The end of the calendar year is a significant time for nonprofit organizations of all shapes and sizes. This so-called “Giving Season” is characterized by heightened levels of holiday-fueled generosity and a sense of urgency that drives significant results.
In fact, studies indicate that an estimated 30% of total giving happens in December—with around 10% of all annual donations being made in the final three days of the year.
Successful year-end fundraising requires careful planning, consistent communication, and collaboration between nonprofit staff, volunteers, donors, board members, advocates, and more. As a result, it can often feel as if your team’s resources are being stretched thin.
Luckily, however, there are a number of tools and strategies that can assist your organization in maximizing its limited time, resources, and more to produce the greatest impact. We’ll walk through six recommended ways of doing so below:
- Matching gifts
- Artificial intelligence
- Prospect research
- Recurring gifts
- Peer-to-peer fundraising
- Volunteers
Let’s dive in!
1. Matching gifts
Matching gifts are a powerful tool that can empower an organization to maximize its resources at any time—but especially during the year-end fundraising season.
By effectively doubling (or, in some cases, tripling) the impact of an individual donation, corporate matching gifts are a way that businesses can support and incentivize their employees’ charitable giving. When nonprofit donors know that each dollar they give is making twice the impact on a mission they care about, they’re increasingly inclined to give (and to give in larger amounts) in the first place. As a result, gift appeals that mention matching opportunities see a 71% increase in response rate and a 51% increase in average donation amount.
Plus, many companies that match gifts will do so when employees complete the request process within the year. That means that donors who gave previously (say January through November) have the chance to make their existing gifts go further without having to reach back into their wallets.
Rather than just maximizing your resources, matching gifts can multiply your resources. And when you automate the matching gift fundraising process using a dedicated matching gift tool, it won’t require a ton of your team's time or energy to make the most of it!
2. Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (or AI) is one of the newest, most significant trends in the nonprofit sector. And it can be a game-changer for organizations looking to preserve their teams’ resources by automating time-consuming tasks and activities.
These might include:
- Creating marketing materials, social media posts, website content, etc.;
- Drafting end-of-year fundraising requests and acknowledgment letters;
- Segmenting contacts and personalizing messaging;
- Forecasting donor behavior through data-driven predictive analytics;
- Generating unique and engaging fundraising ideas;
- And more!
By harnessing the power of AI, nonprofits can optimize their fundraising and reallocate staff time to other mission-critical efforts at the year’s end.
3. Prospect research
The more you know about your donors (and your potential donors), the more effectively you'll be able to engage with them, and the better fundraising results you can expect. So what if you don’t have a ton of information available about a particular contact?
Don’t worry—that’s where prospect research comes in.
Prospect research is an information-gathering process that empowers nonprofits to make smarter decisions regarding their supporters. This often includes the identification of high-value donors and determining the right ask through wealth screening, giving history, and other financial and affinity-focused indicators.
When you know who in your network is most likely to support your mission with a major gift, you can invest your resources wisely. After all, you want your efforts to be concentrated where they’ll yield the most positive results—especially when you’re on a time crunch in the last bit of the year!
4. Recurring gifts
Recurring gifts offer fundraising organizations a consistent and sustainable source of income. And once the donation is up and running on an automated schedule, the nonprofit hardly invests any resources into securing that gift.
In fact, for each sequential gift that is made through a recurring donation setup, the individual’s DAC (or donor acquisition cost) decreases while their ROI (return on investment) grows.
By cultivating and stewarding these types of supporters, nonprofit fundraisers can maximize their long-term impact and allot their staff time and efforts to other donors and prospects. Thus, incorporating a strong focus on recurring gifts as part of your upcoming fundraising strategy can increase your capacity to fulfill the organization's mission beyond the year-end season.
5. Peer-to-peer fundraising
Peer-to-peer (sometimes referred to as P2P or social) fundraising is a particularly effective strategy that empowers dedicated supporters as advocates for your nonprofit cause. Fundraisers solicit donations within their own circles, thus expanding the organization’s reach to new audiences and providing gifts that require little to no effort from the nonprofit’s own fundraising team. This allows organizations to redirect conserved resources or invest in donor stewardship efforts to build relationships with new donors in the new year.
Not to mention, the holiday season is a popular time for individuals to launch peer fundraising campaigns, so your nonprofit supporters will likely be excited to get involved on your behalf.
6. Volunteers
Volunteers are a crucial component of many nonprofits’ operations, enabling them to maximize resources by fulfilling necessary roles at no cost to the organization. This allows nonprofits to operate with fewer paid staff members, thus reducing investment costs that can instead go toward fundraising initiatives (such as your end-of-year giving campaign) or mission-related programming.
If you haven’t already, consider using volunteers to fill the following types of positions:
- Event staff (planning and executing)
- Administrative support (data entry, record-keeping)
- Marketing and communications (social media management, fundraising letter-writing)
- Specialized skills (grant writing, legal compliance, accounting)
- Stewardship efforts (making phone calls, writing thank-you notes)
Again, many individuals are looking for ways to give back during the holiday season, but some may not be able to give financially. Volunteerism is a particularly impactful way to connect with this group!
Not to mention, some of your volunteers may work for companies that offer volunteer grant, or “Dollars for Doers,” programs. In that case, individuals can donate their time to your cause and complete a request process for their employers, who then provide the organization with corresponding grant funding.
As the year draws to a close, your organization has a chance to make a significant impact and set the stage for greater success in the new one. By implementing the above-recommended practices, you can prepare your team to facilitate your most effective and resource-efficient giving season yet.
Best of luck!
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