Reevaluate your year-end campaign and get the details right
As we swing into year-end campaign season, be sure not to stick with "same-old same-old."
Capacity Partners engineered a hugely successful end-of-year campaign for a food pantry in the Dc area several years ago by restructuring their approach and attending to important details. The result was double what the organization had raised the prior year.
Here are some keys:
Segment your donor list. Use tools like wealth screening, giving history, and personal knowledge to structure your approach. For this campaign, the categories were:
- Visionary, meaning major donors ($1,000+), who were asked to make a larger contribution;
- Monthly Ask, donors who gave more than once annually but were unpredictable, who were asked to become monthly contributors;
- Additional Gift, donors who already made an annual contribution and were asked to make an additional gift; and
- Lapsed donors, who had not given in more than a year and were asked t once again support the organization.
Tailor your communications and try to keep it personal so you stand out in a crowd. The organization sent a different letter for each segment. The executive director hand-signed each one. The letters were hand-stamped with first-class postage.
Don't be afraid to increase the frequency of your solicitations. People are busy especially during the holidays. Getting a reminder about your organization's campaign may be just the nudge they need to commit. Send at least three communications between the week before Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve.
Use multiple platforms (email, social media, website content, mailed hard-copy letter) to advance your campaign, but be sure they all deploy a consistent look that emphasizes the theme and message at the heart of your year-end campaign. For example, the successful campaign designed by Capacity Partners was built around brief, emotional testimonials.
Remember that you've got lots of suupporters out there who care about what you do. Don't let the woes of the economy or the late date slow you down. Get going! You are needed.
