Topic
year end
Facing a Budget Shortfall at Year-End? Don't Make It Your Appeal
A budget shortfall is a real problem, but "we're behind" rarely moves donors. Here's how to turn a year-end gap into an appeal people want to answer.
Should You Ask Your Volunteers for a Year-End Gift?
Many nonprofits leave volunteers out of the year-end appeal or send them the same letter as everyone else. Here's how to ask people who already give their time.
[Year-end] Episode 7: Keep the Donors You Just Found
It's the first Monday in January. The pantry is quiet, and Dana is looking at a printout of about two hundred new donors with two feelings at once: gratitude that they showed up, and a little dread, because she knows how often first-time donors never give again.
Should You Text Donors at Year-End? What the Numbers Say for Small Nonprofits
Texting donors at year-end is less about whether texts work and more about who already gave you permission. Here's what the latest benchmarks say and how a small nonprofit should decide this December.
[Year-end] Episode 6: The Last 72 Hours
It's December 15, a little after four in the afternoon. Dana clicks schedule on the last of her final-week emails and heads out for the holidays.
How Far Back Should Your Year-End Appeal Go? Deciding Which Lapsed Donors to Mail
Most year-end mail files go back as far as last year's did, and nobody remembers why. A simple break-even calculation tells you which lapsed donors to mail, which to email, and what to say to the ones you haven't heard from in a while.
The Year-End Follow-Up Letter: Why Your Second Mailing Needs Its Own Plan
Your year-end follow-up letter goes to donors who meant to give and set the first letter aside. Here's who should get it, when it should land, and how to write it so it isn't a reprint.
[Year-end] Episode 5: Giving Tuesday Without the Noise
It's the Monday before Thanksgiving, and Dana has eleven emails in her inbox with Giving Tuesday in the subject line. None of them are from donors.
Your Thanksgiving Message to Donors Needs More Than Gratitude
A warm, no-ask Thanksgiving note is a fixture of most year-end plans, but the best research we have on thank-yous suggests gratitude alone may not move donors. Here's how to make your November message show donors what their gift actually did, and how to find out whether it's working.
[Year-end] Episode 4: Your Year-End Email Calendar
Last year, Dana was at her kitchen table at 9:30 on the night of December 18, writing an email that had to go out at eight the next morning. This year she's writing that email in the first week of November, when she's rested and has time to think.
Your Year-End Reply Card Is Doing More Work Than Your Letter
A donor can skip your year-end letter and still give, but they can't give by mail without the reply card. Here's how to make that small card easy to read, fill out, and send back.
[Year-end] Episode 3: One Person, One Problem, One Gift
Dana's first draft of the year-end letter opened with "Riverbend Community Food Pantry is pleased to share" and a number about pounds of food. It was accurate, and it wasn't going to move anyone sitting at a kitchen table with a stack of mail.
Year-End Email Deliverability: How to Keep Your December Appeals Out of Spam
Your year-end appeal can't raise a dollar from the spam folder. Before December, confirm your email authentication, sort your list by who's actually engaging, and protect the sends your best donors are waiting for.
Should You Send Your Year-End Appeal to Donors Who Just Gave?
Donors who gave this fall are some of the likeliest people on your file to give again, so leaving them out of the year-end appeal usually costs you. Here's who to hold back, and what the letter for everyone else should say.
[Year-end] Episode 2: Build an Offer Donors Can Finish
Dana laid last year's year-end letter on Marcus's desk. Across the top it said, "Help us fight hunger in our community." She asked him one question: "If you got this in the mail, how much would you give?" He honestly didn't know.
How to Track Your Year-End Campaign While There's Still Time to Fix It
Most nonprofits learn how year-end went on January 2. Here's how to build a simple pacing chart and know by mid-December whether you need to change course.
Your Top 25 Donors Shouldn't Get Your Year-End Appeal First
Your biggest year-end gifts usually come from a few donors. Here's how to pick your top 25 and ask them personally before the mass appeal arrives in December.
[Year-end] Episode 1: Start with the Math
It's the first week of October, and Dana at Riverbend Community Food Pantry has last year's $210,000 total on one side of her screen and a blank year-end calendar on the other.
QCD Gifts at Year-End: How to Ask Donors 70½ and Older Before December 31
Most nonprofits mention QCDs in one line and hope. Here's who to ask, when to ask, and how to keep IRA gifts from getting lost before the December 31 deadline.
Year-End Gift Processing: How to Date December Donations Correctly
A check mailed on December 30 belongs in December, even if nobody opens it until January. Here's how the IRS dates each kind of year-end gift, and the one-page policy that keeps your receipts right.
How to Choose Ask Amounts for Your Year-End Appeal
Most reply cards get about ten minutes of thought, yet the first number on them shapes who gives and how much. Here's what the research says about ask amounts, and how I'd set them for your year-end appeal.
Should You Ask Monthly Donors for a Year-End Gift?
Should you ask monthly donors for a year-end gift? Yes, most of them. Here's how to make the ask without making your most loyal donors feel overlooked.
The Last 72 Hours of December: How to Plan Your Final Year-End Fundraising Emails
The last days of December bring in a real share of online giving. Here's how to plan your December 29 to 31 fundraising emails now, while you still have time.
The New Charitable Deduction: What to Tell Your Year-End Donors
Starting in 2026, donors who don't itemize can deduct cash gifts again. Here's how to mention it in your year-end appeal accurately and in the right spot.