It’s December 30, do you know how your end-of-the-year fundraising will fair? With just over 5% of all giving being done now via the internet (and this number is growing dramatically), it is becoming more important to gauge the effectiveness of your online end-of-year strategies.
Especially today.
According to Convio and the Chronicle of Philanthropy, tomorrow, December 31 is the biggest online gift giving day of the year. In fact, December 31 experiences 13 times more online gifts as compared to the average day!
At this point, if a December 31 strategy has not been planned at your shop and you are scrambling a bit, your best bet may be to prepare a brief message which can be sent via e-mail blast and can be posted to facebook and twitter accounts. The message should integrate with your overall AF campaign, should focus on how your organization meets needs (as opposed to being focused on your needs), and should highlight the tax advantages of making a gift before December 31.
It is important, though, to remember the following: Just because donors transact their gift online does not necessarily mean that electronic messaging inspired their gift. Pick up the phone and call those top donors from whom you’ve yet to receive a gift this year. Make that personal, voice to voice connection. Ask them about their New Year’s plans. Thank them for what they’ve already done and let them know why their continued support is needed.
Online giving continues to grow in importance. But nothing takes the place of building relationships with donors one at a time in the most personal ways possible. It’s never too late for that — even today.
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End of the Year Note:
Many thanks to each of you who have made 2009 a great, inaugural year for The Far Edge of Promise. It’s been a blast to write and to hear from many of you. In the next year, you will see some changes to the site – a new design and new functionalities.
To start 2010, please check back to read my 10-day series on the “Top 10 Philanthropic Predictions for the Next Decade.” The crystal ball for 2010-2019 will be fully functioning and we’ll see what we can expect in the next decade!
Again, thank you for reading! Hopefully, you continue to find value, inspiration, and ideas here. And as usual, if there is any way I can strengthen this blog or assist you in any way, do not hesitate to contact me.
Onward and Upward!
Jason
jmcneal@ggts.com
So their salary won’t go up by 1.4% next year. They still have jobs. The middle class won’t see their taxes go up by an average of $3000 either because that’s what the GOP would have stood by and watched happen in order to protect their precious top 2% of earners. Millions across this country will also have heat and food due to the extension of unemployment benefits that the GOP would have let run out.