Planning and running a successful end-of-year fundraising campaign

Naomi SchalitPublisher and senior reporter

The Maine Center for Public Interest Reportingwww.pinetreewatchdog.org

You’re too late already.

Not really — but a successful campaign takes months of planning.

MCPIR EOY 2013 CAMPAIGN:

700 letters sent@ 350 had personal notes140 gifts = 20% response rateTotal gifts: $55,293Average gift: $394 (includes one gift of $3K, two @ $2500, 6 @ $1000104 gifts had notes on solicitation – 74.3%

Gifts from:Lapsed donors: 16 (11%)New donors: 71 (51%)Renewals: 47 (34%)Board: 6

List yield, new donors: ACLU: 14Constant Contact: 17MPBN: 8

COSTS:

Development temp staff and consultant $9961Printing, postage, mail merge $966_______________________________________Total variable expenses

$10,927

Cost per dollar raised: 19.7 cents

National average CTRD 20 cents

The Better Business Bureaus (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance Standards for Accountability indicate that for all non-profits, fund-raising costs should not

exceed 35 percent (i.e., 35 cents to raise one dollar).

Crucial element for our successful campaign:

A matching grant.Get one.

We love the folks who gave us ours.

Crucial element #2: lists.This may take a form of guerrilla marketing.

Hmm, I wonder where I can find that Friends of King Kong donor list?

Start fishing around for them early in the year

Crucial elements numbers 3&4:

#3: Get a respected local philanthropist --

whom everybody loves

-- to sign and write notes on

lots of your appeal letters

#4. Have your board members write personal notes on as many appeal letters as possible (do this at a board meeting)

Other things to do duringpre-formal campaign stage:

• Address lookup for prospects• Clean-up of your current lists• Mailing elements design and

printing (brochure – testimonials – remit envelopes – custom notepads)

Timeline for an EOY campaign

August• Development committee meets to

review proposed timeline and gift table, brainstorm components of the campaign’s case statement, determine prospective campaign chair.

• Begin to identify prospects for leadership

gifts and segment from prospect mailings.

• Begin effort to secure campaign chair.

September 

• Secure campaign chair.• Campaign staff meets with Development Committee chair to review plans and discuss

how to best make use of Development Committee and board of directors members

• Prepare first draft of case statement. Staff/devcomm review.

• Organize major gift solicitations – review names and determine who solicits which person? Not only staff/board.

• Develop talking points and solicitation strategies

• Make assignments for major gift prospects for October Board meeting.

October• Finalize mailing lists and case

statement.• Generate letters for prospects and

lapsed donors.• Working board meeting at which

board members sign notes to go along with letters.

• Provide support to Campaign Chair, Board, Staff members and friends with their solicitation assignments.

• Draft end-of-year (EOY) letter for renewing donors.

• Send prospect and lapsed donor mailing last week of October/early November.

• Development committee meeting – updates

Timeline for an EOY campaign, continued

November  • Provide support to campaign chair, board members, staff and friends with their solicitation

assignments.• Send EOY letter to renewing donors; include, where possible, personal notes.• Review gifts from prospect and lapsed donor mailing and consider follow-up strategies.• Organize and design e-solicitations. 

December  • Report progress to date to Board members (early December).• Provide support to chair and board members with their solicitation assignments.• Follow up with prospects, as appropriate.• Integrate e-solicitations with EOY process. 

January  • Analyze results of EOY solicitations.• Adjust gift table for challenge as needed.• Develop solicitation plans for remainder of Challenge period (through August 2014).• Develop spring renewal gift plans.

Making the case

• Who is the organization and what does it do?

• Why does it exist? • What is distinctive about

the organization?• What must be

accomplished? • How will this campaign

enable it to be accomplished? 

• How can the donor become involved?

• What's in it for the donor --why should they give to this effort

 

 

Don’t forget: 1. On-line readers

appeal2. Quick

acknowledgment3. Celebrate!

Our secret weapon: Jam