Are you finding yourself saying, “Yay! We executed a Giving Tuesday campaign, and our supporters loved it! Now what?” Or maybe you are thinking, “Shoot, I didn’t do anything for Giving Tuesday and now I have my Year-End Appeal, now what?”
Whether you executed a Giving Tuesday campaign or not, the period between Giving Tuesday and the end of the year is awkward and confusing.
For some, we have made a huge push to our donor community, and for others, maybe we haven’t, but we know they have seen hundreds of other Giving Tuesday campaigns.
Regardless of which camp you are in, we have some advice on how to craft and share targeted year-end messaging that will resonate with your audience.
#1: “Gimmies”
First, there are some “gimmies” that we should cover.
If you ran a Giving Tuesday campaign, there are some essential boxes to check off when it comes to follow up:
- Thank and inform the people that supported– share the total dollar amount, regardless of if you hit your goal, and talk about what you will do with these funds.
- Inform your overall audience what happened (total amount, impact, etc.)– people need to know what they missed out on. Even though it gets used often, FOMO (“fear of missing out”) is a real social anxiety that can motivate others to give to your future campaigns.
These may seem obvious, but so many organizations neglect to do the above two. It’s important for the people that gave to know the instant result and future impact, and it’s important for the overall audience to know and will help create a FOMO on future fundraisers for someone who didn’t support.
The best way to thank or inform is by using video. Make a thank you message from your CEO, team, OR recipient of your impact. Be sure to recap the success of the campaign and what future impact is possible because of it (and don’t forget to follow up with a video after you have made this happen).
#2: Crafting Your Message for Year-End Appeal
Now it’s time to tell the story of your year-end appeal. If you did execute a Giving Tuesday campaign, directly tie your need from that campaign to your broader year-end appeal (i.e. Giving Tuesday was used to fund a water well, our Year-End Appeal is to provide resources for the entire village the well went in).
This story will be best told through your current audience’s eyes. Can a donor share a story of why they gave? Can a recipient of your impact share their testimony? Do you have a staff member who has a great story from the year? Is there a notable volunteer that has an inspiring purpose for giving time? All of these are possible angles to showcase your overall ask, and we encourage you to use video in any way possible to tell these stories. Video is the most engaging form of storytelling, and it’s the medium that your audience is coming to expect from you to capture their attention.
The other important part of this messaging is that it absolutely needs to include forward-looking messaging, i.e. this is what we DID vs. this is what we ARE GOING TO DO.
Too often, organizations lean on the success of the past and shy from putting our future goals out there. Be strong, proud, and confident as you tell your story in the things that you WILL do in the future with the increased support. For crafting this messaging, also answer questions of “what is our clear goal, maybe in dollars, hours volunteered, etc.?” or “What is our clear ask for support?”
Don’t be afraid to fail. This future forecast as part of your storytelling will be the factor that inspires many donors, including new ones, to answer your “call to belong.” Donating and supporting nonprofits very often can be traced back to someone wanting to belong to something bigger than themselves, a higher calling that they care about above and beyond themselves.
Also important when you are crafting this message is to shape it as if you are talking to one person in your audience. Maybe it’s Susan, a 45-year-old female volunteer who gives her time but not her dollars yet. Maybe it’s Ron, a 65-year-old CEO who writes you an annual check but has the capacity to write a larger one. Don’t be shy in crafting your copy to speak very directly to a specific person in your audience. A well-crafted, personalized message to the right segment can generate more support than a generic message meant for the masses.
#3: Sharing Your Message
Once you have crafted your messaging, it’s important you share it with the right people, using the right channels. We like to call it “right message, right medium.”
Who are the right people to share it with?
It’s so important that you segment your audience based on the data you know about them. The lowest hanging fruit here is to segment based on the campaign someone gave to, i.e. “funding a well” campaign, “school supply” campaign, etc. The more personalized you make a segment, the more specific your messaging will be to them and the more you will connect with them.
How do I share my campaign?
With text message open rates at an astounding 96% average, it’s the clear way to reach your audience. We would argue that simply reaching them isn’t enough. Video content is everywhere today, and it’s the dominant form of capturing attention. Combine that with the fact that 86% of your audience expects a personalized experience, and you are left with the conclusion that, to retain your audience (donors, supporters, etc.), you need to find a way to deliver personalized content to the targeted audience segments, and the best way to get these personalized messages to be seen is distribution via text message. Email is a far second place but still can do a job for you, just with a far lower click-through rate to view content (3% standard click-through rate for email content).
Recap
If you executed a Giving Tuesday campaign, make sure you check off the “gimme’s” of follow-up and get excited about it! When crafting your messaging for your Year-End Appeal, tell your story through your audience’s eyes using video, make a clear ask, and be sure to emphasize your future goals. When sharing your message, segment your audience as much as possible, and do your best to share personalized video content directly via text (or email) when possible.
Crush your year-end fundraising goals! If you’d like to learn more about KindKatch’s solution, please schedule a demo here.