Do You See What I See? 2 Steps to Prepare for Year-End Fundraising

Speaking of Giving Tuesday, which this year is December 2, Artez Interactive reported that Facebook was responsible for sending 30 percent of traffic to donation pages on that day in 2013. And a third of all traffic to donation pages on Giving Tuesday came via mobile devices. Is your website mobile-optimized? Do you have a social-media strategy for year-end that maximizes these tools? If not, put this on your to-do list today so these important tools are ready for year-end.

Network for Good reminded us that although online giving represents less than 10 cents of every dollar raised, 10 percent of that giving is done on Dec. 29, 30 and 31. Is your online donation process simple and easily found on your website?

Nonprofit Tech for Good summarized a lot of great stats like this in a blog post a few weeks ago — it's worth reading if you missed it!

Things like changing websites and beefing up an email communication calendar take time, money and often buy-in from others in the company. Given all that, it can seem a daunting task. But come December, you'll be glad you got to work early on fixing any less-than-optimal fundraising tools.

Your No. 1 goal for year-end 2014? Plan ahead so you don't miss a single fundraising opportunity and you don't die in the process. That means getting started today. You may hit some resistance or even feel a bit silly for suggesting a meeting about year-end fundraising when it's only June.

But this old dog knows how critical those last weeks of the year are for fundraising. Starting now can make it your biggest success yet — professionally and personally.