This document provides 27 strategies for maximizing year-end fundraising through online appeals and web presence. Some key strategies include sending a 3-part email appeal with reminders, emphasizing donor benefits and impact, promoting gift options and ranges, setting a fundraising goal and deadline, and optimizing the website and donation page for conversions. The document emphasizes testing different themes, being explicit about the ask, and thanking donors for their support.

1. Hello
and
Welcome!
25 Year Veteran
Monthly Webinars
Weekly Newsletter
Gail Perry CFRE Guidestar Columnist
Consultant, Coach, Free Fundraising Resources
Author, Speaker “Fired-Up Fundraising”
1

2. Housekeeping
• Use
headphones
for
best
sound
• Call
Kris4na
334-­‐246-­‐1712
if
you
need
help:
• Use
an
ethernet
cable
instead
of
wireless.
• Shut
down
Internet
programs
(email,
instant
messaging,
browsing,
uploads/downloads)
• Switch
to
the
phone
number
(may
be
a
toll
call
depending
on
your
calling
plan)
2

3. Last
Minute
Holiday
Giving
Strategies
to
Put
Your
Over
Goal
What
You’ll
Get
Today
• Help
you
maximize
those
last
two
days
of
the
year
when
on-­‐line
giving
spikes.
• Exactly
what
to
say
in
your
year-­‐end
appeals.
• Who
makes
last
minute
giBs,
and
what
they
want
to
hear.
•
Specific
strategies
that
are
proven
to
work
at
the
very
end
of
the
year.
• Last
minute
tweaks
to
your
web
site
to
strengthen
your
call
to
acHon
and
your
last
minute
giBs.
3

4. Send in Your Questions
at Any Time
4

5. The Good News!
Expect holiday giving to be over $48 billion from
more than 179 million US donors.
On line gifts will be over $6 billion – based on a
survey by Convio, the FR software company.
74% of Americans will make a year-end gift.
5

6. The Good News!
People who already gave $1k this year
will give an average of $952 this month.
Convio
6

7. The Good News!
66% intend to donate
same as last year
12% will increase their
donations
7

8. How Will They Give?
• 43% of donors via direct mail
• 25% from a charity gift shop or
catalog
• 21% from online appeals
• 4% Facebook twitter or other
social network
Convio
8

9. Will Online Donors Give More?
YES!
Average donations will be - $281
But if they are planning to give on line - $378
Convio
9

10. Will Online Donors Give More?
YES!
In ’08 – 38 orgs received online gifts of $20k
21% of the year's transaction volume, but 48%
of the total dollars raised.
Online donors are younger and have higher
incomes.
Blackbaud
10

11. Your Year-End Fundraising
Campaign
Email
Incoming
Web
site
solicita4ons
donors
11

12. Your Web Site
8 Seconds to Score
12

13. 13

14. 1. Start Out By Thanking
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15. rmhc.org/24
2. Consider a mystery year-end campaign
Ronald McDonald House of Spokane WA 15

16. 3. What Donors Want to Hear
Why me? Why now?
What for?
Who says?
Katya Andreson and Jeff Brooks
Network for Good
16

17. 3. What Donors Want to Hear
74% respond to emotional solicitations that
provide info on the people in need
53% respond to messages about your track
record
51% respond to strategies for the coming year
28% respond to tax deduction
17

18. 4. Send Plenty of
Reminders
People Are Busy
Multiple Asks Are
OK!
18

19. 5. Send a 3-part Email Appeal
1. Early Dec appeal “Sponsor a Child”
2. Season’s greetings from a cute kid
3. Dec 31 – last chance to give
19

20. Alternative 3-Part Email Appeal
1. Send on Monday 27th.
2. Second one on the 29th.
3. Final Email on the 31st.
20

21. Wed, Oct 21, 2009 5:36 AM
Subject: A humble ask (and no I have not been hacked)
Date: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 1:16 PM
From: Margaret Battistelli <mbattistelli@napco.com>
Reply-To: Margaret Battistelli <mbattistelli@napco.com>
To: Roger Craver <rogercraver@gmail.com>
Conversation: A humble ask (and no I have not been hacked)
Dear Roger ....
I've learned a lot about fundraising in the past six years -- most of it from
people like you. (Yes, this is a form letter of sorts, but it's gone to a very
carefully selected "list.") Email Appeal
First and foremost: If you don't ask, you don't get. And secondly, if you're
going to ask ... ask boldly and with outrageous hope. And that's why I'm
asking you to help me help a friend.
My friend Don lost his eyesight two years ago due to complications from
• Personal
diabetes. As you can imagine, it wreaked havoc in his life. He's on the road
back to some semblance of normalcy ˜ despite recurring diabetes-related
• From the heart
setbacks and other medical problems ˜ with the help of a few good friends
(including me). • Authentic
Going forward, he can make due on what income he has. But I want very
much to help him pay off a relatively small amount of debt that's weighing
• Conversational
heavily on his mind -- mainly bills like utilities and a credit card that went
unpaid in the turmoil after he first lost his sight and when he didn't have
the help he needed in keeping things in order.
I want to do it before it builds to a point where it's impossible for him to
catch up.
The total is $3,000 -- not a lot by many people's standards. But it is by
mine, and certainly by Don's. I'm planning a small fundraiser, but I thought
I could complement whatever that brings by just ... well ... asking.
So I'm doing just that ... asking for your financial help so that I can help
Don get back on steady financial ground and restore some part of his
peace of mind. My hope was to get 30 people or businesses to give $100
Page 1 of 4
21

22. 6. Appeal in Different Formats
Emails – text and/or pictures, print,
phone
7. Show Different Ways They Can
Support You.
Memberships. . . Gifts . . . E-cards. . .
Contributions. . . Stock. . .
Memorials. . . . Honoring someone. . .
22

23. 8. Promote Gift-Giving By Your
On-Line Donors
- Last minute holiday gifts
- “Avoid the crowds and shop at home” – shop on
line and we’ll ship.
- Gift memberships that your donors can
give to others.
- encourage family gifts
- The World Wildlife Fund:
"Last Minute Ways to Say Happy Holidays" e-mail
Adopt an animal on someone's behalf online.
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24. 24

25. 25

26. 9. Offer Multiple Options and Gift
Ranges
26

27. 27

28. 10. Create a Theme for
Your Online Appeals
World Wildlife Fund
Most online donations are from animal “adoptions.”
And 70% of animal adoptions happen in December
28

29. 11. Vary Your Themes and Messages
#1 A compelling emotional story
#2 Recap your accomplishments
#3 Ask for repeat gifts
#4 Emphasize what’s next
29

30. 12. Set a Firm Dollar Goal and a
Deadline
Our goal is to raise
$XXX by the end of the
year so we can help
XXXX people.
30

31. 13. Create a Deadline-Driven
Matching Challenge
Matching challenges
WORK!
“Can we make the
goal?”
31

32. 14.
Re-Make Your
Web Site into a
Giving Site the
Last Week of
the Year
Optimize your home
page
32

33. 15. Ask for Monthly Gifts
A regular donation will help us plan our services for
vulnerable children more effectively:
£2 a month could help answer even more calls to ChildLine. Last year
we received 2.3 million calls from vulnerable children.
£5 a month could pay for a school counsellor and give a child who is
bullied or abused someone to turn to right now.
£10 a month could pay towards therapy to help an abused child
overcome the effects of abuse, such as depression and anxiety.
Nspcc.org
33

34. 16. Segment Your Appeals!
Lapsed
donors
• We
s4ll
need
your
help
Recent
Donors
• Thank
then
ask
again
Last
Year’s
Donors
• Can
they
give
again?
Major
Donors
($1k)
• Special
honor
then
ask
Volunteers/parents/ • A
challenge
to
this
group
clients
34

35. 17. Last Chance Email
WHEN?
Dec. 31, 2009 – largest online giving day ever.
Will Friday, Dec. 31 be as good?
Play it safe. Send your final message in the
Dec 28-30th window.
35

36. 18. What To Say in the Last
Chance Email
• Be explicit
• Subject line is specific about the ask
Convio Holiday Giving Research Study
36

37. 19. Show Your Goal and Your
Progress on Your Web Site
37

38. 20. Make Their
Gift as
Tangible as
Possible
38

39. Make Their Gift as Tangible as
Possible
Holiday Gift Certificates – Just Like Retail
Stores
$10 buys a seedling
$200 buys a forest
$50 buys # vaccines, children’s coats, etc
39

40. 21. Use a BIG GREEN
Donate Button
40

41. 22. Add Pictures to Your Donate
Page
41

42. 23. Walk Through Your Donate
Page
Make a gift and check it out
Be sure it’s easy to use!
Eliminate unnecessary buttons
42

43. 24. Promote Holiday E-Cards for
Family and Friends
Promote your nonprofit
AND bring in a donation
to your organization.
43

44. Holiday E-Cards From
SOS Children’s Orphanage
44

45. 25. Share Your Gift
Opportunities on Facebook
Put gift ideas on Facebook!
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46. 46

47. 26. Use Facebook to Engage
Donors
Share the spirit of the season
“With the holidays upon us, we're looking forward to
those great TV specials filled with heart-warming
stories. We'd like you to share in that festive spirit
by submitting your own video to our Facebook
page.
All you need to do is tell us what the Jimmy Fund
and Dana-Farber mean to you.
Learn about sharing your video. . .
The Jimmy Fund
47

48. 27. Send a Charming Thank You
48

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