It’s August. Time to start planning for year end!
Every year around this time, Big Duck starts banging the year-end fundraising drum. And every year, we hear people asking, “Isn’t it too early?” Well, it’s not—in fact, it’s exactly the right time.
Nonprofits get a significant number of their donations from individuals at the end of the year. Online, 29% of individual gifts come in December, and a similarly large percentage of offline giving tends to come at the end of the year as well.
Between reviewing past campaign performance, making sure you know what’s going on in your community, thinking through the channels you have at your disposal, balancing that budget, and (fingers crossed) securing matching gifts, taking full advantage of the season takes some work. So don’t wait too long to begin planning for a multichannel campaign that will reach your donors and inspire them to make a gift.
We also know that summer can be a busy time (remember when there used to be a slow season?), so we’re offering four opportunities, at varying levels, to help you start prepping for the holiday season:
1. Dive in with a daylong workshop. Join Big Duck Veep Farra Trompeter for a year-end fundraising immersive workshop on September 16 during which we’ll discuss overall best practices; the benefits of creating a theme; how to blend direct mail, email, social media, your website, and more; and possible pacing and segmentation. We only have 20 spots so sign up here ASAP. And since this session is a great fit for smaller organizations, feel free to pass it along to friends and colleagues if it’s not right for you.
2. Kick off your year-end planning with a campaign intensive. With our year-end campaign intensives, Big Duck sits down with just you and your team for a full day to nail down the basics of your fundraising campaign. This is a great option for organizations that might need help setting strategy but are ready to do the majority of implementation themselves. Shoot us a note here for more info.
3. Start working with Big Duck on a full campaign. Eager to get that ball rolling? Reach out today!
4. Give your fundraising muscles a warm-up today with a free webinar:
- Watch or read my rapid-fire 30-minute webinar on “What’s hot in year-end fundraising.”
- With a Blackbaud login, you can also watch Big Duck’s vice president Farra Trompeter’s “End-of-Year Prep: Communications, engagement, and stewardship before and during the giving season,” part of Blackbaud’s #NoFilterNonprofit series.
