THE YEAR-END FUNDRAISING PLANNER

A guide to help you organize and plan a successful year-end fundraising campaign.

Your year-end campaign should deliver a consistent, compelling message across multiple channels that supports a single fundraising goal.

A campaign is a process, not a single appeal. Your campaign should be a well-orchestrated series of activities that happen for a specific amount of time.

Use this planner to help organize your plan and optimize your key components for a more successful year-end campaign.

This guide is divided into four parts:

Part 1: Examine Your Data & Start Brainstorming

Part 2: Crafting Your Campaign

Part 3: Optimize Your Giving Experience

Part 4: Thanking & Retaining Your Donors

Using the Year-End Engagement Stream in Your Donor Management System

For the second year in a row, Network for Good customers can launch a year-end email series with very minimal lift using the year-end engagement stream.

What is the year-end engagement stream?

The year-end engagement stream is a set of tasks, pre-built segments, and email templates with recommended send dates built right into your donor management system.

The stream automatically segments your audience into two groups: donors and non-donors. Each task has an associated send date and email template.

About the audience segments:

Donor contacts: any contact in your donor management system that has a donation record associated with it. Email templates designed for this audience reinforce their previous support and express gratitude for their investment in your organization.

Non-donor contacts: contacts in your donor management system that have no giving history. These can be email subscribers, event attendees, volunteers, etc., that are contact records in your system but have yet to make a gift. Email templates designed for this audience don’t mention previous gifts (because they haven’t yet made a gift) and thank these contacts for their interest in your organization.

How does the year-end engagement stream work?

You initiate the plan and we guide you through your year-end email campaign.

We remind you of email send dates through tasks.

We provide you with email templates and a sample for each so you know exactly how to create each email. (Don’t forget to link your year-end donation page!)

Beyond sending emails, there’s more you can do to maximize your year-end campaign. Read on and find ideas for getting your campaign plan in place.

Part 1: Examine Your Data & Start Brainstorming Before you start planning your campaign activities, you should set goals. Consider asking these questions to identify your goals.

a. How much money did you raise last year-end (#GivingTuesday through December 31st)? How much was raised on #GivingTuesday?NOTE: Use your Giving filters in your donor management system and filter by date to find these amounts.

b. What is your “left-to-raise” amount for 2017?NOTE: If you did not create a fundraising plan with an annual goal, you might not have this number solidified.

c. What kinds of fundraising goals do you want to include in your campaign plan beyond dollars raised? (e.g. Number of new donors, new monthly donors)

d. When will our year-end campaign begin and end? NOTE: In the year-end engagement stream built into your donor management system, the first email send is scheduled for the end of October and the last email for December 31. If you plan on doing a direct mail piece, you may want your campaign to start in earlier.

Part 2: Crafting Your CampaignWith your goals in mind, think about your campaign plan and its three key elements: channels, assets, and messages.

Communication Channels

a. List the communication channels where your donors are the most engaged. (e.g. Does direct mail yield the most donations or does email resonate more with your donor base? What about phone calls or social media posts?)

b. List the communication channels that you want to test at year-end. NOTE: #GivingTuesday is the perfect opportunity to test a new fundraising method or channel. For example, try an online peer-to-peer campaign or get your board involved in a phone-a-thon. It’s easier to execute a 24-hour commitment that folds into your overall year-end campaign than something that will need attention through December 31..

Gathering Assets

c. To use the templates in the year-end stream built into your donor management system you’ll need:

your mission statement

number of individuals your programs reach each year

at least three "impact" statements (these can be pulled from your annual report) 

a powerful client story and an image of that client or a stock photo to represent him or her (this story will be used in more than one email)

text from, or permission to ghost write for, a client, volunteer, or programmatic staff to showcase the organization's work from a different perspective and an image that goes well with this piece

a #GivingTuesday goal (this can focus on a specific program like "Raise $10,000 for scholarships" or a more general dollar-focused goal)

Messages

d. Take a look at the email templates in your year-end engagement stream. You can easily repurpose these pieces to speak to audiences on other channels. Here are a few ideas:

Use the three-part story series as a blog series on your website. Leverage quotes from the story series as social media posts with links

back to the blog post. Take the #GivingTuesday message and modify it for businesses. Ask

them to form a partnership with you. Reuse your holiday gratitude message in social media channels. Take the appeal template and rework it (as needed) and use it for your

direct mail appeal.

Keep in mind that this is one cohesive campaign and all messages should have the same tone of voice and feature the same visuals and call to

action (Donate!).

It is easier to keep all your different pieces consistent if you draft them all at once instead of writing each one separately.

The more “surround sound” your message is, the more likely you are to break through the noise and get donors’ attention with a consistent, solid

case for support.

Record your campaign activities, tasks, and deadlines on the timeline in the back of this guide.

Part 3: Optimize Your Giving Experience Make sure donating is easy!

a. Review your website, especially the home page and donation page. How can you transform your home page it into a fundraising-only page in December? (e.g. What calls to action should be removed? Write down the key changes you would like to make.)

b. What are the traffic-driving elements you plan to employ this year-end giving season to attract new donors? (e.g. social media promotion, social media advertising, search marketing, traditional advertising. Who will be responsible for each set of tactics?)

c. Carry out a five-minute audit of your online donation page. List the changes that need to be made before year-end fundraising begins. NOTE: Make sure the images, messages, giving amounts, and calls to action match your brand and your appeals.

d. Review all communication pieces. Make sure it’s as easy as possible for donors to identify and find your donation page.

Part 4: Thanking & Retaining Your Donors

a. Who will be in charge of thanking supporters and how often will you send email and mail thank yous? NOTE: This person should be trained on sending acknowledgements in your donor management system.

b. Do you currently thank participants by phone? How could you increase phone acknowledgements and involve your board members? NOTE: This is an easy way to get your board involved with year-end fundraising and stewardship activities.

c. List three ideas for sharing the impact of your donors’ gifts with them in early 2018. NOTE: Plan to get these ready to go in January. Retaining and stewarding donors is just as important as securing gifts!

d. When do you plan to ask donors for feedback about their giving experience and your programs? NOTE: You can use forms in your donor management system to collect feedback from donors.

TIMELINE DRAFT The items in bold are needed to launch the year-end engagement stream in your donor management system. Fill in deadlines that make the most sense for your campaign’s timing.

Campaign Asset Task DeadlineEmail Engagement Stream

Gather assets needed for templates.

Draft templates.

Proof and test.

Send Dates set in Donor Management Tasks

Direct Mail Appeal Draft appeal and reply device (unless call to action drives donors to online donation page)

Proof

Define audience and generate labels and letters.

Begin assembly.

Finish assembly.

Drop at post office.

Hits donors’ mailboxes

Year-End Donation Page

Create a new donation page for your year-end campaign using same photos/messaging as emails.

Oct 21

#Giving Tuesday Donation Page

Update year-end donation page to reflect #GivingTuesday message or create a second page for #GivingTuesday gifts.

As soon as you start promoting #GivingTuesday

Direct Mail Thank Yous/Acknowledgements

Draft using similar campaign message, tone of voice.

Proof

Send out every seven days (or more frequently).

Email Thank Yous /Acknowledgements

Draft using similar campaign message, tone of voice

Proof and test.

Send out every seven days (or more frequently).

Talking points Draft and share talking points about campaign with board and staff.

Social Media Create posts and graphics.

Steadily post throughout the campaign.

Website updates / blog Create and launch a lightbox/banner announcing campaign.

Create blog posts.

Advertising Decide on advertising options, including Google AdWords/Facebook etc.

Set ad budget.

Sign up for Google Ad Grants and review guidelines for Ad Word placement.

Familiarize yourself with Facebook Advertising best practices and read this case study.

Draft ad text and art and schedule/launch.

Other activities:

Additional resources:

For more on general campaign planning best practices, review this guide.

For more incorporating stories into your donor communication, review this guide.

For FAQs about using your donor management system, search the Knowledge Base.