Double the Donation’s fundraising research shows that 30% of total charitable giving happens in December each year. And an estimated 10% of all gifts are made in the last three days of the year! But with other organizations and businesses ramping up their communications at such a significant time for engagement, sending top-notch email appeals is a must.
In this guide, we’ll walk through five expert tips and tricks to help drive results for your team. These include the following practices:
- Start with a smart subject line.
- Provide a year-in-review recap.
- Pursue matching gift opportunities.
- Establish a sense of urgency.
- Communicate progress toward goals.
End-of-year fundraising requests are essential to fruitful nonprofits’ annual giving strategies. Whether you’re looking to craft an impactful Giving Tuesday message or a “Last Chance for Year-End Donations” appeal, it’s essential to harness the power of the giving season to engage donors, inspire action, and drive contributions that will set your team up for success in the new year and beyond.
1. Start with a smart subject line.
When sending your end-of-year fundraising letters via email, your subject line is one of your most powerful tools. After all, it’s your first chance to grab your audience’s attention and is often the driving indicator for whether a recipient chooses to open and engage with your appeal. Especially leading up to the holiday season, you’ll want to ensure your emails stand out from the get-go.
These helpful practices can help your team develop the best subject lines possible:
- Address the donor by name; personalization increases the likelihood of engagement.
- Appeal to your audience’s emotions by using powerful words like “hope,” “impact,” “change,” and more.
- Cite specific numbers or statistics. For example, “City Animal Shelter rehomed over 2,000 pets this year.”
- Ask a question that invokes thought and consideration, such as “How can your year-end gift impact our community?”
You might even decide to implement A/B testing—or send slightly different variations of an email to different audience segments—to determine which elements of your subject line produce the greatest results!
2. Provide a year-in-review recap.
A well-crafted year-in-review email can help supporters feel deeply connected to your organization’s progress. As a result, it will often inspire donors to continue supporting your mission in the future.
This email might include:
- Your nonprofit’s annual report, including financial highlights
- Donors’ copies of their annual donation receipts
- A summary of the organization’s recent highlights and achievements
- Specific anecdotes, impact statements, or success stories
- Visual content such as mission-related photos or infographics
- An overview of your nonprofit’s plans for the following year
- Thanks and gratitude for donor involvement
Then, of course, you’ll want to make it quick and easy for donors to contribute to your year-end fundraiser by incorporating an eye-catching CTA (or call-to-action) with a direct link to the campaign giving page.
3. Pursue matching gift opportunities.
Corporate matching gifts can significantly enhance an organization’s fundraising results. Not only do these programs enable donors to double their donations to a nonprofit cause, thus driving revenue through corporate giving, but they also lead to increased donor engagement.
Donors love giving when they know their impact goes far, and they’ll be more likely to engage with your efforts when they know corporate matching is available. Therefore, incorporate matching gifts in all of your end-of-year appeals.
For an easy way to get started, consider including the following blurbs in your email messaging this year:
- “Did you know your end-of-year gift may be doubled or tripled through your employer’s matching gift program? Check if your company participates and make your impact go even further!”
- “Tons of companies offer generous matching gift programs in which they double employees’ charitable donations to nonprofits. Does your employer participate? Click here or reach out to your HR team to learn more.”
- “Help us close the giving season strong by taking advantage of matching gift opportunities. More than $4 to $7 billion in matching gifts are left on the table each year—don’t let yours go unclaimed!”
The results speak for themselves! Double the Donation reports that 84% of donors are more likely to donate if a match is offered, while 1 in 3 indicate they’d give a larger gift if a match is applied. This results in a 51% increase in average gift size and a 71% increase in response rate when matching gifts are mentioned in fundraising appeals, making it an excellent way to elevate any year-end fundraising campaign.
4. Establish a sense of urgency.
Urgency can be an effective tool in any nonprofit fundraiser, and it tends to work particularly well when paired with a naturally time-based campaign like an end-of-year giving initiative. By reminding donors of the urgency to support your fundraising efforts, you can drive immediate action, encouraging donors to click from the initial email appeal to your campaign page and navigate through the giving process.
Consider using words and phrases like these to do so:
- “Only X days left to support our year-end campaign.”
- “Act before December 31st.”
- “Time is running out…”
- “Don’t miss this end-of-year giving opportunity.”
- “Last call!”
- “It’s the final hours of our campaign.”
You might even embed a countdown timer to convey a visual reminder of the limited time left to support your year-end fundraiser!
5. Communicate progress toward goals.
Your organization’s end-of-year campaign planning likely involved establishing a monetary fundraising goal. Whether that’s $5,000 or $1 million, communicating your organization’s goal—and your progress toward reaching it—can go a long way in inciting action.
We recommend providing status updates at several points or milestones throughout the campaign. Here’s an example:
- At the start of the campaign — “This year-end season, we’re embarking on a mission to raise $15,000 to create lasting impact in the lives of those we serve.”
- Halfway to the goal — “We’ve reached the halfway mark in our journey! Thanks to your unwavering support, we’re halfway closer to our goal of $15,000.”
- Three days before the end of the year — “With just three days left, we’re racing against time to reach our $15,000 goal. Your contribution can make all the difference!”
- Last day of the year — “We’re SO close! Please make your year-end donation before the clock strikes midnight to help us reach our goal. We only have $782 left to go!”
- Upon reaching or surpassing the goal — “We did it! Thanks to your incredible generosity, we’ve exceeded our $15,000 goal this year-end season.”
A fundraising thermometer (or visual progress bar) will be an invaluable tool for this component of your strategy! When donors can easily see that your nonprofit is close to reaching its goal but needs some help to push it over the finish line, it might be just what they need to inspire their next steps to get involved.
Effective email appeals require strategic planning, so now is the best time to start. By implementing the essential tips outlined above, you can create messaging that cuts through the holiday noise, connects with your audience on a deeper level, and inspires them to make a meaningful difference alongside your organization.
Get Your End-of-Year Fundraising Email Templates
We’ve created two templates to help you get the most out of your end-of-year fundraising emails. These templates guide your organization’s messaging about gift matching from Giving Tuesday to the end of the year. Feel free to customize them to fit your organization’s strategy, voice, and style.
The End-of-Year & Matching Gifts templates will help your organization close the year strong, gently reminding your supporters to take advantage of matching gift programs from their employers.
The Giving Tuesday templates can help your organization weave matching gifts into your Giving Tuesday messaging.
Fill out the form below to get your downloads today.
Join GiveWP and Double the Donation for “Industry Insights: Matching Gifts and Effective Messaging at Year-End.”
With Giving Tuesday and the end-of-year giving season fast upon us, it’s crucial to nail down your messaging and prepare for the exciting days of generosity ahead. Whether crafting compelling campaigns, scheduling powerful social media posts, or writing engaging emails, perfecting your messaging can set your organization to end the year on a high note.
Join Double the Donation and GiveWP for an engaging and insightful live presentation on formulating effective messaging just in time for the end-of-year giving season. We’ll be live on October 25th at 2 p.m. EST.
Tune in to this conversation as we cover:
- Crafting compelling narratives that resonate with your donors
- How to strike the perfect balance between emotional appeal and data-driven insights
- The latest trends and technologies shaping the fundraising landscape
- And more!
Whether you’re a new nonprofit professional or a seasoned fundraiser, this webinar promises valuable takeaways that can help elevate your year-end campaigns. Take advantage of this opportunity to gain unique perspectives and practical tips for achieving fundraising success. Register now!
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