I want you to have confidence about what you can implement and put in motion.
I want you to prioritize end-of-year giving.
What you focus on factors in to your ministry’s financial fidelity.
What a ministry focuses on as the giving year ends is the single most impactful piece of the giving puzzle.
No matter what has come before now, by the time November ends and December begins, you must put at least two mailings, with response envelopes, in people’s hands.
This ask, no matter how many times it is made, must be consistent in its theme. You are connecting what you have previously asked or are beginning to ask with what you will communicate through the end of December.
Each mailer must be followed by an email referring donors to the letter’s ask. “This time of year, we’re communicating about giving. Hopefully, you’ve received our mailings.”
Time Is Ticking
Do you have a timeline for tracking from now till the end of December?
If not, you’ve just found your first next step.
Before the end of December, two mailings with return envelopes must reach your donors.
Attention Is Calling
By directing people’s attention to your ask and reminding donors, you are prompting givers to decide and take action.
Most people will not receive what you send and decide against you. Instead, they will look at it and forget about it—or they will not see it in the first place.
Reminders invite donors to pause, think, pray, make a decision, and finally take action.
Email Is Communicating
Along with mailings, we encourage you to email at least one broad update each week until the end of December.
During the final week of the month, send daily reminders,
Remember, you’re not sending twenty-seven communications with the twenty-eighth, causing the lightbulb to glow. “Oh my gosh, I understand now. They need me to give.” People are busy with fractured attention. You are calling enough attention for them to make a decision and give.
Planning Is Segmenting
There are broad groups all givers fall into: donors to retain, donors to recruit, and donors to regain.
Donors to retain gave last year but have not given this year.
Donors to regain gave the previous year or earlier but haven’t contributed since.
Donors to recruit are just that. They have never given, but you hope to bring them into the fold.
I would not bother much with people who have not given for years. Instead, focus on people you want to move to their first-time gift.
Segment your messaging within these groups as well since each requires slightly different calls to action.
Firstly, you are not taking anything from anyone during this time.
People who are givers who have given to you in the past know your ministry is a place where they can donate money. They know you need their giving because they were involved in the past.
People who have not given to you are making decisions between now and the end of December. These people are asking themselves: Where am I going to give? What am I going to accomplish with my giving? Why should I give to this organization over another?
Your role is to help them see what they can accomplish through their giving, which is why you are sending letters and follow-up emails.
While this is a massive invitation, it isn’t enough.
You must make a personal connection.
If you can increase the number of people on the receiving side of your timeline and the number of people who personally hear from you, you’ll likely see a significant change in your results.
Personalization Is Connecting
People need to hear the sound of your voice.
Phone calls, voicemails, text messages, and emails all can convey a personal touch.
You can take some of the communication you’ve already sent and personally forward it to people. You can also resend the information with a personal note.
You can do many things that cause people to tune in because you’re talking specifically to them.
This sets you apart from other groups seeking donations.
It communicates, “Oh, they’re talking to me. We need to discuss this and make a decision. They are talking to us.”
Follow-up communications make this personal connection.
Individualizing Is Impacting
For those looking for an even more significant way to impact giving at year’s end, choose no more than one hundred people for your list.
This list of names equals the individuals who you vow to move to make a giving decision by the end of December.
You provide them with additional attention, follow-up, and personalization. If asked, every name on your list can give a specific decision they know you are waiting for them to make.
You can ask their permission to send a proposal or an email. If it’s already mailed, you can say, “Did you get the recent letter? I wanted to make sure you heard from me, and I hope you’re thinking through this with us.”
One word of caution: Look at these individuals and ask daily, “What can I do? How can I reach out? Do I know if they’re considering something?” Do not get so caught up in your year-end goal that you miss their opportunity to commit and be involved significantly in the long term. Pushing hard for an immediate gift and hoping the individual will commit and transform the future are typically two separate things.
The reality is that no matter how much we communicate, we have very little control over whether people will give and when. When all is said and done, we have far less influence than we think we do when we’re broadly communicating.
What we can control, what we can influence, is what we say to specific individuals.
As we roll into December, ensure there’s no ambiguity on your part about who you’re focusing on individually as you move to the end of the year.
Each individual is truly an individual. Prayerfully think about where you are trying to lead them into deeper relationships and impact.
Reach out and personally let me know how you’re doing with this.
Keep moving forward.