
Let me guess. The mood of your staff now that the fiscal year is almost over with is “hurry, hurry…faster, faster!”
And with good reason! There should be a sense of urgency now that there’s only a short time remaining before the end of the month.
While it’s true that annual giving programs have 365 days every year to get as many gifts as possible, the closer it gets to the final hour, the more that sense of urgency is felt.
The final month of the year should be critical. This is the time to assess your success over the course of the year-to-date.
We’ve put together a fiscal-year-end checklist to help you through these last weeks of your annual giving campaign:
Review your goals – Is everyone still on the same page? Who is responsible for monitoring performance?
Use up your budget – If you don’t you might lose it –but use it wisely.
What about last year’s donors? They’re the ones most likely to give at this time—remember it’s all about retaining the donors you already have.
Remind your pledgers – Sometimes they forget, especially if the pledge was verbal.
Ask a 2nd time – It helps to create the habit of giving. It might be a good time to ask for them to support a new initiative or increase their gift to the next tier.
Involve your board – Many times we find that development offices simply forget to involve their most important volunteers and donors in the “annual” process.
Start planning for next year – If you wait until the end of the year to think about what you need to do in 2018, you’ll miss out on early opportunities.
Get “the team” ready – Hopefully, there’ll be a jump in activity. Make a copy of your appeal schedule and samples of reply devices that may be coming in.
Make it okay to “cheat” – Devise a one-pager that outlines various ways people can donate. Include the URL on the online giving page, phone number to call, and an email address form.
Do you do anything special as the fiscal “end” gets closer and closer?