Fundraising Do’s vs. Don’ts: Year-End Email Appeal Strategy Review
If there was ever a time to optimize your email fundraising strategy, now is it.
So, don’t get anxious simply waiting for the phone for stuff to happen. You can make it happen!
Because it’s the most generous time of the year.
During the period from mid-November through the end of December, organizations typically secure 20% to 50% of their entire yearly fundraising revenue.
- There’s a huge surge the last week of the year, with nearly 50% of year end online revenue generated during that time frame. That week, the donation conversion rate is 2% and the average gift is $256.
- The last day of the year is especially fruitful. The conversion rate increases to 3% and the average gift to $298.
Don’t miss out.
One resource I recommend is Cut Through the Clutter [a free e-Book] from the folks at NextAfter. It reports results from thousands of year-end email experiments, and offers a lot of data if you need to persuade any of your leaders of the need to increase your email schedule. [By the way, there are lots of strategic email tips in this e-Book you won’t have time to focus on now – e.g., countdowns; gift arrays; specific asks; language and more (all supported by A/B tests). So, definitely do get this and take these recommendations to heart beginning January 1st and all year round.]
Let’s look at three things that most matter right now.
You still have time to change them up.
1. The Right Frequency and Timing
Right now, I recommend concentrating on frequency. Generally, this is a time when less is not more. Folks are busy. You want to get them some time, and it’s hard to know when that might be. When they get up in the morning? When they finally sit down with their phone or computer after a day of gift wrapping, shopping or holiday celebrating? At night, right before they go to bed? Don’t try to guess. People miss a lot of emails. Sending too few is risky.
Send More Emails than You think You Should
Don’t rely on one or two emails to get the job done. One of the take-aways from the folks at NextAfter is that few organizations are sending a lot of emails during the critical year-end December fundraising season. The average number sent is six, and only 17% send more than 10 emails. But guess what? Retailers send a lot of emails. Other nonprofits send a lot of emails. People get so many emails at this time of year, it’s really a crap shoot as to whether yours will be seen on any given day.
Experiment with Day of Week and Time of Day
There’s really no one right time to send your email. Which is another great argument for sending many emails, and trying different times. Fewer emails are sent on weekends, so sending one then may increase your chances it will be seen. The same is true for early mornings (before 7:00 a.m.) and evenings. And some people swear by Fridays at the end of the year. Your mileage may vary. Don’t stress about it. Just set a schedule and vary the timing.
Maximize Mailings December 31st
The percent of year-end revenue that comes in on this date is 18%. It’s a lot higher than what comes in on Giving Tuesday (This data, again, comes from NextAfter). What are you planning for that date? Do not skip this (even if your organization is closed for the holidays). Donors don’t take giving holidays, and you certainly want to be there for them when they need you.
2. The Right Donation Landing Page
Per NextAfter, last year’s year-end season accounted for 11% of annual web traffic, and 1.2% of those visitors made an online gift averaging $174. Altogether, year-end giving drove 20% of all online donation revenue for the year. What’s important to keep in mind here is these donors are directed via email (or text or social media) to your website. And a poorly designed or generic landing page can kill your donation – despite the fact you’ve followed every guideline up to this point. Here are a few important tips follow.
Omit Extraneous Navigation Links
Those links at the top of your menu that are ubiquitous throughout your site will actually do you harm here. All these do are encourage folks to click away from your donation page. You don’t want anything on this page that distracts people from their mission to donate!
Link your Donate Button to a Campaign Branded Landing Page
Generic appeals that go to generic action buttons simply won’t generate the return on engagement that specifically targeted campaigns will. It’s worth the effort to create multiple landing page, each tailored to the current campaign. If people don’t see the same branding (images + language), they may feel they’ve been taken to the wrong place.
Reassure Donors Your Site is Secure
When folks get to your Donation Landing Page, be sure there’s a visual padlock icon to demonstrate your site is secure (With one A/B test, NextAfter found simply adding a padlock, even on a page that was otherwise secure, increased conversion by 14.4%).
Keep it Short and Sweet
Don’t ask for too much information. One study by Unbounce found reducing required form fields from 11 to 4 resulted in a 120% increase in conversions. Don’t ask for stuff you don’t need and/or won’t use. You can find other things that depress conversions here, including use of the word “Submit” in lieu of “Click Here” or “Go.”
Don’t Take Donors to a Whole New Universe
For best results, your donation page should match both (1) your organization’s overall branding, and (2) the look and feel of the campaign that brought your donor to this page. This reinforces your organization’s identity, and reassures the donor they’ve landed in the right place and their gift will be used for the purpose they intend.
3. A Compelling Donation Thank You Page
This is a time you have your donor’s full attention. They just gave. They feel good. Your job is to keep that feeling going strong. Thank you kick-starts the relationship-building phase that hopefully will lead to the next gift, and the next, and a lifetime of giving. Don’t leave donors in the dark as to whether their gift went through, or how much it means to you. Here are some things to consider.
Feature a Thank You Video or Photo
A picture truly is worth 1,000 words. It can tell an outcome story, focus on a heartfelt expression of gratitude from staff or clients, or even come from just one person (or even an animal, painting or tree). The goal here is to make donors feel warm and fuzzy.
Include a Poll Asking Donors What Prompted Them to Give
Asking for feedback is a good thing. As long as it’s something you’ll use, and as long as you don’t ask for too much at once. It can be open-ended, or a simple multiple-choice list. If you want to conduct research as to where your traffic comes from, you can ask that question. Or you can ask them to write down one word that describes your work. This can be super-useful in the future when it comes to communicating to donors using the emotions with which they most identify. For one charity I worked with I got a lot of “warm,” “caring,” “compassionate,” and even “cutting-edge.” The added benefit of asking for feedback is donors feel you care about them for more than their checkbook.
Offer Opportunities for Donors to Get More Involved
Again, this shows you value them for more than just money. Be sure to include invitations to free events and volunteer opportunities. Or simply let them know you’ll be in touch soon with other ways to be involved. Then, when you follow through on that promise, you’ll establish trust.
Speaking of Saying Thank You…
Want to kick off the new year with the best donor thank you strategy ever? Grab my Attitude of Gratitude Donor Guide. I’ve taken everything I’ve learned about sustaining donor relationships over the years and tucked it into one handy no-nonsense guide on the practice of gratitude. It also includes sample templates, worksheets and my Creative Ways to Thank Your Donors guide with 72 ideas you can use!
Within the 130 pages you’ll find everything from how to persuade your leadership of the value of putting resources into prompt, personal thanks to… how to create a meaningful thank you email… to how to thank your donors on social media. It’s all in here. The tried-and-true and the dare-to-try! If you read this guide, and use it, you’ll raise more money every year from here on out. And if you’re not happy, there’s a 30-day, no-questions-asked, 100% refund guarantee.
