Create a Holiday Message That Dovetails Into the New Year

A holiday campaign isn’t just a more festive version of the campaigns you run the rest of the year. The holidays are a great time to link giving to your charity with the spirit of giving that defines the season.

Amma Hawks, vice president of sales and marketing for San Francisco-based online fundraising service provider Entango, says her company works with a number of organizations to create holiday campaigns. Each does something a little different, something that often dovetails into their regular fundraising programs.

Women for Women International, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that helps women in war-torn regions rebuild their lives through financial and emotional support, has a virtual bazaar on its Web site where visitors can purchase items such as jewelry, clothes and bags made by the organization’s clients. Women for Women International sends out an e-mail campaign called “Gifts that Give Back” that highlights specific gifts for the holidays and asks individuals to give an additional donation when they make a purchase. Hawks says that including an ask for a donation in this way presents it less as an ask and more as an opportunity for customers also to give a gift that will make a difference for the organization during the holiday season.

“It allows them to get customers to see how they can, for a little bit more, spread that giving all year ‘round, which I think is very effective for them,” she says.

The International Museum of Women, a San Francisco-based museum with exhibits that celebrate and chronicle the history of women’s roles in society and history, is doing a holiday campaign called “Give the Perfect Gift” — the perfect gift being membership to the museum. Hawks says it’s a mainstay campaign that the museum promotes heavily in connection with the holidays.