As "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" rings through the media these days, end-of-year giving campaigns are in full swing, and churches worldwide are working hard to reach their fundraising goals. Many churches and nonprofits, in general, depend heavily on this season of charitable giving for year-round financial stability.
Your church needs a plan to take full advantage of the year-end giving spirit. It doesn't need to be a complicated plan, but you know how the saying goes, "failing to plan is planning to fail." A little extra preparation and forethought (and the right tools) can really inspire generosity in your congregation!
Don't worry; we've got a basic year-end giving checklist that will help make your church fundraising a smashing success (and some tools to help you implement your plan with ease)!
Table of Contents
- Assess last year
- Know thy congregation
- Set SMART fundraising goals
- Diversify communication channels
- Plan early
- Keep organized
Create A Plan For Church Year-End Fundraising Success
The most successful holiday fundraising plans all have one thing in common: loads of planning! Ideally, churches should begin planning their end of year planning in January or February.
Assess the last year-end-giving campaign
In January or February, sit down with your finance team, elders, and other decision-makers in your church to assess the holiday fundraising campaign that just ended. It's much easier to honestly evaluate things while the details are fresh in your mind.
What went well? What didn't go quite to plan? Did you reach your financial goals? If not, can you identify why? Analyzing the previous campaign will help you adjust your next year-end-giving strategy accordingly.
What giving methods garnered the best results for your church? Be sure to track how your congregants prefer to give so you can focus on those methods.
Know thy congregation
Church congregations are a dynamic community! Think about who fills your pews regularly. What types of demographics do you attract? Is your congregation full of Millennials? GenZs? Baby Boomers or Gen Xers?
Each demographic has a different communication style and giving preference. Older generations prefer "old fashioned" giving options like writing a check while Millennials are more likely to give online.
Set specific, measurable, SMART church fundraising goals
Now that you understand how your last year-end-giving campaign went, it's time to set some SMART goals for the next holiday fundraising season.
There are many kinds of ways to measure fundraising success. Don't forget to think beyond the money! How many new donors would you like to attract? How many people would you like to increase their giving? How many people would you like to donate using each giving option (online donation page, offering collections, and other options you offer)?
Make sure each goal is SMART--specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Use a variety of giving and communication channels
Remember, each demographic and generation has unique giving and communication preferences. It's good practice to use a wide range of channels in your year-end-giving campaign.
Some popular communication and giving channels that churches rely on include:
- Church offerings
- Text messages
- Emails
- Direct mail
- Videos
- Events (virtual and in-person)
- Church website pages
- Phone calls and personal invitations to give
- Posters
- Flyers and bulletin inserts
You don't need to use ALL the channels, but variety is essential to reach more of your congregation.
Plan your church holiday fundraising as early as possible
Now that you know what you'd like to accomplish, begin in the spring or early summer to identify critical elements of your year-end church fundraising.
What are the church's primary fundraising needs? Which needs will resonate with your congregation around the holiday season? Holiday fundraising campaigns that are the most successful tend to have strong storytelling elements and appeal to people's emotions.
As you move toward spring or early summer, begin planning the specific tactics and strategies your church will use in the upcoming year-end giving season. Put dates on the calendar for each event and campaign.
Don't forget to keep your elder board, finance team, pastors, and other relevant people in the loop! Make sure your fundraising strategy fits seamlessly into everything else your church has planned for the holiday season.
By late summer, you should begin developing your communications. Write your fundraising letters, emails, and planning out any social media campaigns you may have in mind. Do any of your fundraising strategies require videos or virtual events? It's time to start booking your events, recording those videos, and doing as much advance preparation as possible!
It's crucial to have as much time as possible for any "powers-that-be" to give their stamp of approval.
Before you know it, October is here! There's no exact time to start your holiday giving campaigns. Some churches and nonprofits begin as early as October. If you're planning to send any direct mail, then October is a great time to start rolling out those elements of your campaign.
By November, your year-end fundraising should be in full swing! Ensure your congregation understands how the church will put the money to work and offer a wide range of giving options.
Don't forget to plan those invitations for last-minute gifts. The deadline for making tax-deductible donations is December 31. Send a final reminder that day to catch all the last-minute donors.
Write it down and keep your team organized
Having your fundraising plan written down and accessible throughout the planning process keeps everyone organized and on the same page.
Using a tool like Microsoft Teams for Nonprofits helps keep all those calendars and documents accessible to all the right people (and protects sensitive information). This is especially critical as you get closer to the holiday giving season, and things start moving more quickly.
Tools & Strategies Churches Need for Year-End-Giving Success
In addition to a good strategy, your church needs the right tools for holiday giving success. Here are the giving tool essentials you shouldn't overlook.
A mobile-friendly donation page
Online giving is only growing in popularity--up 6.8% in 2019! To make things even more complicated, more than 14% of online donations come from mobile devices. Make sure your online donation page is mobile-friendly and responsive, so it's easy to use on any device and screen size.
The Soapbox Engage Donations app uses a responsive, mobile-friendly design so your congregation can give from their smartphones or desktops. Plus, your donors won't get redirected to a third-party donation page!
Keeping your donors on your website reduces the risk of people "abandoning" the donation process out of frustration, confusion, or for any other reason. It also increases the chances that they'll keep engaging with content on your website after they give!
A prominently-displayed donate button
Do you have a Donate button prominently displayed on the homepage of your church's website? Does it work?
Don't make your congregants search the website for the Donate button. A new visitor to your website should be able to locate your Donate button within 5 seconds. In fact, every page of your website should have a Donate button year-round, but especially during the end-of-year fundraising season.
Recurring giving options
Ok, we know this blog is about the holiday giving season, but wouldn't it be great if you could turn those end-of-year donors into year-round supporters? You can do this by adding recurring giving options to your donation page!
Offering recurring donation options can increase your donor retention rates and even boost the average gift size! Most people don't have $500 to give all at once, but many congregants can tithe $50 to $100 each month… which adds up to well over $500 over the year!
Host a variety of fundraising events
True, 2020 forced most fundraising events online, but churches are adapting and learning to host effective virtual fundraising activities. Whether you're hosting a virtual gala or Christmas craft fair, fundraising events help build community while moving you toward your financial goals.
Planning fundraising events take a lot of time and energy, but selling tickets or getting people registered for free is easy with the Events app! You'll be able to host an unlimited number of online or in-person events and drive traffic to individual events or to your own church calendar. (Really, this tool will help you plan and execute all kinds of church events year-round.)
Incorporate year-end giving info into congregation communication
Churches have a lot of regular communication options that nonprofit organizations don't usually enjoy. Take advantage of all those avenues, from weekly bulletins and direct mailings to announcements from the pulpit and email updates.
Don't forget to include the essential information in all your communications:
- What you'll accomplish with the money
- Specific fundraising goals
- How your year-end-giving goals fit into your church's overall vision
- Giving options
- Giving deadlines
Tell a compelling story
Storytelling is an essential part of fundraising any time of year. Compelling stories are especially critical during year-end-giving campaigns when everyone is asking for money. It's not enough to tell just any story… you have to tell the right story that will connect with your congregation!
Churches need to share stories that demonstrate how your fundraising goals fit into the overall vision. For example, if your church has a broader vision of transforming your community, share exactly how your holiday fundraising goals will help you accomplish that.
Say thank you
Gratitude is a virtue! Don't forget to put it into practice by creating a plan to say "thank-you" to everyone who contributes to your year-end fundraising campaigns.
Don't just rely on a "thank-you" from the pulpit--use a variety of methods to express your gratitude. Send personalized notes to your congregants who participate in the campaigns. Put together videos throughout the year that shows the money at work. It's more than good manners to say "thank-you" and acknowledge your donors. It's a critical part of "donor care," which helps build stronger relationships within the church community.
Once you send that final year-end-giving appeal and write that last thank-you note, it's time to start all over! You've planned and executed a successful end-of-year giving campaign for your church. You're making a bigger impact in your community and in the world! Now it's time to assess your campaign's effectiveness and start planning next year's holiday giving strategies.
Here are three more resources that will help take your church's fundraising efforts to the next level:
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