The greatest hits of Big Duck’s year-end tips

Every year, Big Duck and other nonprofit pros publish hundreds and hundreds of articles on great year-end campaigns. We talk about strategy, creative, technology, how to measure, how to thank—it’s a lot. And we focus on these campaigns for good reason: lots of organizations bring in around 30 percent of their funds during the month of December!

It’s almost enough to make your head spin, and when the beach is calling, we know it can be hard to sift through all the tips and best practices out there and start prepping. We wanted to do our part to make year-end planning a bit more fun, so we recruited some of our favorite celebs to help us put together a roundup of Big Duck’s greatest year-end advice hits.

Start early.

Don’t put it off. We know it feels early, but there’s a lot you can do during these quiet(er) summer days to get ready. Start testing donation landing pages, reviewing your online presence and website analytics, and more.

Shake what your mama gave you.

Before you brainstorm a new campaign, remember what you’re already working with. Focus on the tools you already have: your brand and your donors. Use your brand strategy to guide your fundraising, and don’t forget to appeal to your core supporters.

Think about all the channels.

By now, you’ve probably heard that taking a multichannel approach to your fundraising, list-building, advocacy, or outreach campaign is the only way to go. But how do you do it? Here’s a handy list of twelve steps for campaigns. Bonus: watch the webinar here.

Email is your secret weapon.

Multichannel campaigns work best when you focus on the reader/listener (aka “audience”) and reinforce the same message, tailored to what works best for each channel. Take a look at what you can to do improve how you use email to renew support from existing donors and perhaps even attract donations from prospects. Bonus: check out this post on what to consider when deciding who will sign your emails.

Sort your lists.

If you’re planning to do any online fundraising this year-end, now’s the time to start laying the groundwork for your segmentation strategy. Never tried segmenting your email list before? It can be pretty simple when you break it down: it’s just a matter of dividing your list into a few different sub-groups, and sending something different to each group.

Superhero-ify donors.

Plan a year-end campaign that celebrates your donor’s support, catches her eye, pulls on her heartstrings, and seals the deal with a generous gift.  

And remember, you can always call Big Duck if you need us.