3 End of the Year Giving Campaigns to Reach Your Goals

Now is the time to build on your successes and launch a final end of the year giving campaign.
End of the year giving campaigns

Giving Tuesday is over, but that doesn’t mean the end of charitable year-end giving. Now is the time to build on your successes and launch a final end of the year giving campaign.

Year-end campaigns help your bottom line and share your mission and purpose. It also helps your donors with their end-of-year charitable contributions for possible tax deductions. Not to mention that people feel good when they help!

Here are three end of the year giving campaigns that will help your organization stand out.

Pump It Up!

The idea here is to fill a large confetti stuffed balloon with air until it pops, live on Facebook, YouTube, or whatever other video streaming platform you choose. For every donation or every dollar, you will put one pump of air into the balloon. Donations need to keep coming in until the balloon pops and explodes on camera.

Take turns in your office operating the bicycle pump, making sure to wear protective eyewear. You’ll be surprised at how big a weather balloon can get before it POPS!

Before you get started, create a script of introduction for your live video. Then make sure to end with a huge thank you to all of your donors!

For this campaign you will need:

  • A weather balloon
  • A bicycle pump
  • Protective eyewear
  • Confetti
  • A dedicated Give donation form
  • Big enough space to blow up the balloon (with low sound interference)
  • Live video feed (Facebook Live or YouTube Live work great!)

For your Give Form:

  • Set your donation levels and make sure to leave the “custom amount” enabled to allow for larger donations.
  • Use a great teaser image for your form featured image (something playful that will inspire giving).
  • You can even embed YouTube Livestream in the Give Single Form Sidebar Widget so that your donors can donate and watch at the same time!

Polar Plunge Challenge

Polar Plunge Challenge

Somewhat similar to the Ice Bucket Challenge, the Polar Plunge Challenge promises that a major figure in your organization will take a freezing cold swim if your goal is met.

Get the word out through your form, social media, email, newsletter, etc., tell your audience about the promise: that your CEO, Director, or a celebrity will be taking a cold swim for the Polar Plunge Challenge if the goal is met by the deadline.

Post periodic social media updates like:

  • We’re halfway to freezin’ for a reason but we need your donation to make sure she takes the plunge!
  • He’ll be swimming in ice if you donate so nice!
  • She’ll be frozen with more than her toes in when we reach our goal!
  • We’re almost there…help him feel the cold with the warmth of your donation.

Once you meet your goal, assemble on the plunge date, and make sure to record the events of your CEO, Director, or celebrity taking an icy dip. Have medical personnel present to make sure that everyone stays safe.

This kind of fundraiser gives you a chance to alert the media, too. Local news stations LOVE this kind of human interest story, so make sure to get press releases out early and contact local newscasters and reporters to make sure they are there for the event.

Afterward, post footage of the event on your site and social media. Then send a thank you email to all your donors and include the links in your regular newsletter.

For this campaign you will need:

  • A dedicated Give donation form (with a goal set and displayed)
  • A CEO, Director, or celebrity willing to take a cold swim
  • A deadline for fundraising
  • A date for the plunge
  • Appropriate medical personnel and any necessary permits

For your Give Form:

  • Set your donation levels and make sure to leave the “custom amount” enabled to allow for larger donations.
  • Use a great teaser image for your form featured image (your swimmer in a bathing suit, wetsuit, or a costume they will swim in).
  • Enable the Form Goal and set it at an attainable amount.

New Year’s Challenge

The New Year’s Challenge is kind of like a pay it forward campaign, but instead of paying for someone else in advance, a donor challenges their friends to give to the same cause. You can set up your Give Form to automatically send a customized eCard.

For this campaign you will need:

  • A dedicated Give donation form (with goal set)
  • Tributes add-on

For your Give Form:

  • Set your donation levels and make sure to leave the “custom amount” enabled to allow for larger donations.
  • Set a goal or use the countdown clock to increase the urgency in donations.
  • Use an enticing image for your form featured image.
  • Customize the Tributes function for this form:
    • Tribute Title: “Challenge a Friend to Match Your Donation”
    • Fieldset Title: “Challenge a Friend to Match Your Donation”
    • Tribute Prepended Label: “Who Will You Challenge?”

Tributes Settings Screen

  • Set up your E-card:
    • Enable eCards in the Tribute settings.
    • Change your eCard Email Subject to: “{donor_name} just challenged you to match or exceed their {amount} donation!”

Setting up your ecard

  • Edit the text of the eCard:

Dear {notify_name},

A donation of {amount} has been made to our organization by {donor_fullname}, and they want to challenge you to meet or exceed that donation to help us reach our goal!
Will you help us meet our goal and challenge someone else to help, too? Click here to make a donation: (add your form link here).

{donor_message}

With our thanks,
{sitename}

You can add a photo, logo, or fun image to your eCard, too. Now, when anybody makes a contribution, they can challenge someone else to join them in helping you meet your goal!

For all Campaigns

For any campaign, remember that you need to really get the message out through social media, email, newsletters, and even phone calling. Challenge your donors to help you meet your end-of-year goals directly. Then follow up with a thank you note for helping meet them.

For more campaign ideas and support from other fundraising professionals, join our Facebook Community Group!

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