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Upgrading Gifts Through Your Year-End Campaign

Upgrade

Beyond the obvious goal of raising more money for your mission, your year-end campaign has another critical purpose: it is a primary tool to engage and inspire your donors.

As you craft your year-end appeal, keep in mind that you aren’t just asking your donors to fork-over their hard-earned money — you are offering them an important benefit in exchange for their gift.

You offer them an opportunity to make a difference in their community, act on their deeply held beliefs, or effect change in the world.

For certain donors, when the time is right, your year-end campaign is an opportune time to engage them more deeply as a partner in your mission by asking them for a higher level of financial commitment. Further, if you neglect to ask a donor for an upgraded gift at the right time, you’re not only losing money for your mission, you’re doing that donor a disservice.

But gift upgrades won’t happen automatically. It requires some work on your end.  To get that larger gift, you need to prompt your donor with a specific ask.

Here are 5 tips to help you get started with an upgrade campaign within your year-end appeal: [Read more…]

The Smart Annual Giving Connection Podcast Episode 1: Moves Management

I’m thrilled to announce the launch of the new podcast, The Smart Annual Giving Connection. Each episode will explore a common annual giving question or challenge and will often feature guest experts or in-the-trenches fundraisers who’ll share their wisdom and experience. Hope you enjoy our first episode!


Download Audio Here

Moves Management is a concept that sometimes feels out of reach for many small nonprofits. Yet it is a crucial element of a strong annual fundraising program. In this episode, we discuss what moves management actually is, why it is important, why it is often neglected and how small to mid-size nonprofits can get started implementing some basic moves management activities without becoming overwhelmed.

Add to your favorite podcast player using the feed URL:  https://smartannualgiving.com/podcast/feed/

Moves Management: Why small organizations need it, too.

When you’ve heard the term “moves management,” have you glossed right over it, dismissing it as something for large organizations to worry about?

If so, it is quite understandable, since the information on this subject is usually written from the context of a large organization or university with a huge development staff.

But small and mid-size organizations need to work on making this a part of their every day activities.

It doesn’t have to be complicated  process.  But it does require an investment of time, deep, proactive thinking, and a rock solid commitment to putting the plan into action. [Read more…]

Have you segmented your donors? Here’s why you need to do it now.

Segmenting your donors simply means placing your donors in logical, manageable groups and tagging them in your database as a member of that group in order to appropriately communicate with them and measure responses.

This is undoubtedly a lot of work.  It falls into the “non-urgent but highly important” quadrant of time management.  How do you justify carving out the time to make this happen when so many ‘urgent’ things demand your attention?

Here’s why segmentation is worth the effort: [Read more…]

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Have you Read These?

5 fundraising appeal mistakes that waste your nonprofit’s money

What to do with Major Donors During your Year-end Campaign

Take a closer look at your mailing list for better appeal results

How to calculate your retention rates

The Smart Annual Giving Connection Podcast Episode 2: Donor Segmentation

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Smart Annual Giving helps small nonprofits harness the power of a well-planned, well-resourced annual giving program.

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Recent Posts

  • Gearing Up for a Successful 2020 Year-end Campaign
  • Caution: Don’t let potential donors slip through the cracks!
  • Spend some time this summer prepping for year-end!

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