Nonprofit

Your EOY planning starter kit

3 min read

Jul 3, 2024 9:26:30 PM

088: Your end-of-year planning starter kit 🧰

Last week, I mentioned that summer can be a slower time for fundraising. The good news is that this lull provides ample time to plan your end-of-year fundraising campaign.

It’s an Election Year, so navigating it can be challenging. However, new research offers a glimmer of hope, presenting significant opportunities to attract, engage, and connect people to your mission.

Ready for your end-of-year starter kit? Check out this week’s resources, which include checklists, marketing how-tos, and campaign optimizations.

Stay tuned because this kicks off our Year-End in July series, where we'll dive into other EOY topics like channel integration, audience segmentation, and messaging frameworks 🎉

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Snackable snippets

8 best practices for end-of-year marketing campaigns 📖
Year-end always brings its share of excitement and trepidation, but by starting campaign planning early, you can set yourself up for success.

Our team shares a best-practice checklist to consider as you plan your year-end campaign. While it can be overwhelming to determine where to start, remember to start small and build from there. There's time!

The strength of email segmentation 📖

Allegiance Group + Pursuant outlines five principles for year-end success in this guide. But I wanted to pull our focus to #2: the strength of email segmentation.

Email remains one of the most effective channels for connecting with supporters despite inboxes getting more crowded. The key is personalization. This article walks you through essential segments to target and offers tips for maximizing your success.

How to create content for Google’s search experience 📖
Have you been wondering how to adapt your content strategy to keep up with Google’s latest updates?

Tobes Kelly says that organizations will have “to create a lot of new content to remain relevant in SEO (and SEM) campaigns." He provides three key recommendations for optimizing content in response to AI-generated search results.

Lessons to increase conversions 📖
We're constantly navigating change: new channels, emerging technologies, and evolving donor behaviors.

To keep you ahead of the curve, this article offers key lessons on staying in tune with your supporters and connecting with them on a deeply personal level.

The power of multichannel fundraising 🎧
Veteran fundraiser Dan Sonners joins Mallory Erickson on the What the Fundraising podcast, sharing insights from his 17 years of experience in crafting successful integrated fundraising campaigns.

“The perfect storm of fundraising today is when you can take channels that are very good engagement mechanisms and combine them with the channels that are best for closing the ask,” Dan shares.

In the news

The latest Giving USA report has ignited some much-needed optimism for the rest of 2024. Total giving in the US increased by 1.9%, reaching an estimated $557.16 billion. However, when adjusted for inflation, giving still experienced a 2.1% decline.

Despite this, the growth before inflation is encouraging, particularly compared to last year's significant drop of 3.4% (10.5% after inflation adjustment).

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Google recently rolled out four major updates to its Ads platform, improving query matching and offering better brand control for advertisers.

According to Search Engine Land, updates include:

New recommendation for brand inclusions in broad match
Brand exclusions across all match types and Dynamic Search Ads
Improved visibility in search term reports
Easier blocking of misspelled searches

For your inspiration folder

Rainforest Trust promotes its most urgent campaign by giving it prime homepage placement. Upon arrival, visitors are greeted with a compelling headline about the Peru project: “Protect Half a Million Acres of the Amazon in Peru.”

They are then directed to a CTA button encouraging them to double their impact. On the checkout screen, visitors see a brief summary of the matching gift fund, including details about the funder, the matching amount, and additional context about the urgent need.

The beauty of this campaign is that it tells potential supporters everything they need to know in one click. Put a pin in this one — it's a good strategy to remember during Giving Tuesday!