73. Last Minute Giving Strategies for Year-End [Year-End Fundraising 8 of 8]

Summary

The Fundraising Masterminds Podcast Episode 73: Last Minute Giving Strategies for Year-End Release Date: December 18, 2024

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Introduction

In Episode 73 of The Fundraising Masterminds Podcast, hosts Jim Dempsey and Jason Galicinski dive into the critical final two weeks of December, focusing on last-minute giving strategies essential for nonprofit leaders aiming to maximize their year-end fundraising efforts. Building on a comprehensive eight-part series that began in September, this episode encapsulates key tactics, insightful discussions, and actionable strategies to ensure nonprofits close the year fully funded.

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The Importance of Year-End Fundraising

Jim opens the discussion by emphasizing the significance of the last two weeks of December. He cautions against the common tendency to wind down fundraising efforts as the holiday season becomes hectic.

Jim (00:35): "This is the time when you really want to emphasize strongly…"

Jason reinforces this by presenting compelling statistics that highlight the importance of December in fundraising activities.

Jason (02:06): "On average, nonprofits raise 25% of their annual budget in the month of December and 10% in the last three days of the month."

This data underscores that the final weeks of the year are not only important but also a prime opportunity to secure significant funding.

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Last-Minute Giving Strategies

1. Follow-Up Strategy

Jim and Jason discuss the necessity of a robust follow-up strategy during the last week of the year. With limited time left, they advise focusing on digital communication methods over traditional direct mail.

Jim (02:35): "At this point in time, it's too late to do direct mail letters. We want to be focusing on emails, texts, and also E-blasts."

2. Targeting and List Segmentation

A critical step is identifying and targeting donors who have contributed in the past but haven't yet given for the current year. Segmentation allows nonprofits to prioritize their efforts effectively.

Jason (02:30): "Target people who normally have given in the past but haven't given yet."

They further elaborate on list segmentation, particularly focusing on the "critical few" donors who contribute the majority of funds.

Jason (02:35): "Especially if it's your 20%—your critical few who bring in 80% of your dollars."

3. Multi-Touch Email Campaigns

Jim suggests implementing a series of email campaigns rather than relying on a single email blast to maintain momentum and engagement.

Jim (04:13): "When you say final email blast, I'm assuming you mean like a series of emails."

Jason concurs, outlining a timeline that spans from Thursday to New Year's Eve, ensuring consistent outreach during peak giving days.

Jason (04:18): "Start early in the morning just like we talked on Giving Tuesday, just reminding people that we've got last minute opportunity."

4. Leveraging Matching Gifts

Introducing a matching gift strategy can significantly boost donations. Jim shares his organization's experience with matching gifts, illustrating how this tactic can galvanize donors to contribute more.

Jason (05:00): "We've got a match and X amount of dollars is match. Now for some ministries like CREW, we have times where our match is met even in the first week of December and we have to circle back to people."

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Crafting Impactful Appeals

The hosts stress the importance of communicating the tangible impact of donations. By detailing how specific gift amounts translate into real-world benefits, nonprofits can make their appeals more compelling.

Jim (06:29): "If we are a rescue and it costs $25 a meal to serve people on New Year's Day, your gift of $25 will serve one. Your gift of $75 will serve three meals. Your gift of $750 will serve 30 meals."

This approach not only clarifies the value of each donation but also fosters a deeper connection between donors and the organization's mission.

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Preparing for Last-Minute Donations

Anticipating and efficiently managing last-minute gifts is crucial. Jim shares anecdotal evidence of the impact being ready to respond can have, recounting a memorable instance where a major donation was secured just minutes before midnight.

Jim (07:46): "I've had an individual who've given a gift… sometime around 10 minutes before midnight… that's amazing."

To handle such opportunities, the hosts recommend ensuring that team members are on standby, whether it's through phone calls, emails, or even being physically present to receive donations.

Jason (08:45): "You just want to be on call, you want to be available… you could be out there shoveling snow and the phone rings and you pick it up, you walk into the garage, pick it up. And that could be a hundred thousand dollar gift."

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Utilizing Technology and Teamwork

Jim and Jason advocate for leveraging technology and team collaboration to manage last-minute donations effectively. This includes forwarding phones to personal devices and organizing team shifts to ensure constant availability during critical days.

Jason (09:14): "It could be the development director, it could be an administrative assistant. People could take shifts…"

Such preparations ensure that no opportunity is missed, regardless of external circumstances like weather or personal commitments.

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Looking Ahead: Building for Future Success

As the episode concludes, the hosts shift focus to long-term strategies, encouraging listeners to adopt meaningful resolutions for 2025. They highlight the Major Donor Mastery course as a pivotal resource for enhancing major donor engagement.

Jim (10:13): "One of a really good New Year's resolution for our audience would be to resolve to start training your board members, resolve to get more best practices of development…"

Jason adds that implementing even a fraction of the course's teachings can lead to substantial donations, sharing his personal success with handling high-value gifts.

Jason (12:00): "I've handled personally in the high tens for sure. Like 40, 50, 60, 70. Yeah. Like 70 of those checks coming through."

This emphasis on education and continuous improvement underscores the podcast's commitment to empowering nonprofit leaders beyond the immediate fundraising season.

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Conclusion and Resources

Jim and Jason wrap up the episode by reflecting on the success of the year and the transformative impact of effective fundraising. They promote the Perfect Vision Dinner award, recognizing organizations that raise significant funds, and encourage listeners to apply for support to elevate their fundraising efforts.

Jim (15:14): "We've raised over $7 million for the kingdom… think of all the lives that are going to be affected."

Additionally, they offer a complimentary PDF summary of the eight-part year-end campaign series, available via a QR code, providing a handy checklist for future reference.

Jim (10:13): "Scan the QR code on your screen that is going to take you to a place where you can download this great PDF summary."

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Key Takeaways

1. Persist Until the End: The last two weeks of December are pivotal for fundraising; maintaining momentum is crucial.
2. Focus on Digital Communications: Prioritize emails, texts, and E-blasts over direct mail in the final stretch.
3. Segment Your Donor List: Target past donors who haven't yet contributed this year, especially the top 20% who provide 80% of funding.
4. Implement Multi-Touch Campaigns: Utilize a series of strategic emails to keep donors engaged and motivated.
5. Leverage Matching Gifts: Use matching funds to incentivize larger donations and drive urgency.
6. Communicate Impact Clearly: Detail how each donation amount translates into specific outcomes to inspire generosity.
7. Prepare for Last-Minute Donations: Ensure availability and readiness to respond to donations at any hour during the final days.
8. Invest in Future Growth: Consider educational resources like the Major Donor Mastery course to enhance long-term fundraising success.

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Final Thoughts

Episode 73 serves as a comprehensive guide for nonprofit leaders navigating the final weeks of the year. By implementing the strategies discussed by Jim and Jason, organizations can effectively harness the year-end giving surge, secure essential funds, and set a strong foundation for continued success in the coming year.

For more resources and to download the year-end campaign PDF summary, visit fundraisingmasterminds.net.

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Thank you for tuning into The Fundraising Masterminds Podcast. Stay committed, stay inspired, and here's to a fully funded future for your nonprofit!

Transcript

[A]

You're listening to the number one podcast for nonprofit leaders getting your nonprofit fully funded. This is the Fundraising Masterminds podcast.

[B]

Now, for some ministries, we have times where our match is met, even in the first week of December. And we have to circle back to people, we have to scramble. How can we reach your goal? We've got a match.

[A]

Welcome, everybody, to another episode here at Fundraising Masterminds. We are coming into the final weeks of December.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And we're finishing up our year end fundraising series. Yeah, we started way back in September.

[B]

Seems like forever, but I know.

[A]

Yeah. We're coming into the final stretch. And this episode is called Last Minute Giving Strategies for Year End. So this is like the final two weeks.

[B]

Yeah. This year really is important time of the year.

[A]

And. And so we're going to be talking about just what you should be doing towards the end of the year. So by now you should have your giving too. Tuesday campaign is done. You've got your letters out, you've been making some phone calls, and we're finally coming into the home stretch. So we on. On this episode, we want to talk about just the importance.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Of not giving up on the last two weeks. You know, so often, you know, mid December, things start to get busy. You know, our kids are doing all these Christmas things, and we've got a lot of Christmas parties and. And we've got family to get ready for. We got gifts to buy. It's so easy just to have the tendency to wash your hands and just say, I did my thing, I'm done. I'm moving on. But we really shouldn't be moving on.

[B]

No, this is not the time to give up. And there's actually some important statistics, Jason, that I think are important. The first one is, on average, nonprofits raise 25% of their annual budget in the month of December. I kind of grasp that, Jason. One month, 25% of the annual budget and 10% of their annual budget in the last three days of the month. So tell me if December or the last week is important or not.

[A]

I don't think it's important.

[B]

Yeah, it is.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

All the evidence points to it being important. This is not the time of the year to coast, and we want to make sure that we close with a goal and that we make sure that we identify those individuals who haven't given yet.

[A]

Okay, well, we're going to talk about some last minute giving strategies that you can implement starting right now.

[B]

Right.

[A]

These are just quick little things, but, Jim, give us kind of a quick checklist of what we should be doing.

[B]

Yeah, the last week of the year, Jason, it really is so important. I mean, we talk about determining the follow up, how to follow up. So you need to make sure you have a strategy as we're starting to wrap up on the last week of the year. At this point in time, it's too late to do direct mail letters. This is somewhat like we talked about during Giving Tuesday. We want to be focusing on an emails, texts, and also E blast. So this is so important. Now this week we want to target people who normally have given in the past but haven't given yet. So that really does narrow down your search. Then we also want to focus in on list segmentation. And once again, what is list segmentation? It's taking your list and chopping it up in, in segments based on certain criteria. So you want to, especially if it's your 20%, your critical few who bring in 80% of your dollars. And those people, those individual people have not given yet. You want to make sure, definitely a phone call and potentially if there's time, some people do work between Christmas and New Year's, you want to get to those people in either a phone call or a visit. And then the rest of your list, you want to email those individuals. So that's important. When we get to the rest, it's important to know we don't need to drill down, say who hasn't given to the rest of the list, but within the critical few, it's important that we do that. Yeah, yeah. Next we want to do a final push of giving and that means a final email blast.

[A]

When you say final email blast, I'm assuming you mean like a series of emails.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Not just one.

[B]

This is not the one final and it ends it. This is very much like your Giving Tuesday in the sense that there will be a series. Now this year, Christmas Eve is on Tuesday, Christmas Day is on Wednesday. So you're going to start to get some people who are going to start to go back to work on Thursday and Friday. So that's not wrong to go ahead and start to reach out to those people. And certainly now you'll, you'll have some people that are, you know, they're taking the 21st through the first off or second really. But there are people, a lot of people that go back, they'll at least put in Thursday and Friday. So you want to, you probably want to look at an email on Thursday and Friday, maybe even an E blast on Saturday and then come back on New Year's Eve. Because that's going to be an important time for you. And so you're going to start early in the morning just like we talked on Giving Tuesday, just reminding people that we've got last minute opportunity. You could even decide to circle back if you've got any money left and do what you did on Giving Tuesday. And as an added incentive, you a 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 match like you did on Giving Tuesday. But at a minimum you want to emphasize the amount of money that you still need to reach your goal. And how can we get there? Well, we've got a match and X amount of dollars is match. Now for some ministries and crew is one of those. We have times where our match is met even in the first week of December and we have to circle back to people. We have to scramble and start to get our next wave of matching gifts. Now what we do is sometimes, sometimes we kind of prepare for that next wave and we tell people if we do run out, we're going to come to you and I want you to have already decided by that time. So we generally have two waves. So we're, if we're running out somewhere around the 13th to 15th, on the 15th we're going to reload and say unfortunately our money went out. But I've got some great news. Handful of individuals have added an extra 20,000 or 50,000 into the pot and we're gonna use that to take that money home.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah. So you need to make sure when you're doing your final email pitch, you wanna make sure that you're using impactful language. One of the things of course we emphasized early on in our cause concept and also in our letters was the. So that the outcome of that this is the time when you really want to emphasize strongly if we are a rescue and it costs $25ameal to serve people on New Year's Day. Your gift of $25 will serve one. Your gift of $75 will serve three meals. Your gift of $750 will serve 30 meals. So it's so important that you're doing that. And lastly, we want to prepare for last minute gifts and questions. Now it is so important that you are preparing and are ready. Now I get it. That you are probably exhausted from the year. You would love to be one of those people to take the whole week off. Yeah. You have individuals that in their minds they're focused in on making some last minute gifts. Number one, you want to be prepared to thank those people for last minute gifts and even have a Conversation because I've had some individuals who've given a gift. I've called them on the 30th and they said, wow, that's really nice you to call me on this. Hey, how you doing on your goal? Well, we're still about 30,000 off. Well, you know, I gave you 20,000. How about if I give you an extra 10, would that make a difference? Absolutely it would. So you've got to be prepared, prepared for that. And of course, I've, you know, mentioned this story a million times, but I can still remember in the mid-2000s, I was in Indianapolis at a CREW winter conference and I had an individual, a few days before midnight call me with frustration and say, I am so glad somebody picked up. I've been trying to give a major stock gift and you were the only one to pick up on that. You're gonna get my gift. And I'm so glad that I picked up somewhere around 10 minutes before midnight, which was amazing.

[A]

You just, you just want to be on call, you want to be available, you want to, you want to be ready to answer questions and take information, be, you know, have someone ready to pick up the phone or, or checking your email or anything like.

[B]

And it doesn't have to be you as the executive director. It could be the development director, it could be an administrative assistant. People could take shifts. You know, somebody work on the 26th, somebody work on the 27th, 20. Somebody work on the 28th, 29th, 30th.

[A]

So we're saying work. We don't mean like, no, you're on call.

[B]

Really what it is. Yeah, yeah. So you've got your phone forwarded to your cell phone and you know, you could be out there shoveling snow and the phone rings and you pick it up, you walk into the, into garage, pick it up. And that could be a hundred thousand dollar gift. Yes. Right.

[A]

Well, Jim, I've got a good handle on what to do last minute.

[B]

Good.

[A]

Thank you for those last minute tips.

[B]

Well, they've been very valuable to me and I've seen a lot of great results.

[A]

Yeah. Well, this concludes our eighth episode on year end fundraising strategies. Hope you guys enjoyed it. And for those of you who are just tuning in and just maybe watching this last episode, you know, we did do eight parts. We started back in September.

[B]

A lot of key points.

[A]

But we're also hoping that this stays on YouTube or on the Internet for quite a while. So, yeah, there might be some of you that are discovering this, you know, for the first time.

[B]

20, 25.

[A]

Yeah. Several years down the road we might be discovering this. And so we do hope that this becomes kind of a resource that you can go back to year after year. And so we did create a year end campaign PDF summary of the whole series. So if you don't want to take the time to re listen to all the episodes, but you'd like to have kind of a printable checklist of what were the things that we said we were going to do, go ahead and scan the QR code on your screen that is going to take you to a place where you can download this great PDF summary. We'd summarize basically all eight episodes in one place, more as a checklist format and just little summary statements of what to do so that you know what to do next year.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And the year after and the year after. You can just keep coming back to that. So we hope that that helps a lot. You know, as, as we're getting close to the year end and going into January, you know, a lot of people make some New Year's resolutions. And I think one of a really good New Year's resolution for our audience would be to resolve to start training your board members, resolve to get more best practices of development. And one of the things that I think would really, really help you as an organization is to resolve to take the major Donor mastery course. Because I mean, just implementing 10%, right, even just 10% of what you learn in this course, you will probably get a significant gift as a result. And really the course is focused on principles, right? So we're teaching you the core principles. This is really all the secrets you've learned. 40 years of development.

[B]

This is not just theory. These are do this, do this, do this.

[A]

How many million dollar checks has been written that you've handled personally?

[B]

Oh, definitely in the high tens for sure. Yeah. Like 40, 50, 60, 70. Yeah. 70 of those checks coming through. Yeah.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So you know a thing or two about, you know, talking to major donors. That's not. No one writes you a million dollar check through an email, right?

[B]

That's or without knowing you.

[A]

Right. So, so this Major Donor mastery course is really the key. It is to understanding how to find major donors, how to build relationships with major donors, how to meet with major donors, how to present, how to do the appeal, how to follow up, how to do reporting, all the stuff we talk about in this course.

[B]

And we're going to reveal some secrets that I haven't revealed to others before.

[A]

We'll probably never talk about those secrets on this podcast because there's some things that we just need to save for our courses for our special people. So this year, starting December 25th on Christmas, all the way through to the end of the year, December midnight, December 31st.

[B]

Right.

[A]

We are going to be offering a 25 off sale for major donor Mastery. This is our gift to you. It's a pretty substantial discount.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And if you're ever thinking about, you know, wanting to get educated, wanting to learn the secrets, wanting to take your giving to the next level, this would be a perfect investment for you at this time. And we're hoping that you can take this content, you can start listening to it, start getting going during the Christmas season, And really by January 1st, you can resolve to go through improving your major donor effort for 2025.

[B]

I love that idea of resolutions. We should maybe consider that resolutions for 2025 might be a great topic for us.

[A]

I think we might have a topic idea coming out soon. Well, it's been a great episode, Jim, and I hope that you have a great Christmas coming up.

[B]

It has been a great year for fundraising Mastermind. We've seen God work miraculously. Literally hundreds and hundreds of people have taken the class. And we've seen millions and millions raised over $10 million. $10 million raised through our classes for those nonprofit organizations. And it's not just about helping them meet their budget. It's about changing lives. It's about purchasing a sonogram machine, a sonographer. It's about feeding homeless people. It's about getting women out of the cyc. Human trafficking. It's about breaking kids out of the bondage of poverty in Zambia. Wow. I love it.

[A]

Yeah. If you ever think that Jim and I are about making lots of money, it's not true. We are. We are here to make an impact and to build the kingdom. Well, we've really had a great year just for the Perfect Vision dinner. Yeah. Combined two classes. Can you believe that? We've raised over $7 million.

[B]

Oh, man.

[A]

For the kingdom.

[B]

Incredible.

[A]

Yeah. And just think of all the lives that are going to be affected.

[B]

Impact.

[A]

Impact.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

We now have a Perfect Vision Dinner award for organizations that raise 100,000 or more. And I can't tell you how many awards we've given out this year. Over 30, for sure. So it's been really, really good. So you can get on our website, fundraisingmasterminds.net you can apply for the Perfect Vision Dinner anytime. And we review those applications as we get closer. But it's good time to take advantage of it because we want to help you get to the next level.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

Well, Jim, merry Christmas.

[B]

Hey, Merry Christmas to you, too, Jason.

[A]

Yeah. It's been a great year.

[B]

It has.

[A]

Thanks for doing these podcast episodes and sharing all your wisdom.

[B]

God bless this ministry, and I'm excited about it.

[A]

Yeah. Merry Christmas to you guys. Happy New Year. Hope to see you first thing in January.

[B]

Take care. It.