Year-End Campaign Success Strategies
For fundraisers in the arts and nonprofit sector, the next six weeks are our prime time—it’s year-end campaign season! Many of you have likely been working on your end-of-year campaign for weeks (or even months!) already. But whether you’ve been in the weeds for some time or are just now realizing that December is mere days away, we want to share our go-to best practices to ensure a successful year-end campaign that helps you meet your goals and sets your organization up for success in the new year.
Focus and Define Your Goals
First things first: determine what you’re working toward. Set a concrete financial goal for your campaign that your team can rally around. Be sure to also set some non-monetary goals, such as gaining a specific number of new followers, increasing social media engagement by a certain percentage, or improving email open and click rates. A campaign’s success isn’t just about the dollars raised—it’s about the impact it creates within your community.
Develop a Theme
Choose a theme for your campaign that reflects the heart of your mission. What were your organization’s priorities over the past year? How did you manifest those objectives? What stories from that work can you share with the world? These thought starters can lead to an overarching theme that will drive the tone and messaging of your campaign. Make it specific to your organization by brainstorming with your team to identify ideas aligned with your mission and community.
Demonstrate Your Impact
Show potential donors exactly how their contributions will drive real change. Use testimonials from people impacted by your work to create an emotional connection. Pair these stories with compelling images, testimonials, and statistics to highlight the quantitative and qualitative ways you are making an impact. Combining data with personal narratives helps donors see their role in your organization’s success and motivates them to contribute.
Go Digital Over Print
In the rush of year-end activities, printing and distributing materials can feel like a significant lift—and a financial burden. Instead, maximize your reach with a strong digital campaign using e-blasts, social media, and personalized emails or phone calls. Digital outreach allows you to pivot quickly, target specific audiences, and maintain control over your timeline.
Plan It Out
Even in a time crunch, a little planning goes a long way. Dedicate 30 minutes to outline and schedule your campaign promotions through January 3 (because who wants to work on New Year’s?). Map out key content deadlines, plan lead times for creating assets, delegate responsibilities, and coordinate with other outgoing communications. Also, decide how you’ll track donations as they come in—this will make it easier to send thank-you notes later. A simple spreadsheet works well, or use reporting features in your donation platform if available.
Segment Your Lists
One major advantage of digital campaigns is the ability to customize outreach. Segment your lists to tailor messages for different donor groups. Possible segments include past donors, event attendees, class participants, major donor prospects, board connections, peers/colleagues, and parents of participants. Adjust your content to address each group’s unique interests and connections to your mission, creating a more personal and relatable appeal.
Make It Easy
If donors encounter issues when trying to give, it could deter them from completing their donation. Avoid links or processes that require excessive clicking or navigation. Instead, include a clear call-to-action that leads directly to your donation page. Where possible, offer multiple payment options, such as Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, credit card, and check.
Say Thanks
Sending timely, thoughtful acknowledgments is crucial—but it doesn’t need to be a heavy lift for your team. During the planning process, decide how you’ll thank your supporters to avoid scrambling mid-campaign. Will you mail letters, send emails, or make quick thank-you calls to new donors? Systematize the acknowledgment process to make it effective, impactful, and manageable for your organization. Thoughtful and timely thank-yous build relationships with supporters, giving you a head start on next year’s campaign.
Celebrate Your Wins
Don’t forget to celebrate with your team! Year-end campaigns are busy, and recognizing hard work helps maintain momentum and morale. Plan a small treat, outing, or community gathering to show appreciation and celebrate everyone’s efforts. (We can attest that snacks go a long way!)
Bonus: Opt Out of Giving Tuesday
If Giving Tuesday hasn’t historically brought significant funds to your organization, consider focusing your energy elsewhere, such as fine-tuning your acknowledgment process. Use the day to support other organizations, tease your upcoming year-end campaign, or simply take a well-earned break!
By following these strategies, you can run your year-end campaign with ease, efficiency, and effectiveness. Wishing you great success as you raise the funds that power change in our world. You’ve got this!
