Soapbox Engage Blog

The end of the year is one of the most lucrative times for nonprofits. In fact, it’s estimated that 30% of annual giving takes place in December and 12% of all giving occurs in the last three days of the year. However, with so many nonprofits competing for donations at the end of the year, it can be challenging to show that your organization is worthy of donors’ support.

This is where a strong marketing plan can help. Marketing your nonprofit’s year-end fundraising campaign can help you get in front of your target audience and compel them to give. With the right combination of marketing tools and best practices, you’ll be in great shape to drive impressive fundraising results and end the year on a high note.

In this article, we’ll cover the following content marketing tips to maximize the success of your year-end fundraiser:

• Create compelling year-end campaign landing pages
• Generate engaging year-end content on social media
• Call out your year-end fundraising needs in your email newsletter

Before you kick off your year-end marketing strategy, conduct a SWOT analysis so you can determine gaps in your existing marketing approach as well as areas you’re already doing well. This will help you strengthen your marketing plan so you can produce the best results possible for your year-end campaign.

Create compelling year-end campaign landing pages

Your nonprofit website is one of the most powerful tools in your toolkit. Not only can it help facilitate a smooth online giving experience, but your website can also also be leveraged to promote your campaign to new and current supporters alike.

One of the best ways to harness your website’s full marketing potential is through creating a well-designed year-end landing page. A campaign landing page serves as a one-stop-shop for everything supporters need to know about your fundraiser, including why they should give. Specifically, your landing page should cover the following:

• Your mission and values: Brand new supporters might arrive on your landing page, so it’s important to explain who your organization is, your core purpose, and the values that guide your efforts to impact the community.


• Purpose of your campaign: How will the funds from your year-end campaign support your mission and benefit the community? Answer this question as clearly and succinctly as possible so there’s no doubt as to how donors’ gifts will be used.


• Fundraising goal: Articulate how much money you’re hoping to raise and how you arrived at this amount. Your year-end fundraising goal should be reasonable, yet ambitious so you can challenge your team to work hard to finish the year out strong. You can even feature a fundraising thermometer on your landing page so donors can visualize your campaign’s progress.


• Campaign timeline: Which days does your campaign begin and end on? Lay out your campaign timeline so supporters know the deadline for giving. For example, if you’re hosting a GivingTuesday campaign, clearly explain how supporters will only have 24 hours to submit their contributions.


• Matching gift opportunities: Do you have a corporate sponsor who will be supporting your year-end fundraising campaign efforts? Double the Donation’s guide to matching donation challenges explains that you can step up your year-end fundraising campaign by partnering with a business to match donations at a 1:1 ratio throughout the duration of the campaign. If you find a corporate sponsor, make sure to spotlight this on your page so donors feel more incentivized to give (and donate in larger amounts!) to create a large impact.


• Ways to get involved: Clearly spell out how supporters can get involved in your fundraising campaign, such as by donating, volunteering, or sharing your landing page to their social media profiles.

To create a streamlined giving experience, embed a year-end donation form right on your landing page. This way, donors can give as soon as they feel inspired, rather than having to navigate to an external source which will slow down the process and might cause donors to abandon giving altogether. If you’re not sure how to create your landing page, you can always leverage a website builder with ready-to-go nonprofit website templates to take the guesswork out of the design process.

Generate engaging year-end content on social media

Along with your website, social media is another valuable marketing tool that can expand your reach and engage your current followers. To make the most of your social media, share a variety of content related to your year-end fundraising, including:

• Photos: Share photos of your beneficiaries to visually demonstrate who the funds from your campaign will go to. In your caption, tell a brief story about the pictured beneficiary and how your nonprofit made a difference in their life. Then, create a strong call to action that directs donors to give so they can help even more people receive this same support.


• Videos: Video is a great way to get your message across in an engaging, digestible format. Consider filming your nonprofit’s staff explaining the purpose of your year-end fundraising campaign, or featuring testimonials from beneficiaries. You can also share a video of your volunteers hard at work on a project to add legitimacy to your cause.


• Graphics: Create quality graphics, such as infographics, that highlight your nonprofit’s impact in the community so you can prove that your organization is worthy of donors’ support. For instance, you might share how much revenue you raised to date this year, the number of people you served, and the number of programs and projects you led.

To increase the reach of your posts, you can integrate your social media with your website with the help of an intuitive content management system (CMS). Morweb’s guide to nonprofit website builders explains that the right CMS will empower you to easily feature your social media feed on your site and add social sharing capabilities to your landing pages and any other relevant content. This way, you can use your social media to direct people to your website and vice versa, allowing you to drive more supporter engagement.

Call out your year-end fundraising needs in your email newsletter

Some of your supporters may only look out for updates from your nonprofit in your email newsletter. Make sure to spotlight your upcoming campaign prominently in your newsletter so you can catch your audience’s eye and ensure they know about this critical donation opportunity. Use these essential email marketing tips:

• Use a catchy email subject line: An engaging email subject line can make all the difference in whether supporters click to read your email. Keep it short and sweet, but use active verbs and create immediacy to inspire a high read rate. For example, you might use the subject line “Time is Running Out: Donate NOW!” or “Last Chance to Make a Difference in 2023.”


• Incorporate visuals: Visuals can help your emails stand out once supporters click to read them. For example, you could include pictures of your beneficiaries and use emojis to make your main points jump out. However, avoid using too many visuals, as they can visually distract your readers and cause them to click away.


• Use a clear call to action: Make your fundraising appeals as clear as possible by suggesting a specific giving amount and using time-bound language to create a sense of immediacy. For instance, a youth education organization might use the call to action, “Give $25 by Friday to Secure a Bright Future for Our Youth.” Include a mobile-friendly link to your donation page so your supporters can easily navigate to give.

As you send out emails related to your campaign, track metrics like open rate, clickthrough rate, and conversion rate. This way, you can determine the efficacy of your email content strategy and make adjustments as needed.

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With a concrete marketing plan, you can bring attention to your year-end fundraising efforts and meet and exceed your goals. As you roll out your marketing strategies, pay close attention to your audience engagement. If one strategy is performing better than another, invest more time there so you can maximize your efforts.