of time to build momentum and get ahead of the multitudes of organizations vying for their slice of the donations pie.

Only 35% of donors do any research before giving

We aren’t sure if this is good or bad, but we do know it’s a critical statistic for fundraisers to be aware of! One study found that only 35% of donors do any research before giving money to a charity. Of those, less than 25% of donors spent more than two hours doing any research.

What does this mean for you? Donors aren’t likely going to find your organization through prudent research. Most people are more likely to give to charities they already know. It’s critical to make yourself as visible and memorable as possible, especially during the year-end giving season.

Take Your Year-End Giving Campaign To The Next Level

Fundraising at any time of the year is a tough job. Year-end fundraising can be especially complicated because every other organization is also trying to raise large sums of money. Here are some practical ways you can improve your year-end campaign and make your efforts more profitable.

1) Create a campaign timeline (and start early)

Even if you don’t plan to send your first letters or emails until November, it’s essential to create a schedule for your entire year-end giving campaign. The more time you spend preparing your campaigns and troubleshooting, the more successful your efforts will be.

Some experts say the best time to send your paper letters is in September, so you can follow up with people in October. Direct mail campaigns take much longer than other types of fundraising efforts because you must wait for the letters to arrive and people to open them before you can follow up. Once your letters are out, you can continue with email campaigns and other types of interactions with your donors.

2) Segment your donor lists for year-end giving campaigns

At the risk of being too obvious, not all donors are the same and should not be treated the same! Segmenting your donor list means breaking up your master list into smaller lists based on specific criteria. Then, customize your fundraising message to appeal specifically to each group.

Every organization is different, so it makes sense that the criteria you use to segment your list would be unique.

Some organizations segment their lists based on donation frequency. Your monthly donors should receive a different message than the people who only gave to your organization once or twice. Similarly, you should probably speak differently to a volunteer than to someone who gives hundreds of thousands of dollars to your cause.

This doesn’t mean that any of these groups are more or less valuable to your nonprofit. It means that your "ask" should be tailored to their interests, involvement, and giving capacity.

3) Create separate giving pages for your segmented lists

One effective way to segment your list is by giving level. It might be nearly insulting to ask someone who gave $5,000 to your organization to donate $50 to your year-end campaign. You’ll probably leave quite a bit of money on the table and may even damage the relationship.

Similarly, you will likely push away a donor who gave $50 if you ask them to pony up $1,000.

Segmenting your list by giving capacity allows you to make more targeted asks. You can even set up different year-end online donation pages with different suggested donation amounts based on each list’s average giving amount.

The Soapbox Engage Donations app lets you set up as many unique donation pages as your organization needs! Whether you only keep them for one year-end campaign or you keep them throughout the year, you’ll be able to make the right ask to all your donors.

Of course, this tactic takes a little extra time and energy, but the reward could be huge! When you customize your communication for each list, you show your donors that you understand and value them. This builds trust and makes people more inclined to give to your campaign.

4) Use a variety of communication methods and aim for at least 2 "touches"

Seventy percent of Americans donate through multiple channels, so it’s essential to communicate with your donors using a variety of media. In one survey, 100% of organizations said they use direct mail in their year-end giving campaign. Ninety-two percent of organizations use email, and 50% leverage their website to attract year-end donors. Only 15% of organizations reported making in-person asks for end-of-year donations.

The best practice is to leverage as many communication methods as possible to interact with your donors. Many organizations employ the "two touches" strategy, meaning they aim to have at least two different interactions with every potential donor on their list. However, the more interactions you have with each donor, the better (remember, only about ⅓ of donors do any research before giving to nonprofits, so it’s critical to stay visible).

Even social media can be a useful tool to stay in touch and visible. Facebook is an excellent way to broadcast your activities throughout the year. When potential new donors discover you at the end of the year, they’ll be able to peruse everything you’ve been up to.

With these four updates to your year-end giving campaign, your nonprofit is sure to crush your fundraising goals!

Are you looking for other ways to boost your fundraising efforts? Here are three more resources to get you started.

• Surprising Fundraising Email Subject Line Tips That Increase Open Rates: Your year-end giving campaign probably includes sending emails. Help your email stand out in people’s inboxes and increase your open rates with these easy tips.
• 7 Top Online Donation Software Options for Nonprofits: Nonprofits need to be able to accept and process online donations, especially during year-end giving campaigns. We rounded up the best online donation software options on the market for nonprofits to consider.
• 4 Ways Donation Transparency Increases Fundraising Success: Donors are becoming savvier and more informed with their giving. Donors expect to be able to understand how you are using their hard-earned money, so organizations must be as transparent as possible to build trust with people. Here are four ways your organization can do just that.