It bears repeating, loud and often: 30% of annual giving happens in December (not including GivingTuesday) and 10-12% occurs in the last three days of the year. GivingTuesday is a kickoff to your year-end campaign, not just a one-off final play!

If you’ve built up to GivingTuesday guided by our free, structured GivingTuesday game plan, then we’re confident you’re well-positioned for the big day, but now is the time to take a step back, review the big picture and start preparing the pivot from GivingTuesday to the December end-of-year push and beyond.

The challenge

In two words: maintain momentum! 

The ramp-up to GivingTuesday is about building momentum, but momentum can fade fast, especially during the holiday season when donor fatigue is real. So how do you turn a one-day spark of generosity into prolonged commitment?

The mission

Three words: Retain, re-engage and reignite. The story isn’t over on GivingTuesday!

Did you know? 

• Retaining a donor is five times more cost-effective than acquiring a new one.
• Even retention increases as small as 10% can yield a 200% lift in lifetime value.
• The best predictor of donors’ next gifts is how they felt after the last one and helping them to a deeper understanding of your mission. 

Retention

Stewardship is a critical component of fundraising. It’s about expressing gratitude for generosity; deepening donors’ understanding of why you do what you do; and then connecting that understanding to the need for further action. 

Re-engagement

The average nonprofit loses six out of 10 donors every year. These donors are not usually disinterested, but they have not maintained their connection to your mission. And yet, having once supported your work, lapsed donors are an important audience. Bring them back into the fold with warm, inviting recollections of how their past support made a difference.  

Re-ignition

When you have the attention of recently active and re-engaged donors, turn up the energy. Inject your outreach with emotional spark and meaning. Remind everyone how their generosity is part of long-term efforts to lead change in the world, even if that world is focused on the local community. Reconnect their values with the work you do. Re-invite them to contribute, perhaps using the urgency of an end-of-year deadline. 

The preparation

Even if you use our GivingTuesday game plan to map out your next steps through year end, take the time today to look more carefully at your donor messaging.

The priority should be on retaining, re-engaging and reigniting your donors, whether they’re current donors, recurring donors, LYBUNT/SYBUNT donors or lapsed donors.

To help, we've prepared a free resource: our End-of-Year Donor Messaging Toolkit. It comes complete with:

• a three-step plan to retain and re-engage donors
• tips on how to segment donors for strategic followup
• ideas on how to craft compelling messaging that motivates year-end and ongoing generosity
• email templates and proposed language
• suggestions on how to activate board members and volunteers as fundraising champions.

To download this toolkit, visit our End-of-Year Giving page and fill out the form for instant access.

🌟 You will also be able to watch the on-demand replay of our End-of-Year Giving webinar and be guided through the key takeaways of how to turn momentum into mission impact.