7 specific year-end tips to spice up your campaign

The Good Stuff is back! It feels good to send you one of these for the first time since February. And just this week, I hit 1,000 subscribers on LinkedIn. So cool. Thank you!

Every October, my inbox goes wild. This year feels more bananas than ever. I'm getting 10-20 emails a day promoting year-end webinars, guides, toolkits, podcasts, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

So much of the content is generic. “Share stories of impact.” “Segment and personalize your emails.” “Say thank you.” Cool, we got it.?

I want to share specific, tactical year-end tips with you that I haven't seen elsewhere. I hope you find something unique and helpful here.

?If you're scrambling to pull your campaign together, or your organization is preparing to run the same old again this year, let's spend a few hours together. I'm offering year-end content reviews starting at just $250!

Ask yourself these 7 questions to enhance your year-end campaign…

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1. Does our campaign have at least one video?

Your videos don't need to be highly produced. Often, raw is more effective. Here are some examples of videos to include in your campaign:

• Campaign launch video or live stream: A live stream can even be prerecorded using a tool like StreamYard.
• Campaign explainer “from the field” to excite donors and show how their money will be used. A program staff person or volunteer is the ideal star. These videos work great for social media ads.
• 2024 impact report preview: This is a good one if your donors are more academic and appreciate updates directly from your ED or CEO.
• Thank you celebration! A group of program staff, volunteers, and/or beneficiaries can have fun with this. You can send this video in the auto-reply thank you email right after someone donates to surprise and delight them, or send it to all donors in January with your final campaign results.

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2. Is our organization's name visible on the email sender line?

Every nonprofit sends emails from personal senders these days. This isn't always the best in my opinion. 90% of the time, I'm not involved enough with the organization to remember who “Julia Douglas” is, so it's a missed opportunity for repeated brand exposure in my inbox.

When you send emails from individuals, make sure your org name is also visible, e.g. “Julia at YMCA.” This way, when people (often) don't recognize the person's name, they're reminded of your org.

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3. Do our email subject lines make sense without the preview text?

You may have seen that with the latest iOS update, email previews are being replaced by AI-generated text in the Apple Mail app. You should still craft preview text for readers using other apps, but make sure your year-end subject lines can stand alone.

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4. Do we have a plan for exclusions?

There's so much emphasis on email segmentation and personalization that most organizations forget to stop asking people for money after they've given. This happened to me last year and put a bad taste in my mouth.

Once someone donates to your year-end campaign, please exclude them from the rest of your appeals. Instead, send them campaign progress updates and messages of thanks.

If you can't create custom emails for these donors, send them a couple of heartfelt thank you's and then stop emailing them until January 1. This is preferable to continuing to ask them for money.

The same tip goes for your ads, SMS/MMS messages, and direct mail pieces. Once people give, stop asking them!

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5. Are we sending a text message or two?

Sending a text message in conjunction with an email appeal can boost donations big time. It makes perfect sense; emails have a 30% (ish) open rate and texts have a 99% open rate.?

If you have texted your donors recently, send just one or two thoughtful texts at year-end. Something specific with urgency and personalization goes a long way, like…

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“Happy holidays, Caroline! Just want to let you know we have a 3x match this week. If you plan to make a gift, your $ will go triple the distance right now. Thanks so much!”

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A thank you text is also a rare gem. Very few people feel annoyed about getting thanked, especially if you embed that fun thank you video!

If you have not texted your donors recently, I would wait until January. Send a text in the new year to let them know you'll be sending infrequent texts in 2025. Tell them exactly what they can expect, e.g. “a monthly update on how your $ is being put to work and breaking news alerts.”

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6. Are we leaving automated thank you voicemails?

I love this hack! Call your most important donors and leave the rest an automated voicemail with a tool like Slybroadcast. Record it as a group! Sing a song! Recite a donor appreciation haiku! Have FUN with it!

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7. Are we doing something special for donors in January?

A little gift, a virtual event, a behind-the-scenes video, an opportunity to participate in research or advocacy… whatever it is, make sure you're planning something special for your donors in January. Use your December content to tease this so they know an exclusive perk is coming.

I will share more tips like these over the coming weeks. Best of luck preparing for and running your campaign!?

?Please reach out ASAP if you'd like my help. Spending just an hour (or a few) together could give your year-end results a big lift.

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Until next time!

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-Caroline

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*Proudly pumping a bottle for Graham while writing this newsletter. Thank you to all the clients and work friends who have made me feel supported and understood while navigating back to work with a baby. I feel very lucky to make a living working alongside people who treat each other as whole humans. <333

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