November 24, 2025
Last November, I published a set of year-end fundraising tips.
Since it was the most clicked on email article I published last year, I figured I should expand upon it this year.
Of course, I really should have published this in September or October and I’ll aim to do that next year. But better late than never.
Here are eight key suggestions for you to consider when it comes to year-end fundraising:
1. Don’t just make one effort and call it done
This was my top suggestion last year and I’m repeating it.
People are incredibly generous in December. I’ve read various statistics, but roughly one-third of all nonprofit donations come in during the month. And as much as 10% comes in during the final couple of days of the year.
If your organization has the capacity, you should send out a letter to past donors (and prospective) asking for a gift.
Again, if capacity allows, you should individually follow up via phone or text with those you can (starting with those with the highest level of past giving assuming you have limited capacity).
Of course, for your very top donors, you should be trying to meet with them in-person if they’re interested as that’s the most effective way to build relationships.
Your email campaign should also not just be a one-off. Ideally, you’d kick off the month with an email about your year-end campaign (perhaps focused on Giving Tuesday), follow-up mid-month with a progress/update, and finish it off on the 29th or 30th to spur those final end-of-year donations. Maybe even throw in a final email on the morning of the 31st.
Layer in social media with an overlapping message. And again, not just one. Time at least some social media to go out the same day as your emails. Sometimes the first message piques their interest and the second spurs them to action.
For each separate social media channel where you are active, think 2-3 posts early in December launching your year-end giving, 3-4 mid-month, and a final burst of 4-6 between Christmas and New Years.
2. Make it an integrated campaign
Don’t think you have to write a dozen different appeals if you follow the strategy above.
Have one over-arching campaign, with a goal/theme, that you repeat across every appeal/channel.
Too many nonprofits I know feel like they shouldn’t repeat themselves. Yet, for-profit businesses will use the same marketing and sales pitches over and over again and people don’t blink an eye.
That doesn’t mean you don’t have some variation. Email will be shorter and use simpler language than mail, for example.
3. Make your donor the hero of the story
Think you not we.
Help the donors (and prospective donors) feel celebrated, important, and part of the team. You want them to feel “super” like they have a “super power.”
For example, don’t talk about what “we” have accomplished. Talk about what “you” have accomplished.
Bonus points if you can make the story unfinished, so the donor’s continued generosity is key. Or have a clear sequel story that you gin up as part of the ask for the “next story.”
4. Prime your best folks to further spread the word
You have your lists and social media reach and they get you so far.
But messages from you will have more power when reinforced by individuals who the donor knows.
Reach out to your board members and any key volunteers letting them know to expect the year-end fundraising email(s) and ask them to forward/share them (preferably more than one of them).
Consider directly messaging them on social media (if they’re on your channel) making the same request as you make posts.
This takes time, of course, but can both increase the odds donors respond and allow you to reach new donors from the networks of your board/volunteers.
5. Offer a match (if you can)
Especially for email, evidence shows a match can be motivating to some donors and increase the number of responses and the average gift.
Of course, you can overemphasize a match. It needs to be part of the appeal — the shiny icing on the cake — not the cake itself.
But to the extent you have a single donor (or an array of donors together) who can offer a match that’s large enough to seem motivating, you should do so. After all, cake icing is yummy.
I would not necessarily feature the match in every message. I’d do so more at the beginning of the campaign and again at the end if you haven’t already secured the match.
6. Offer multiple ways to give
Don’t just push people towards online giving and writing checks.
Find at least one or two opportunities (social media, your emails, etc.) to remind people that you:
- Can receive donations of stock
- Can receive distributions from Donor Advised Funds.
- Can receive donations of Crypto
7. Segment
Don’t treat all your donors the same.
To the extent you can, you should remove those you’re targeting with large individual asks from your mass emails and general mailings. Perhaps include them in the final year-end emails if they haven’t given.
With mail, if you can produce two letters – one for those who haven’t given recently and one for those whose support you want to renew, that’s preferable to one message covering both. The letter is mostly the same, but at a few key points your ask language would differ. You can, of course, take this further and segment past donors into different tiers who get letters that mention slightly varied asked for donation amounts.
Likewise, with email, if your email list is synced to your fundraising database in a way that allows you to distinguish past donors from prospective, I would again recommend a slightly different message to the two lists.
8. Don’t forget to allocate time for stewardship
Just because the focus is on asking in December doesn’t mean you can walk away from the need to quickly thank and properly steward your ongoing relationships.
Major donors from earlier in the year should receive some form of year-end thank you.
Build in time to thank your December donors.
And this carries over to the first week in January when it’s time to thank your sustaining/monthly donors from the prior year.
Bonus: Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good
Don’t read the tips above and get overwhelmed if you’re starting from scratch. Better to do a few of these than none. Pick those doable within your time and technology.
Then start planning earlier next year and see what more is feasible.