When it comes to year-end campaigns, sometimes it’s hard to know how to integrate digital fundraising alongside direct mail. 

How often should you post about a year-end campaign on each of your social media platforms? Is it okay to send donors, potential donors, and lapsed donors an email and a direct mail ask in November and December? How does your organization’s website play a part in digital conversations? 

In this week’s installment of “Year-End in July,” we’ll answer these questions and explore how you can leverage digital fundraising with guests Ashleigh Lambert, Kacey Crawford, and Kim Richardson. 

After all, integration can seamlessly happen between all the elements, and our team at Pursuant and Allegiance Groups is happy to guide you through the process. 

The Time is Now! 

We’ve said it before, and we’ll repeat it: the time to start thinking about your nonprofit’s year-end campaign is now. The more you can do now to clean up lists and gain integrity around future recipients, the better off you’ll be when the campaign kicks off. 

For starters, think about the mix of emails that tend to be sent out around year-end giving – the last thing you want to do is overwhelm donors with too many giving options. Start looking at the puzzle pieces to see if you can find an answer to the question, “Who should get what?” Diversify your lists so recipients have time to rest between email campaigns and so emails are accessible to every type of giver. 

For Ashleigh Lambert, VP of Account Management at Allegiance Group, organizations whose end-of-year campaigns perform well do so because they employ a certain cadence of communications. They succeed in their efforts thanks to coordinating their content well in advance. 

The time to start gathering stories is now – just as the time to start collecting images, assets, and anything else you’ll need in November and December is also now. 

Think Like a Consumer

One of the best things you can do to make your year-end experience pop is to walk through your website as if you’re a first-time visitor. Think like a consumer: How well does your website translate to those with disabilities, and how easy is it to find relevant information quickly?

Sometimes you’ll find that a font is hard to read or that colors don’t have sufficient value contrast to be legible by those with visual impairments such as colorblindness. The following questions are also helpful to ask as you visit each page of your website, paying close attention to both web and mobile formats: 

• What is the page saying to me? 
• Does the page accomplish its original goal? 
• How prominent is the donate button? Is it easily accessible from secondary pages?  
• Is there something else on the page that will drive me to action? 
• Is there a second chance to re-engage if I accidentally leave a page early? 

Ashleigh emphasizes the ease of finding information. Simplify the information present. Ensure digital forms are extremely easy to fill out. Lead with mobile, especially for users who simply want to scroll through a website and click on a donate button. 

Testing every page of your website now, before you’re in the thick of the year-end giving season, alleviates the risk and stress of things not working when you need it most.

Let Social Media Do Its Thing

Regarding year-end campaigns, social media happens in tandem with everything else. Whether you extend a CTA towards engagement, awareness, or overall reach, leverage each channel toward making a community-driven ask. 

Just as donors need to be given multiple opportunities throughout the year, build in fundraising rhythms throughout the year. Work with the algorithms to get your message – including the call to action to donate – in front of fans, followers, and friends. 

The bottom line is that the wheels start to click when a blended message is put in front of people. Folks see the connective thread between the different modes of communication. 

The takeaway? By educating, informing, and providing donors with an opportunity to see the people behind the heart of your mission and hear real stories of change, digital fundraising can quickly become an integrated part of your year-end campaign. Its flexibility and pizazz will no doubt help get the message out!

Connect with Kacey Crawford

Connect with Ashleigh Lambert

Connect with Kim Richardson

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