Schedule Your December Appeals

Happy Monday! Hopefully by today, you've overcome the food coma that Thanksgiving induced and are ready for the biggest giving month of the year. 

Now is the time to start thinking about when you're going to email your supporters to encourage them to include your organization in their holiday/end of year giving plans. If you've been reading this blog, you've already laid the foundation for your giving case by sending around a compelling story about one of your constituents - and giving your supporters credit for the life they changed.

It's a good idea to email your supporters at least a few times throughout the month of December - including at least twice during the last week of the year. This chart of online giving through  Network for Good in 2008 makes a powerful case for reaching out to donors on the 30th and 31st - when 22% of the year's online giving happens.

 

That's right - 33% of all online giving happens in the last month of the year, and 22% in the last 2 days!  So it's not too late to set up a powerful plan for year-end giving, and the first step is deciding when you're going to reach out to your donors. 

Here's my plan for an organization that I'm working with:

• December 14 (1 month after my thank you story email) - another constituent story, this time with an ask for support to change even more lives in 2012
• December 21 - another story of a life that's been changed, another ask
• December 29 - a short, sweet story and reminder to make a donation by the end of the year
• December 31, 8 am (to make sure it's at the top of their inbox) - don't drop the ball - make a donation before the ball drops!

After each email, I'm going to check my list carefully and exclude anyone who has already made a gift in December - you don't want to treat your donors like ATMs - if they've already given, concentrate on thanking them, not asking again!