Soapbox Engage Blog

With just a few weeks remaining in 2021, your fundraising team is determined to make the most of it and finish out the year strong. But your tasks aren’t over once the ball drops and brings in the new year. It just means you’re on to a new fundraising season in which you’ll aim to excel.

As such, now is the perfect time to take a good look at your organization’s fundraising practices and see what you can do to raise more through the end of 2021, throughout 2022, and long into the future.

We’ll share a few of our most effective tips and tricks to set your nonprofit up for success this year and beyond in this guide. Specifically, we suggest that you:

1. Solicit end-of-year donations in the final three days of the year.
2. Send last-minute matching gift appeals to retroactive donors.
3. Revamp your software toolkit to prepare for 2022.
4. Share fundraising and mission updates from 2021.

Ensuring effective nonprofit fundraising habits through the end of the year is critical. But are you prepared to bring your strategies to the next level come January?

Find out how to do so with these four tried-and-true best practices for excelling in both year-end and new-year fundraising. Let’s dive in.

1. Solicit end-of-year donations in the final three days of the year.

According to fundraising research from Double the Donation, 30% of all annual giving takes place during December. And 10% of total donations come in the last three days of the year! That means you should be significantly ramping up your fundraising efforts in these final hours of 2021.

For the greatest results, it’s a good idea to instill a sense of urgency in your year-end fundraising appeals. This reminds donors that if they’d like to give, the time to do so is now⁠—rather than some unidentified time in the future that likely never comes.

For your digital appeals, one of the most impactful ways to do this is with a strategically crafted email subject line. For example, start with something like this: “Jenna, we have 72 hours left in our year-end campaign. Don’t forget to give before it’s over!”

And, of course, you’ll want to ensure the giving process is as quick, easy, and seamless as possible. Your donors have a ton of things to do around this time of the year, so respect their time with a simplified donation experience.

2. Send last-minute matching gift appeals to retroactive donors.

Integrating corporate matching gifts into your year-end fundraising strategy is one of the best practices you can take. Why? Not only can you encourage those giving in the final few days and weeks of the year to request a company match, but you can also follow up with match-eligible donors who gave previously in the year!

Many companies that offer matching gift programs incorporate generous submission request deadlines. And oftentimes, these deadlines coincide with the end of the calendar year in which the gift was made. That’s why we suggest looking through your donor database to identify individuals who meet the following criteria:

• Have made a donation to your organization in the past year
• Work for a company with a known matching gift program
• Did not indicate that they’d already requested a match
• Still fall within their employer’s matching gift request period

For these particular donors, we suggest leveraging year-end matching gift reminders to provide another, often final, touchpoint in order to secure a company match for their retroactive donation.

To simplify the process even further for the donor, be sure to provide them with company-specific instructions for securing a match as well as direct links to any online platforms that their employer uses to manage gifts. The less effort required of each donor, the more likely they are to follow through with the request⁠—especially during the busy year-end holiday season.

3. Revamp your software toolkit to prepare for 2022.

Do you have all the right tools you need to dive into 2022 fundraising with a splash? Are you sure?

The end of the year is always a good opportunity to take inventory of your existing fundraising toolkit, look for areas that could benefit from an upgrade, and explore new ideas and offerings. As you do so, consider the following types of fundraising software to prioritize:

• Donation processing
• Event planning and management
• Matching gift automation
• E-commerce abilities
• Nonprofit advocacy

Even better, look for solutions that offer multiple (or all!) of the above functionalities. That’s where comprehensive systems and native integrations can come in handy. When your matching gift software seamlessly integrates with your online donation forms, for example, you can ensure donors are being exposed to matching gift information and can increase the likelihood that they follow through with a match.

4. Share fundraising and mission updates from 2021.

Going into 2022, existing donors often want to know how their dollars were spent in the previous year before deciding to support your cause once again. When they can see the tangible impact of their contributions, they’ll be more likely to give to your upcoming campaign efforts as well. This can be done in a variety of ways, most of which fall into one of two categories: fundraising updates or mission updates.

Here are a few examples of fundraising success stories to share:

• We raised $X million in 2021 thanks to donors like you
• We surpassed our lofty fundraising goals by more than 125%

And these instances demonstrate how you might communicate mission achievements:

• We served more than X,000 constituents over the course of 2021
• 115% more individuals benefited from our services this year than in the year prior

While you can certainly take the year-end season to communicate progress made throughout the year so far, this is often most effective at the beginning of the new year, when you can take a look at the entire previous year from start to finish.

Regardless of the types of updates you choose to share (hint: you can leverage a combination of both!), it’s most essential that you position the donor as the hero of your story.

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You’re so close to the finish line that is the end of 2021⁠—but you certainly don’t want to go into the new year with a burnt-out team of fundraisers and donors. Make sure your organization is equipped for maximum success by incorporating these impactful tips and making the most of the right software for your needs. Good luck, and happy (almost) New Year!