Christmas appeal

, , , , , ,

How to Jump-Start Your Late Charity Christmas Appeal

man in santa claus costume

Launching a Christmas appeal on November 19 might feel like you’re behind schedule, but there’s still plenty of time to make an impact. With a strategic approach and the right tools, you can ignite donor enthusiasm and make this holiday season a success for your charity. Here’s how to jump-start your appeal and inspire giving, even on a tight timeline.

1. Start with a Clear, Compelling Message

People are bombarded with appeals during the holiday season, so your message needs to stand out. Focus on the urgency of the season and the impact donors can make right now. Highlight:

  • Specific Goals: For example, “Help us provide 500 warm meals by Christmas Eve.”
  • Personal Stories: Share the story of someone your organisation has helped, or how donations have made a difference in the past.
  • Holiday Spirit: Frame your appeal in the context of generosity, hope, and the season of giving.

2. Use Digital Channels to Your Advantage

When time is short, digital platforms are your best friend.

  • Email Campaigns: Launch a series of targeted, personalised emails to your donor list. Use the first email to explain your appeal, followed by reminders and updates on progress.
  • Social Media Blitz: Post daily updates on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Use videos, photos, and stories to engage your audience emotionally.
  • Online Giving Pages: Ensure your donation page is simple, mobile-friendly, and prominently linked in all communications.

3. Leverage #GivingTuesday (November 28)

With #GivingTuesday just days after your launch, you have a built-in opportunity to amplify your appeal.

  • Tie Your Appeal to the Movement: Frame your campaign as part of the global day of giving.
  • Create a Matching Challenge: Secure a donor who will match gifts made on #GivingTuesday to motivate others.
  • Countdown to Impact: Use the days leading up to #GivingTuesday to build excitement with a countdown on social media.

4. Activate Your Current Supporters

Your existing donors and volunteers can help spread the word quickly.

  • Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: Encourage supporters to set up their own fundraising pages on platforms like Facebook or JustGiving.
  • Ambassador Campaigns: Ask influential supporters or community leaders to promote your appeal.
  • Shareable Content: Provide pre-written social media posts, emails, and graphics that supporters can share with their networks.

5. Make Giving Easy and Fun

Simplify the donation process and add a touch of holiday cheer to your appeal.

  • One-Click Donations: Streamline your donation form so donors can give in under a minute.
  • Holiday Themes: Use festive visuals, such as snowflakes, ornaments, or holiday colors, to create a warm, inviting appeal.
  • Gift Options: Let donors give in honor of a loved one, with printable or digital cards they can send as gifts.

6. Keep the Momentum Going

With only a few weeks until Christmas, maintaining urgency in your Christmas appeal is key.

  • Daily Updates: Share progress toward your goal on your website and social media.
  • Thank Donors Immediately: Send personalised thank-you emails or videos as soon as a gift is made.
  • Final Push: In the last days before Christmas, use email and social media to emphasise how close you are to your goal and the impact of meeting it.

7. Plan a Post-Holiday Follow-Up

Even after Christmas, donors are still in the giving spirit. Use the week between Christmas and New Year’s to highlight any unmet needs or thank supporters for their generosity. This is also a great time to encourage year-end donations for tax purposes.

Conclusion

Starting your Christmas appeal on November 19 might feel late, but with a strong message, digital tools, and a clear plan, you can create a campaign that resonates with donors. By focusing on urgency, engaging your supporters, and leveraging the spirit of the season, you can make a meaningful impact—even on a tight timeline.

Remember: the holiday season is about hope and generosity, and your cause can inspire people to give, no matter when you start.

, , , , , , ,

It’s Not Too Late! How Charities Can Launch an Effective Christmas Appeal, Even Last-Minute

Christmas appeal
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

As the year draws to a close, the Christmas season provides a critical window for nonprofits to engage donors and raise much-needed funds. However, with the holiday just around the corner, many organisations may feel that time has run out to launch an effective Christmas appeal. The good news? It’s never too late to run a successful campaign. With some strategic planning and targeted outreach, your charity can still make the most of this giving season.

Here are some key strategies to help your nonprofit launch a last-minute Christmas appeal that resonates with donors and drives impact.

1. Leverage Email Campaigns with a Sense of Urgency

Email remains one of the most effective and immediate ways to reach your supporters, especially for last-minute appeals. Create a short series of emails with clear messaging around the urgency of your appeal and the impact donors can make before the year ends.

Key tips for success:

  • Keep it concise: Your message should be clear, urgent, and easy to understand. Highlight why your appeal is critical now and what specific difference it will make.
  • Create a compelling subject line: Inboxes are crowded this time of year, so use action-oriented subject lines like “Make a Difference Before Christmas” or “Help Us Reach Our Goal Before December 25.”
  • Include a strong call to action (CTA): Make it easy for people to donate by including prominent “Donate Now” buttons and clear instructions on how to give. Link directly to your donation page.
  • Use storytelling: Share an impactful story that emotionally connects donors to your cause. Whether it’s about a family you’ve helped or a success story from the past year, stories foster a deeper connection to your mission.

2. Tap Into Social Media for Quick Engagement

Social media can generate rapid visibility for your appeal, even at the last minute. With platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, you can amplify your message quickly and reach a broad audience.

Key tips for success:

  • Use visuals: Create eye-catching graphics or short videos that tell your story and encourage giving. A compelling photo, infographic, or holiday-themed video can stop scrollers and engage them in your cause.
  • Go live: Consider hosting a quick Facebook or Instagram Live session to discuss your Christmas appeal, share personal stories, and explain how donations will be used. Live videos create urgency and help people feel connected to your work.
  • Use hashtags: Amplify your message by using popular holiday hashtags like #ChristmasGiving, #YearEndGiving, or #SupportNonprofits. Encourage your supporters to share your posts, multiplying your reach.
  • Post consistently: In the lead-up to Christmas, schedule several social media posts with varied content—urgent reminders, thank-you notes, success stories, and clear donation requests.

3. Activate Your Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Networks

Even if time is short, you can still activate your existing supporters to help raise funds for your appeal. Peer-to-peer fundraising taps into the power of your community to extend your reach to their networks.

Key tips for success:

  • Make it easy: Provide your supporters with ready-made templates and tools they can use to share your appeal with their friends and family. This could include email templates, social media graphics, and a simple donation link.
  • Highlight personal stories: Encourage your supporters to share why they’re passionate about your cause and why they’re fundraising. Personal connections can be more compelling than an organisational appeal.
  • Offer incentives: Consider offering small incentives, such as featuring top fundraisers on your website or social media, or providing a simple gift as a thank you for their efforts.

4. Offer Matching Gift Campaigns for Greater Impact

Matching gift campaigns are a great way to motivate donors, especially during a last-minute appeal. The promise of doubling or even tripling their impact can create a powerful incentive for people to give.

Key tips for success:

  • Find a sponsor: Reach out to corporate partners, major donors, or board members to see if they’re willing to provide a matching gift. Even smaller matches (e.g., $5,000) can be highly effective at boosting donations.
  • Promote the match heavily: Be sure to clearly communicate that donations will be matched during your campaign. Highlight the impact by saying something like, “Your $50 donation will become $100!”
  • Create a sense of urgency: Pair the match with a deadline, such as “Donate by December 24 to double your impact!”

5. Launch a Simplified Digital Fundraising Campaign

In the rush to launch a last-minute appeal, you don’t need a complex or multi-tiered campaign. Focus on a simple, digital-first approach that makes donating easy and fast for your supporters.

Key tips for success:

  • Use your website effectively: Make sure your website’s homepage prominently features your Christmas appeal with clear links to your donation page. Ensure the donation process is quick and mobile-friendly.
  • Simplify the ask: Rather than overwhelming potential donors with too many options, focus on a single, clear goal. For example, “Help us raise $10,000 by Christmas to support 100 families in need.”
  • Use recurring donation options: Encourage supporters to make recurring donations by including an option for monthly giving. This can be a great way to extend the impact of their holiday donation into the new year.

6. Highlight Tax Benefits of Year-End Giving

Many donors are looking for ways to give before the end of the year to take advantage of tax deductions. Highlight the tax benefits of donating to your nonprofit as a way to motivate last-minute giving.

Key tips for success:

  • Include reminders in your messaging: Mention the tax benefits of charitable giving in your email and social media campaigns, such as “Make a donation before December 31 and enjoy tax savings!”
  • Provide tax information: Make sure your website includes clear, accessible information on how donations are tax-deductible, and offer receipts that donors can use when filing their taxes.

7. Show Immediate Impact

Last-minute donors want to know their contributions will make a difference right away. Emphasise how their support will have an immediate and tangible impact on your organisation and those you serve.

Key tips for success:

  • Use clear outcomes: Tell your donors exactly what their donation will achieve. For example, “Your $25 donation will provide Christmas meals for a family of four” or “$50 will provide warm winter coats for two children.”
  • Share real-time updates: After receiving donations, consider sharing immediate updates with your community. Use social media and email to show how donations are already being put to work.

Make the Most of the Season’s Generosity

While launching a last-minute Christmas appeal may seem daunting, there are still plenty of ways to engage your supporters and raise funds during this crucial time. By focusing on urgency, simplicity, and the power of digital tools, your nonprofit can make the most of this holiday season to drive impact and meet your year-end goals.

Don’t let the ticking clock discourage you—start now, and watch how generosity flourishes when it’s needed most!

, , , ,

Data cleansing is task #1 when preparing for your Christmas Appeal

coding computer data depth of field
Photo by Kevin Ku on Pexels.com

There has been a lot of talk about upcoming Christmas Appeal. How will your supporters respond given the current pandemic and the economic environment? It may be August, but smart non-profit organisations are already preparing their data files and copy for what becomes the second most important campaign of the year for most charities. As part of those tasks, it’s not too late for non-profits to conduct data cleansing. Data hygiene is task #1 when preparing your Christmas Appeal.

Some non-profit organisations take the important step to cleanse their data, while many others do not. Those non-profit organisations who perform data cleansing, perform this task at least one time per year.

Data cleansing activities include, but are not limited to:

  • National Change of Address (NCOA).
  • De-duplication of constituent records.
  • Data enrichment, including:
    • Deceasing flags for records
    • Do not mail flag.
    • Do not call flag.
  • Other important mass data management practices.

Dirty data gets you nowhere…except broke. Proper data cleaning prior to dropping the all-important tax and Christmas appeals is a non-negotiable. Do you put this in the “too hard” basket? Hire an expert like FundraisingForce who will guide you through the process, management of suppliers, and develop a process for you to follow for years to come.

Don’t assume someone else will do this task – whether you are assuming the mail house does it or someone else on your internal team. Develop a process to get this task done and to ensure the cleansed data makes it was back to your organisations CRM. To merely cleanse the file for the appeal and to not load the clean data back to the CRM (a common mistake made by charitable organisations) is like cleaning your child and putting them back on the playground.

Get ready. Christmas will be here before you know it!

, , , , , , , ,

Data cleansing – it’s now or never for your Tax Appeal

Data cleansingYou have just finished the Christmas Appeal and you are already thinking tax-time, right? There is no rest time for today’s active fundraising program. Preparations for the Tax Appeal mean more than just writing copy, designing creative, and thinking about data segmentation. You also need to be thinking about data cleansing – it’s now or never.

Data cleansing activities

An overwhelming majority of charities in Australia do not regularly perform national change of address on their data file prior to a major mail out such as the Christmas or Tax Appeal. In fact, some data administrators would rather have a root canal than think about data cleansing. Let’s take the pain out of data cleansing and list the tasks which out to be done:

National Change of Address (NCOA)

Taking your file and matching it against the Australia Post PAF file is easy. Extracting the data from your CRM and matching to the PAF file is, in fact, the easy part. It does require a relationship with a supplier who may access the PAF file. Gaining new contact details for donors and prospects who have moved is a key benefit of NCOA. Further, gaining a flag for anyone who has moved and who has not made their new contact details available in the commercial space is a further benefit. New addresses mean you are able to get the Tax Appeal delivered to those you’ve lost contact with and not mailing those who you’ve lost contact with and cannot gain their new details means you will not waste postage and materials.

Data Enhancement

While you are working with a supplier to perform NCOA, take the time to enhance your data. Think about additional data elements available in the market and action the following:

  • New telephone phone numbers.
  • Validation of email addresses.
  • Acquisition of deceased, do not mail, and do not call flags.
  • Addition of presence of children and grandchildren flags.
  • Enhancement of constituent records with wealth indicators, such as property values and other holdings available.

Acquiring these enhancements will help not just with Tax Appeal, but with other campaigns in the future.

Do not delay. Action data cleansing and data enhancement now before you commence preparation of the data file for the Tax Appeal. Data cleansing and data enhancement takes time and these activities deserve the same attention as preparation of the mail pack. The results of your Tax Appeal depend on good data.

 

 

, , , , , , , , , ,

Double their donation, double their impact

In the US, the last week of December is also the last week of the US financial year. Australian charities should imagine combining their Christmas and Tax Appeals in one. This is the scenario encountered for US charitable organisations!

Most US charities use matching challenges for the follow up wave to their year-end Appeal. This creates a sense of urgency where donors are encouraged to double their donation and to double their impact. Like Australian non-profit organisations, US organisations use count down clocks and every other means to add to the sense of urgency.

On 29 December, I received 17 appeals via email from various US-based non-profit organisations. Each of the emails asked me to give a last minute tax year-end gift.  15 of the 17 appeals offered a matching challenge whereby my donation would be matched and have double the impact. The emails came from universities, cultural institutions, hospitals, and health organisations. On 30 December and 31 December, the reminder emails continued with as many as 30 being received on each of the two days.

Donor History Embedded in Year-End Emails

One such email referred to the fact I had not given a donation this year. This email came from Mount Sanai Healthcare in New York City. Embarrassingly, the email reflected I had not given a donation once in 2018. While I was embarrassed, I was also impressed at the accuracy of the donor records. Emails showing any sort of donor history require good record keeping and testing.

Matching Challenges

Matching challenges work to bring in new donors, renew existing donors, and renew lapsed donors, like me. In this case, the charitable organisation added an extra push by reminding me I had not given a single gift this year. Some emails showed my giving history across the year and asked me to boost my year-end giving by an additional gift to match my average donation.

Australian charities conduct direct marketing appeals really well. Adding matching challenges and adding giving history for the existing financial year to tax appeals will make the Tax Appeals that much stronger. Happy New Year!

, , , , , , ,

Is your Christmas Appeal running short? A few ideas to get it across the line

AppealI bet you are watching the dashboards in your CRM to see how your Christmas Appeal is performing. You might be bit anxious because your Christmas Appeal appears to be running short of goal and short in terms of year on year numbers. It’s not too late to take a few easy steps to achieve your goals in these final days before the Christmas and New Year’s break.

Ideas that Work

Here are a few ideas you might try to make a big impact on your Christmas Appeal campaign.

  1. Call the top 50 donors to last year’s Christmas Appeal.
    • Ask them to renew their support at the level given to the 2017 Christmas Appeal.
    • Take their donation over the telephone.
    • Send them a personal email thanking them for taking the step to support your non-profit organisation during this busy time of year.
  2. Send an SMS to all constituents sent the 2018 appeal and who have not yet responded.
    • Ask them to give by Christmas eve.
    • Provide a link to your online giving page to capture their donation easily and quickly.
  3. Send an Email to all constituents who do not respond to the SMS by 21 December asking them to give by 31 December.

In the US, the Christmas season is also tax time. We do not have that same issue (or, some might say, advantage) in Australia. Nonetheless, we can all tug on the heart-strings of people during this giving season and encourage them to support our non-profit organisation by making a gift. Adding the sense of urgency and using channels easily available to us may help us to reach busy people this time of year and to encourage them to give one last donation before the close of the calendar year.

We hope your Christmas Appeal exceeds your expectations. Merry Christmas!

 

, , ,

Standing out in the letter or email box – step 2 of three to a successful campaign

I’ve often written and spoken about the importance of standing out in the letter or email box. It is the second most important of the three critical steps to a successful campaign. Those three steps are:

  1. Getting your letter or email delivered to its intended recipients.
    • The importance of data hygiene.
  2. Standing out in the letter or email box.
    • Gaining the attention of the recipient so they open the letter or email.
  3. Motivating the recipient to respond to your call to action.
    • Writing a compelling story, which entices the reader to act.

If you do not get the piece delivered, you cannot advance to steps 2 and 3. Even if the piece is delivered, is it motivating to open?

Last week, I received this postcard in my letterbox. It stood out. Why? The language on the postcard asked me ignore the postcard and suggested it was indeed “junk mail”. This reminded me of a time when I created a similar piece for a hospital in Boston.

2004 – Near Firing

In 2004, my fundraising career was nearly cut short because I orchestrated the creation of this follow up piece to mail in the month of January – a dead month for US fundraising because many Americans cry poor after the Christmas season and the 31 December fiscal year end. We created this piece to follow up to the Christmas Appeal and to test whether the carrier was strong enough to motivate recipients to respond with an average gift of $40.

The outside envelope read “Original Letter Mailed 1 December 2004”.

About 6 nurses and physicians at the hospital were “offended” by the messaging on the outside carrier, suggesting the envelope implied there was a reminder enclosed for a hospital bill past due. I had not meant to mislead anyone nor was the teaser copy on the envelope anything but truthful. The nurses and physicians  voiced their opinions by saying the creative piece had cause people to open the envelope due to its mysterious nature.

The above feedback was a real win for me! Causing people to open the envelope  is exactly what I wanted the carrier to do – to stand out in the letterbox and to motivate people to open it to advance to step 3, above!

I was told if I produced a piece like this in the future I may be fired.

When the results showed the follow up wave raised more money than any appeal in the hospital’s history, the CEO and others changed their tune. In fact, I was allowed to repeat the appeal in 2005 and…the follow up appeal is still in place today some 13 years later!

Standing out in the letter box, once the piece is received, is critical. How else will you shine amongst the “noise”? mail

, , , , , ,

Which charity is first this year with a Christmas appeal?

My mother used to complain about the speed in which retailers put out Christmas merchandise. It seemed, at least by her book, the retailers started the Christmas season earlier and earlier each year. Each year I write a blog post about the charity which sends me their Christmas appeal first. Last year it was the Salvation Army and it arrived in the later part of Oct. Which charity is the first this year with a Christmas appeal?

For the third year in a row, it’s the Salvation Army – this year sending their Christmas appeal to me on 3 October. Following, as a close second, is White Ribbon Australia. White Ribbon sent their appeal on 5 October.

What are the benefits to send the first charity appeal?

By sending their Christmas appeal first, the Salvos and White Ribbon stand out in the letterbox. Additionally, both also increase the number of potential waves to their appeal because, just by nature of the time on the calendar, both allow for more waves to be sent in the 11 weeks we have remaining before Christmas.

Since receiving these Christmas appeals, I have not received others – whether via AUS Post or an EDM. Therefore, the Salvos and White Ribbon have continued to stand out – at least in my letterbox and Email inbox.

I guess Mom was right. Christmas does come earlier each year – especially for charitable organisations.

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Data cleansing is task #1 when preparing for your Christmas Appeal

Dirty DataThere has been a lot of talk about upcoming Christmas Appeal. It may be August, but non-profit organisations are already preparing their data files and copy for what becomes the second most important campaign of the year for most charities. As part of those tasks, it’s not too late for non-profits to conduct data cleansing. Data hygiene is task #1 when preparing your Christmas Appeal.

Some non-profit organisations take the important step to cleanse their data, while many others do not. Those non-profit organisations who perform data cleansing, perform this task at least one time per year.

Data cleansing includes, but is not limited to, high level activities such as:

  • National Change of Address (NCOA).
  • De-duplication of constituent records.
  • Data enrichment, including:
    • Deceasing flags for records
    • Do not mail flag.
    • Do not call flag.
  • Other important mass data management practices.

As suggested in prior FundraisingForce blog posts, dirty data gets you nowhere…except broke. Proper data cleaning prior to dropping the all-important tax and Christmas appeals is a non-negotiable. Do you put this in the “too hard” basket? Hire an expert like FundraisingForce who will guide you through the process, management of suppliers, and develop a process for you to follow for years to come.

Don’t assume someone else will do this task – whether you are assuming the mail house does it or someone else on your internal team. Develop a process to get this task done and to ensure the cleansed data makes it was back to your organisations CRM. To merely cleanse the file for the appeal and to not load the clean data back to the CRM (a common mistake made by charitable organisations) is like cleaning your child and putting them back on the playground.

, , , , , , , , , ,

Prepare your direct mail file for Christmas – tasks to complete…now

Christmas is ~200 days away.  Seem like a long time? It will be here before we know it. With the tax appeal now behind you (for the most part), it is time to prepare your direct mail file for Christmas.

Why so early?

You will need the end of year file in September/October. That is approximately 3-4 months away.  You likely have ample data hygiene to do prior.

Tasks to do before Christmas Appeal is ready

  1. Analyse 2018 Tax
    • Australian charitable organisations do not analyse their appeals results enough.
    • How can you make decisions about 2018 Christmas without first evaluating 2018 Tax.
    • Evaluate:
      • Overall appeal
      • Each segment
      • Compare 2018 Tax to the past three tax appeals.
    • Need help to analyse your 2018 Tax Appeal?
  2. Return to Sender (RTS)
    • Be certain to handle all return to sender.
    • Mark the address RTS.
    • Develop a plan to acquire the addresses for these lost constituents.
    • Encourage all staff to CEE every record.
  3. Deceased
    • Be certain to handle any mail that came back with the constituent marked as deceased.
    • Develop a plan to screen your entire database for deceased.
  4. NCOA/Deceased
    • Engage with one of the top data firms to conduct a national change of address (NCOA) process across your data file.
      • Consider: Acxiom, Experian, and Conexum.
    • Ensure you include any possible constituents who may be part of the data universe for 2018 Christmas.
    • Engage with The Australian Bereavement Register to screen your data for other deceased.
  5. Segmentation
    • Segment your data!
    • You’d be surprised the number of Australian charities that send the same package to all constituents without slicing and dicing their data file to monitor and measure results.
    • Need help to segment your file?
      • Hire an expert.
  6. Prepare a “kill file”/Suppression File
    • Prepare a last minute do not mail, do not contact, do not solicit, and deceased file to ensure any of these constituents are removed from the marketing effort as requested.
    • Your data will be delivered to the mail house weeks prior to the mail date.
      • You want to ensure anyone is removed who made such a request.

If you do the above thoroughly, it very well may take you 3 months. Get busy!

1 2