It’s that time of year where nonprofits are preparing for the end-of-year (EOY) appeal or solicitation. I believe this solicitation is the most important to get right and be effective as it is a good indicator of the health of your donor engagement throughout the year. If donors aren’t feeling generous at the end of the year, when are they? We encourage our clients to always use a multi-faceted approach to this campaign to ensure the best chance at success. 

Here are five key takeaways that we use to build an EOY strategy for better donor engagement and increased gifts. 

Rethink the letter. 

Letters are often the go-to when it comes to mailed solicitations, but don’t discount other formats that are different sizes or shapes such as a postcard or greeting card. One of my favorite solicitations came as an accordion style card and each panel told a piece of a story that urged me to keep reading. If budget allows, doing a follow up postcard to a letter style mailer can be an effective touchpoint for donors. Whichever format you decide to use, be sure to include a gift reply that can be mailed as well as an option for online giving. 

How connected are your audiences?

It’s the age old question of how much information to jam pack into a solicitation. You need to share a compelling story, but there is only so much room on the printed piece. Think about how connected your audiences are to the organization and craft your message around current engagement. If you’ve been implementing a donor engagement strategy throughout the year, then they are probably up to date on the organization overall and a feel good story will draw them in. However, if you haven’t engaged with your donors since your last end-of-year solicitation, use this time to share what’s going on with your organization through storytelling. 

Bring in the design. 

Donors are bombarded with mail and email on a daily basis so when it comes to standing out creativity is a must. From the outer envelope to the front and back side of the letter, how can you catch donors’ attention and share your message? In addition, it is ok to go beyond the bounds of the printed piece. Leave a cliffhanger in your story and push people to a landing page to learn more with plenty of calls to action to make a gift right there. 

Go beyond the mailed piece. 

There is a lot of conversation in the nonprofit industry about how effective donations via email really are. From a marketing perspective, email communication is a must. While they may not necessarily result in a gift immediately, they serve as a reminder to audiences and support the mailed solicitation. On average, it takes seven touch points before an individual remembers your marketing message. For an end of the year campaign, we average three to four emails alongside the mailed piece and social media posts. For bigger campaigns, we also add a touch point from a development officer such as a personalized phone call or email. 

Where does Giving Tuesday fit in? 

One of the most frequent conversations we have with our clients when it comes to EOY solicitations is how Giving Tuesday should be incorporated into a campaign. From our perspective, EOY and Giving Tuesday need to complement each other and are not competitors. Giving Tuesday has become such a competitive day on digital platforms with every nonprofit vying for donor attention. We typically take the approach of using Giving Tuesday as an engagement and stewardship opportunity and share gratitude towards donors. Your most loyal donors will naturally make a gift in the spirit of the day and new or learning donors will recognize the engagement. 

If your end of the year appeal feels tired and ready for a refresh, contact us to learn more about how we can help.