Nonprofit Answers podcast · 7-episode series
Finish Strong: Your Year-End Campaign, One Episode at a Time
Seven short episodes that take you from October to January: set your goal, build the offer, write the letter, plan your email and Giving Tuesday, finish the last 72 hours and keep the donors you found.
7 episodes · part of the Nonprofit Answers podcast
Why this series
Most year-end campaigns are written in December. The ones that work are planned in October.
Every episode follows Dana, the executive director of Riverbend Community Food Pantry, from the first week of October to the first Monday in January. Riverbend is fictional, but if you've worked at a small nonprofit, you'll recognize it. Last year Dana was at her kitchen table at 9:30 at night on December 18, writing an email that had to go out the next morning. This year she plans it all early.
Each episode takes one piece of the campaign and turns it into decisions you can make this week. By the end of the series, you'll have a goal, an offer, a letter, an email calendar, a Giving Tuesday plan and a way to keep January's new donors.
- 7EpisodesShort and practical, with one step of your campaign in each.
- 4MonthsFrom setting your number in October to keeping new donors in January.
- 1Example nonprofitFollow Riverbend Community Food Pantry as it plans its year-end campaign.
- Dec 1Giving Tuesday 2026Episode 5 helps you decide what the day is for, then do that one thing well.
Episode guide
7 episodes, in order
Listen in sequence, or jump to the topic you need this week. Every episode page has show notes.
Part 1 · October: set the plan
- 1
Start with the Math
Turn last year's October to December giving into a goal you can show your board, built from your donors, their response rate and their average gift.
- 2
Build an Offer Donors Can Finish
Turn a slogan into an offer donors can picture and finish: a specific need, a price, an outcome and a deadline, plus a simple match.
Part 2 · November: the letter, email and Giving Tuesday
- 3
One Person, One Problem, One Gift
Rebuild the year-end letter around one person, one problem and one gift, then turn it into four versions for different donors.
- 4
Your Year-End Email Calendar
Plan about twenty emails from November 1 to midnight on December 31, written in batches before December gets busy.
- 5
Giving Tuesday Without the Noise
Decide what Giving Tuesday is for this year, from an all-in launch to a simple thank-you, and win the day after.
Part 3 · Finish the year and keep your donors
- 6
The Last 72 Hours
Write and schedule a six-email final week by December 15, and check your donation page on a phone before the last rush.
- 7
Keep the Donors You Just Found
Keep the donors year-end brought in: thank everyone within 48 hours, run a board thank-a-thon and start a 90-day welcome series.
Free 12-day email course
Get the Year-End Fundraising Email Course
The podcast walks you through the campaign. The free email course helps you build yours: one short lesson a day for 12 days, each with one thing to do before the next email arrives.
Start any time. If Giving Tuesday has already passed, the course tells you what to do instead.
Free. One email a day for 12 days. Unsubscribe anytime.
What's inside
- Your year-end plan on one page
- Who gets which message, and how to split your list
- The story and the match that carry your campaign
- Your December calendar, built backward
- Swipe copy for your six final-week emails
- What to do in the first week of January
Go deeper
Turn what you hear into a plan
The podcast shows you what to do. The Finish Strong course and workbook walk you through building your own campaign, step by step.
Finish the year strong.
Start with episode 1 this week, and get the free email course so you finish the series with a plan.