17 Tips for Successful Year-End Fundraising

"Change the subject line and resend the same e-mail to your supporters who didn't open it the first time around. It's easy to do and gives more visibility to the message your are trying to convey."
— Tim Robinson, director of nonprofit services, Care2

"Since you're mailing to your full file, be sure to include their e-mail addresses on the reply forms and ask that donors update if necessary. Most will comply, and your data will be that much cleaner."
— John Mini, principal, John Mini Consulting

"Top-notch analytics."
— Jaime Grams, vice president, Integral

"The creation of a simple, straightforward, concrete message that highlights what you've done over the course of the year, why you did it, and which directs the ownership of that success and continued success to the donor in a personal way. I strategically select my donors/partners most able to make an impact and personally deliver this message to them in a relaxed and non-forceful way."
— Ryan Oelrich, executive director, Ambassadors Foundation

"Images are as important to online as the carrier is to a mailing. They pull the reader in and make them want more. Oh, and don't forget your end-of -year deadline dates — the ones you need to meet and the ones you want your donors to meet!"
— Ellen Cobb Church, principal and CEO, Craver, Matthews, Smith & Co.

"Celebrate Christmas in July. Meaning ... plan ahead. Give yourself more time than you think you need so that when your best-laid plans go awry, you can still deploy a flawless campaign on time. It's easier to fix — and laugh about — the word 'pantry' being spelled 'panty' throughout the creative for your 'Fill the Pantry' campaign when it's discovered three weeks before the deployment rather than three days."
— Margaret Battistelli Gardner, editor-in-chief, FundRaising Success