Maximizing Giving Days and Ensuring a Successful Year End Giving Initiative PRESENTED BY Stephanie Moore Director of the Annual Fund, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Natalie Shroyer Assistant Vice President, CCS Joseph Gillmer, CFRE, CSPG Corporate Vice President, CCS Objectives Understand how year-end giving impacts annual success Review National Philanthropy Day, #GivingTuesday and other specific giving strategies that may enhance year-end giving Review methods of delivering an appeal and effective follow-up 3 1
What is Year End Giving? Has grown to include the entire 4 th quarter each year (September - December). Since 1986, communities across the globe have celebrated by hosting events to recognize activities of donors, volunteers, foundations, leaders, corporations, and others engaged in philanthropy. Founded in 2012, this global movement has engaged more than 10,000 organizations worldwide. Poll Question: Are you planning a social media appeal for #GivingTuesday or National Philanthropy Day? 4 Giving Motivations Holiday-driven spirit of giving Tax deduction incentive End of calendar year is often end of the fiscal year for individuals and businesses 5 Why Bother with Year-End Appeals? 24% of average giving is made between Thanksgiving and December 31. As much as 40% of individual giving is made in November and December. 33% of online gifts are made in December 22% of online gifts are made in the last two days of the year! Sources: Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Online Giving Study http://www.onlinegivingstudy.org/ 6 2
Why Bother with Year-End Appeals? End-of-year holiday season giving 57% Donated to charity 46% Donated money 64% Donated through a 3 rd party collector for a charity, such as through small donations at the cash register of a store 24% Participated in Adopt-a-family type programs where donors buy goods and donate them to local shelters 63% Donated perishable and non-perishable home goods on tangible property, such as clothing 22% Volunteered in November and December Source: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=519 7 Powerful End-of-Year Giving Options Common Liquid Assets Tangible Personal Property Publicly-Traded Securities Charitable IRA Rollovers (If/When approved by Congress) 8 Common Liquid Assets Cash and checks Electronic funds transfers (EFT) Credit and debit card Mobile (aka Text) Mobile/Email to Mobile/Email 9 3
Accepting Common Liquid Assets EFTs: Use a pre-designed transfer form Credit cards / Debit cards: Need a merchant account Mobile (Text): Apply for a special account through the Mobile Giving Foundation Mobile/Email to Mobile/Email: Need account with 3rd party vendor (PayPal, etc) 10 Tangible Personal Property For charities that accept personal items or stocks of food, the end of the year giving of these items is some of the highest levels of giving all year long! Gift acknowledgment: Note the items, not the value 11 Publicly Traded Securities Publicly-held securities are securities, such as stocks or bonds, issued by a public corporation traded on the open market How does it work? A donor transfers a publicly-held security to a charity Fair-market value is determined by the mean of the high and low of the security on the date of transfer What would a charity need? A brokerage account and a pre-designed security transfer form Have a staff member on standby to answer questions 12 4
Charitable IRA Rollovers Donors 70 ½ and up can make direct charitable contributions from a traditional or Roth IRA up to $100,000 per year No charitable deduction, but not counted as income CAN be used to pay pledges! 401(k), 403(b) and pension plans are NOT eligible 2015 Legislative Update Part of Tax Extender legislation Passed the House Senate not likely to take up until later in the year White House may veto any tax extender bill If it doesn t pass, the donor would realize the income and be eligible for an income tax deduction. 13 Planning for Year-End Appeals Analyze your donor database Develop your case for support Know your delivery methods Follow up 14 Analytics of Your Donor Database Identify Previous year donors who have not yet given Donors who give in November and December Donors who are 70 ½ or older Donors who have made stock or bond gifts Respondents to different appeal formats Regular donors who could be upgraded TIP: Separate out those who are considered to be major gift donors by your organization 15 5
Developing a Case for Support for an Appeal Tell your story Past: Where have you been? Present: Where are you now? Future: Where do you want to be, and how can donors help? Other questions to consider: Do you have a feature project? What impact will support at the end of the year make? In a cover letter or embedded in a case for support, have you included a specific request? Have you attempted to upgrade existing donor levels through specific requests and the use of giving societies? 16 Promoting Your Case via Social Media Concentrate on your homepage Place your mission statement in a prominent spot Boost donor confidence Use stories to show the power of a gift Let your contributors speak for you Show where the money goes Make your donation buttons big and colorful 17 End-of-Year Appeal Delivery Methods Print Mail / Brochures Personal visitation Phonathons / Telethons Social media and web presence Text Email #GivingTuesday National Philanthropy Day Poll Question: Which of these giving appeal delivery vehicles did you utilize to secure year-end gifts in 2014? Don t forget to be specific with your requests no matter which delivery method(s) you choose! 18 6
Utilizing National Philanthropy Day and #GivingTuesday What is a Giving Day? A 24-hour online fundraising effort that inspires giving to an organization s mission Examples include: National Philanthropy Day #GivingTuesday Why should I participate? Leverage the Giving Day s national awareness Nationally, #GivingTuesday drives raised more than $45 million! Reason to reach out to your constituency and tell your story Acquire new donors Generate excitement for your organization 19 Utilizing National Philanthropy Day and #GivingTuesday What should I do? Set a goal Recruit a team Build a brand Create a communication plan Publicize, publicize, publicize! Utilize the #GivingTuesday and National Philanthropy Day brands on your homepage Have a clear call to action Day of: accept donations and communicate real-time success Day after: communicate success, solicit feedback, and start planning for next year 20 #GivingTuesday Case Study: How we engaged: Raise $24,400 through an online-only campaign for #GivingTuesday Engaged BSO musicians, staff, and OrchKids students to share #GivingTuesday poster photo s online Developed BSO-branded #GivingTuesday email header, web banner, and posters along with call to action Save the Date E-Blast on November 25 Approached mid- and major gift level donors to encourage giving on December 2 Shared BSO-branded #GivingTuesday posters BSO Facebook and Twitter on December 1 21 7
#GivingTuesday Case Study: #GivingTuesday Activities (December 2) Two call to action email blasts Development staff was available via phone, email, and online to answer questions We worked closely with the PR/Social Media office throughout the day to share updates Results: $162,000 in gifts and pledges! Adjustments for 2015 Track volunteer hours Leverage poster photos ahead of #GivingTuesday Make branding more prominent online #GivingTuesday Statistics Baltimore & Maryland 2013: #BmoreGivesMore raised $5.7 million Most generous city in America 2014: #MarylandGivesMore raised $9 million Nationwide Results* 2012: $10 million 2013: $19 million 2014: $46 million *Source: http://givingtuesday.org 22 Raise your Hand If After you ve heard the success of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, are you motivated to plan a social media campaign for #GivingTuesday? 23 Effective Follow-up The #1 reason people give is because they re asked - so follow-up! Phone calls Personal visits Email follow-up Social media outreach Text outreach Matching gifts 2 nd mailings 24 8
Effective Follow-up Use a multi-step, multi-channel approach Supplement traditional mail Cross reference multiple channels Inquire about potential matching gift programs Plan to make a specific number of phone calls and personal visits to close gifts Keep communicating with nonresponders until a decision is made 25 The Final Stretch Network for Good processes 40% of its annual donations in the month of December, and the majority of that takes place on December 30 and 31. Send multiple reminder emails in the final week of the year including one and (or two) on December 31. Communicate individually with your best prospects who have not made gifts. Be ready to accept gifts on December 31. 26 Review: Planning Your Year-End Giving Appeals Aug. / Sept. Planning Developing/ proofing/ printing October Publish your materials Make your initial approach to donors Nov. / Dec. Follow-up activities 27 9
Additional Year-End Appeal Resources #GivingTuesday http://www.givingtuesday.org/ National Philanthropy Day Official Website http://www.afpnet.org/content.cfm?itemnumber=4032 Blackbaud 2014 Charitable Giving Report https://www.blackbaud.com/nonprofit-resources/charitablegiving Knight Foundation Giving Day Playbook http://givingdayplaybook.org/ Charity Navigator Charitable Giving Statistics http://www.charitynavigator.org Greater Giving Online Year-End Fundraising Tips http://www.greatergiving.com/resource-library/fundraising-tips.aspx 28 Comments and Discussion 10