Category: Year-End Giving

Why You Need to Send Annual Giving Statements

By Laurence A. Pagnoni, MPA Sending annual giving statements to your donors and funders is a fundraising best practice — and an amazing opportunity to show love to your donors. An annual giving statement is also an opportunity to inform your donors about what makes your nonprofit unique. Donors tell me that they look more favorably at nonprofits that provide gift statements. These documents signal that the nonprofit is thoughtful and organized — and it gives many donors timely and highly useful information as they prepare their income tax returns. Here’s a sample gift statement that I like a lot.

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The Last Four Days: When Online Giving Quintuples

The month of December is the most important month for giving overall, and online giving in particular. Approximately one out of every three dollars in annual giving is donated during the month of December. In fact, 28% of nonprofits raise between 26 – 50% of their annual funds from their year-end drive. An additional 36% of nonprofits raise just under 10% of their annual funds from their year-end ask.

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Segmentation Tips to Raise More at #GivingTuesday and Year-End

By Ryan Carpenter November and December are a prime time for philanthropy, with 31% of donations occurring in December alone. But if you aren’t prepared to ride the coming wave of support, you could be leaving dollars behind. One of the best strategies to make the most of the giving season is to develop segmented messages for various donor groups. Given that donors have been shown to give 10% to 25% more when messages are personalized, you must not ignore the power of customized messages. Any fundraiser can apply the following segmentation best practices to #GivingTuesday and year-end campaigns. The

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Kick Off Your Year-End Fundraising Drive With a Thank You

By Laurence A. Pagnoni, MPA Your year-end drive likely features written and email appeals delivered between Thanksgiving and the end of the year. That’s good … but … Before you make your appeals, you have an important opportunity to say “thank you” — and to do so in a way that is fresh and vibrant. Thanksgiving offers you a perfect hook for kicking off your year-end drive through a Thank-A-Thon — a “Thanks Bonanza” that you can start preparing for now. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of thanking donors and doing so in ways that do not come attached

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Giving Tuesday vs. Donor Advised Funds

By Laurence A. Pagnoni, MPA As Giving Tuesday comes around on November 30, I am asking you to think deeply before you commit to promoting it. My annual struggle over whether to include Giving Tuesday (GT) in my year-end fundraising plan is in full swing. This year, I am distracted by the gargantuan untapped revenue that you can access from those donors with Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) — upwards of $140 billion. I am asking myself if instead of focusing on Giving Tuesday, would it be more lucrative for me to focus on cultivating and soliciting those donors with Donor Advised Funds? Your

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Why Donors Stop Giving to You

As year-end giving is now upon us, discovering why donors stop giving will provide you a keen understanding of what you need to improve on to get higher fundraising returns.

A new Bank of America report found that 28% of wealthy donors stop giving to a nonprofit that they supported in the previous year.

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What’s New in Year-End Giving?

By Laurence A. Pagnoni, MPA Three new realities distinguish 2021 year-end giving. Engaging these new realities can significantly increase your year-end giving drive. They are…. You can now add a “donate” button to your Zoom events. Donor-advised funds have grown to gargantuan levels. Engaging giving circles should be a part of your strategy. While the fundamentals of year-end giving still apply, and I describe them in great detail here, 2021 also brings us three unique approaches for you to capitalize on, literally. Zoom Donate Button The new Zoom donate button is similar to Facebook’s donate button—but with a key difference.

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#GivingTuesday: You Have A Decision to Make

Just six weeks away, #GivingTuesday (GT) will take place on Tuesday Dec. 1st. This day of global giving has grown into an impressive movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity. The average online gift was $111.

It may be an opportunity for you to leverage your community giving, but you will have to decide if it’s worth your attention.

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