End of Year Fundraising: The Planning Stage

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What You'll Learn

By Becky Fitzpatrick, Digital Marketing Associate

Before we jump into specifics of end-of-year fundraising, it’s crucial to understand the basics of creating a compelling campaign. Here are 5 important campaign parts to plan before getting into the nitty-gritty of email and social media.

  1. Set a goal. Figure out what you want to achieve with this campaign, how much you want to raise, and where the money will go.
  2. Set a theme and message. This is the fun part. Once you have a goal outlined, design a creative theme for your campaign. Malaria No More’s theme is to ‘Stop the Clock’. Their website features a countdown for every minute a child dies from malaria, asking donors to stop the clock and donate now. Charity Water’s September campaign focused on women in the Sahel region. The whole campaign was created around a video portraying the dangers and difficulties of getting clean water in Sahel. It is a clear call to action to protect women and bring clean water to the 100,000 people in that region. These slogans or appeal messages are strong and to the point, and their campaign revolves around them.
  3. Determine how to achieve your goal. What is your targeted audience, what actions will you take to persuade them to donate, how will you portray your theme and message? Decide which channels you will use to communicate to your audience based on their age, interests, and previous giving history. Will you include online and offline channels?
  4. Update your website and donations page. Make sure that your website is well designed and affectively portrays your brand. Donors will be sent to your website and donation page during the next few months, so making sure they are clean and easy to navigate is crucial. If you find they are outdated or confusing for donors, find it in your budget to redesign them.
  5. Make your team. Regardless of how big or small your non-profit is, you’ll need an established group of people who will be involved in your end-of-year fundraising.

Once these 5 steps are laid out, start planning the dirty details of e-blasts, direct mail, social media, website, and event planning.

We want to hear from you! If your non-profit has specific questions or ideas for end-of-year fundraising, send us a comment below and we’ll try to include tips in our next post.

Does your non-profit need a push to get your end-of-year fundraising going? FaircomNY offers exclusive one-on-one consulting from our fundraising specialists to help you make it to New Years in one piece. Email us today!

About the author
Faircom New York
Whatever you do, we raise the funds to help you do it.

Faircom New York is an award-winning nonprofit marketing agency composed of passionate, humanitarian and fundraising professionals who work with your nonprofit team to raise funds at every donor level and through every channel of giving.

We have specialized teams who work together to produce, coordinate and execute highly integrated fundraising campaigns. In other words, we tailor our fundraising services to meet your unique needs. This is how Faircom New York differs from every other nonprofit marketing agency.

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Choose Faircom New York as your nonprofit marketing agency and propel your organization to new heights with our award-winning marketing and fundraising services. We’ll help your nonprofit raise funds online, by mail, via social media, on mobile, peer to peer, or events.

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