Year-End Planning in the Summer–What You Should Be Doing Now to Prepare for Your EOY Campaign

If you're like me, so far your summer has been full of warm days, new restaurants, baked goods, hikes, a little humidity and just the right amount of trash tv. That said, I can feel the oncoming winter chill in the air, taste the sweet potato pie on my tongue and hear the holiday carols none of us can avoid every November to December.

Yes, the end of the year is closer than we think, and it's time to start planning our year-end campaigns. Below, you'll find a short list of a few things you can do now (yes, while you're laying out in the sun) in preparation for what is often a nonprofit's largest annual fundraiser. Let's dive in.

1. How's that End-of-Year Appeal Looking? Sometimes the best way to get something is to ask. Appeals are essentially that. Your organization is directly asking its donor base to give, to support you one final time as your wrap up the year and prepare to move into the next. Because these appeals are used for that reason, a lot of thought goes into them and now should be no exception. Use the summer as a chance to reevaluate the previous year's appeal. Consider factors like language, images used, length and link placement. If your organization used AB Testing for last year's appeal, this is the time to compare the analytics and use those results to improve the 2023 year end appeal.
   

2. Have You Looked at Your Bank Account? Organizations should always have an idea of their financial standing but determining where your nonprofit is now, will play a role in setting campaign goals for the year's end. Understanding how on track your nonprofit is at the moment, will give you a better idea of how much you need to raise in six months. While your organization and community may be used to setting the same $10K goal every December, if your need changes so should your fundraising.
   

3. Review Your Review! Wherever you stored the notes from last year's EOY feedback session, now is the time to pull them out and review. This will give you the chance to get back in the mindset you were in when you and your staff first sat down to discuss the campaign. You may still agree with the bulk of feedback initially given to you. Simultaneously, you may have also have changed your mind on certain notes due to changes within the organization or external factors outside your control e.g. a venue closing, a natural disaster, staff changes, donor movement, etc.

Year-End campaigns are challenging but not impossible, especially when you have the right support. If you'd like to learn more about how we can work together, contact me for a free thirty minute consultation!

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