Podcast Summary

Nonprofit Lowdown #362 – What You Need to Know Before Giving Tuesday with Jess Campbell
Host: Rhea Wong
Guest: Jess Campbell (Founder, Out in the Boons)
Date: November 3, 2025

Overview

In this action-packed episode, Rhea Wong sits down with fundraising and email marketing expert Jess Campbell to deliver a tactical, no-BS masterclass on prepping your nonprofit for Giving Tuesday and year-end fundraising. Jess shares “do this, not that” strategies grounded in real-life experience running multiple campaigns annually, making the episode an invaluable resource packed with actionable advice on emails, omni-channel comms, matching gifts, appeals, segmentation, list hygiene, and more.

Key Topics & Insights

Setting the Stage for Year-End Fundraising

[01:07]–[06:30] Jess Campbell

• It’s Too Late for List Growth—But Just in Time to Activate:
  “At this point in the year, we’re not growing your email list…what we’re trying to do is activate the folks already in your current audience.” [01:37]
• Now is about engaging and activating your current list and donors—acquisition comes earlier in the year.
• Email is crucial but shouldn’t be your only channel: the most effective campaigns are omni-channel (email, mail, phone, text, video).

Gold Standards for Email & Communications

[06:31]–[13:15] Jess Campbell

• Communicate Early and Often:
  • Weekly emails are strongly encouraged to build familiarity and trust; less-frequent “surprise” asks come off as inauthentic and ineffective.
  • “I see folks saying, ‘I don’t want to bother people…I’ll send one newsletter a quarter’—and then in December suddenly you’re asking for donations and it just doesn’t feel good.” [07:45]
  • If weekly isn’t possible, do at least twice a month.
• Creative Engaging Content:
  • Don’t send generic “Happy Halloween”—tie content to your mission with interesting, relevant (even “spooky”) data or stories.
• Benchmarks & Optimization:
  • Research your own open/click rates and compare to sector data to set improvement targets for the next 5 weeks.

Essential Year-End Campaign Components

[09:10]–[15:00] Jess Campbell

• Secure a Match Donor:
  • “Matches are magic—something psychological happens to donors when they know their gifts will be doubled.” [10:35]
  • Any size match works; if you can’t get one from a corporation/major donor, pool gifts from your board.
• Hard Copy Appeals:
  • “Hard copy appeal traditionally has the highest ROI in fundraising—even though it’s expensive.” [11:35]
  • Use a brightly colored envelope and include a remit envelope—skip the QR code-only shortcut.
• Phone Calls/Text/Video:
  • Personal calls (even leaving voicemails) work wonders for thank yous and reminders.
  • Texts and voice memos (personal, not mass) prompt conversation and gratitude.
  • Short, authentic videos are best used for gratitude—not necessarily fundraising asks.

Questions from Listeners – Deep Dives

Best Practices for Matching Gifts
[13:23]–[16:01] Jess Campbell

• Ask boldly, especially if prospects want recognition (individual or corporate).
• Communicate the match frequently, visually bold and clear, and illustrate what “double the impact” truly means.
• “Run the match until you reach the max—even past Giving Tuesday if you don’t hit it.” [15:08]
• Be bold and repetitive: “You need to do it more than once, eight to twenty times.” [14:35]
• “There’s no marketing police coming to get you!” (on continuing to talk about the match) [15:31]

Hard Copy Mailings: Who Gets What?
[16:24]–[18:50] Jess Campbell

• Let your budget determine your mailing list size, targeting your most likely givers (e.g., donors who’ve given $100+ in the past 3 years).
• Start conservative for your first mailing; skip a follow-up mailing if you’re new—try phone/text/email reminders instead.

The “Do This, Not That” Guide

[19:06]–[29:00] Jess Campbell

Do This:

• Make Asks Specific & Compelling
  • Bad Example: “Help us reach our $100,000 goal!”
  • Good Example: “You have the power to help us clear 400 single moms off our waitlist.”
  • Use clear, specific goals and explain exactly what the funds will accomplish.
• Set Public, Believable Goals:
  • Unusual, specific numbers are more credible (e.g., $21,903).
  • People like a public goalpost to rally around.
• Send More, Well-Timed Emails:
  • Minimum: Weekly December emails—ideally 10–16 total.
  • Prioritize Fridays (“people use their inbox as a to-do list”) [23:13].
  • Send at least 4 emails in the last 3 days of the year. These can be shorter, more direct calls to action.
  • “The last three days of the year are some of the most profitable fundraising days—no question.” [23:36]

Don’t Do This:

• Ghost Your List Until Giving Tuesday
  • Sending one to three emails in total won’t break through the noise (“You have to send more.” [25:24])
• Worry About Bothering People
  • “If people unsubscribe, they probably weren’t going to give anyway.” [26:14]
  • “You are not your subscriber—don’t assume everyone’s inbox situation matches yours.” [26:53]
  • But always send good, interesting emails!
• Stop If You Hit Your Goal
  • “If you hit your goal early, do not stop asking. People love to be on a winning team, and over-raising is more inspiring.” [27:25]
  • Communicate transparently what extra funds will accomplish.
• Spend Excess Time on Social Media
  • Social is great for awareness, terrible for raising money. Focus on channels that drive results (email, mail, phone).

Segmentation: Treat Major Donors & Monthly Donors Differently

[29:26]–[33:19] Ria & Jess Campbell

• Don’t Mass-Solicit Major Donors:
  • Have one-on-one cultivation and ask conversations.
  • Suppress from general appeals if already giving.
  • For lapsed majors, personal outreach—not email blast.
• Monthly Donors:
  • Don’t lump monthly donors in with mass asks; try a small, special appeal for a one-time, extra gift.
  • “Mapping who you want to communicate with and how is worth the time investment.” [32:39]
• Offer Multiple Ways to Give:
  • Make it easy to donate via check, DAF, stock, even crypto.
  • Market Smart’s free DAF widget is recommended for donation pages.

Getting More Clicks, Opens & Hand-Raisers

[35:04]–[42:08] Jess Campbell

• Subject Lines Spark Curiosity:
  • “He almost quit.” (human interest)
  • “29% of nonprofits won’t do this.” (data, curiosity)
  • Use subjectline.com for free scoring and ideas.
• Clickable Engagement:
  • Embed fun, low-barrier clickable sections at the end of newsletters (“Bit of Fun from the Internet,” clickable quizzes, reply-with-an-emoji polls).
  • Lower the barrier for engagement to get readers used to clicking and interacting before you ever make an ask.
• Hand Raising:
  • Insert “hand-raising” options in emails & website forms:
    • Interested in a tour
    • Interested in giving $10k+
    • Interested in legacy/bequest giving
  • Invitation for follow-up on these signals

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Matches are magic. There’s something psychological, there’s something motivating to the donor—you’re going to double the impact.” – Jess Campbell [10:35]
• “Be bold. There’s no marketing police that’s coming to you and saying, ‘You said it was for Giving Tuesday!’ Just keep going.” – Jess Campbell [15:31]
• “Sending one to three emails will not get the job done, unfortunately. It’s just too crowded. It’s too busy. You won’t break through.” – Jess Campbell [25:16]
• “People love to be on a winning team. I always pick a more conservative goal that we hit and over-raise than crawling to the finish line that we never hit.” – Jess Campbell [27:39]
• “You are not your subscriber. Maybe you love or hate email. That doesn’t mean your donor does. Don’t project your feelings onto your list!” – Jess Campbell [26:53]
• “Social media is just a really difficult channel to raise money on. If you have to cut a channel, cut social first.” – Jess Campbell [28:13]
• “A plain text email with a big, colored donate button outperforms the fanciest graphics every time.” – Jess Campbell [46:35]

Rapid Fire Advanced Tips

• Don’t Overinvest in Graphics:
  • Text-based, single-column emails with bolded buttons outperform image-heavy marketing emails.
• Link Often in Asks:
  • Inserting the donation link 5–7 times per ask email increases conversion.
• Font Size:
  • Use 18pt or higher for easy mobile reading.
• Don’t AB Test Yourself to Death:
  • Tweak and experiment earlier in the year; in Q4, focus on getting it done!

Resources & Templates Mentioned

• Jess’s low-cost template shop (great for overcoming blank page syndrome)
• Resources for email inspiration:
  • Email Love database
• Free tools: subjectline.com for subject lines
• DAF widgets from MarketSmart

Closing Thoughts & Calls to Action

• Start early, show up often, send more than you think you should.
• Make your giving process easy, obvious, and multi-optioned.
• Don’t be afraid to be bold and direct—people need clarity, not subtlety, at year-end.
• If you hit your goal, keep asking, and communicate what the extra support will accomplish.
• Focus resources where results come from—primarily email, phone, and mail.

For more from Jess Campbell, check out her template shop or connect on LinkedIn. To catch Rhea Wong’s “Big Ask Gift” program and future webinars, visit riawong.com.