Allyson Kapin 5 min read

Best Practices for Year-End Fundraising

The Procrastinators Guide to Year-End Fundraising webinar was chock full of great tips and important statistics for nonprofit campaigners who are gearing up for raising about 40% of their online donations for the year. Check out some of the great tips Alia McKee Scott of Sea Change Strategies, Ryann Miller of Care2, and Eric Rardin of Care2 shared.

Most charitable online giving ($244.6M or 64.1%) comes through nonprofit websites.

22% of giving happens on the last two days of the year between the hours of 10am and 6pm in all time zones.

Don’t forget good usability on donation pages. It’s critical to sealing the deal in the donation process. Alia suggested minimize giving options during the holiday season. Your best bet is to provide 1-2 donate options and keep your donors focused.

It's also important to suppress your navigation on the donate page, so that you're focusing the donor on making the donation. Studies say that the more options you give them, the less they do.

For every donor who wants to give money to your nonprofit, there are a dozen potential donors who are researching your organization. This is why it's important to have a “Why Donate” page on your nonprofit’s website. This is the page where you can inspire and make the case for people to donate to your nonprofit and make emotional connections.

Focus on directive words when fundraising online such as “Give” or “Contribute” but don't use the word “Support.” It has multiple meanings.

Passion counts big time in online fundraising. Achieve passion by telling good stories that inspire people to donate money to support your organization.

It’s critical that you make donors feel good that they donated money to your organization. Another words give them love and spend time cultivating those relationships.

Creating a social media presence is a great way to build your nonprofit brand, but most nonprofits have not seen a big return on fundraising via social media. The ROI is not there yet compared to other sources such as online fundraising appeals, direct mail, etc.

Check out the presentation below or you can listen to the webinar here.

Allyson Kapin

Allyson has been named one of "Top Tech Titans" by the Washingtonian, one of the Most Influential Women In Tech by Fast Company, and one of the top 30 women entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter by Forbes for her leadership role in technology and social media. As Founding Partner of Rad Campaign, she leads the firm's client and online strategic services. For over a decade Allyson has helped non-profit organizations and political campaigns create dynamic and award-winning websites and online marketing and recruitment campaigns. She works side-by-side with her clients to meet their web needs and maximize their online effectiveness to create real world impact.