Happy New Year
It’s Week 52 – the final entry in this yearlong project. The last hour that you have to put toward your fundraising foundation, annual giving, happens this week. You have your end-of-year appeal messaging all in place, with the final asks hitting your social media pages and donors’ email accounts on Thursday.
The greatest return on your time now is to refresh your list of donors who gave in 2019 but not yet in 2020. Include gift dates in your report; people who gave at the very end of 2019 may well be planning to give to your organization this week. Use your time strategically to call people who gave earlier in 2019. Your cause may have slipped off their radar, or they may think they already renewed. Make it a friendly call with a program update – don’t lead with the ask. If the donor doesn’t mention that a gift is coming, try a message like, “I hope we can count on your support again this year, as we close out 2020.” You should be able to close the conversation on a high note and it’s likely the next best move is to send a quick email thank-you with the link to your online giving page.
Finish strong and enjoy a quiet week to begin the New Year!