Getting Ready to Get Ready for the Giving Season June 27, 2018
Please Suggest Questions Throughout the Conversation (We ll answer as many as we can at the end.) Questions go in the questions tab Note: Today s webinar will be recorded. We will email everyone a copy of the recording after the event.
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Meet Your Hosts Megan Davidson Account Manager, Classy Arielle Gart Marketing and Outreach Manager, GuideStar
Today s Agenda: Data dive: Insights into the 2017 giving season How to create a detailed planning calendar How to develop a strong promotional strategy Why donor segmentation is key Why Giving Tuesday is an opportunity you can t miss
Data Dive: Insights Into the 2017 Giving Season
Data Dive: Insights Into the 2017 Giving Season
Question: When do you plan to deploy your year-end campaign? Answers go in the questions tab
The 2017 Giving Season In 2017, over 25% of annual donation volume occurred from Giving Tuesday through the end of the year on the Classy platform On the Classy platform, conversion rates across campaigns, peak in November and December Throughout year-end, the use of donation and crowdfunding pages increases dramatically, with donation pages having more than 50% of gross transaction volume and crowdfunding campaigns accounting for roughly 30% of gross donation volume
The New Tax Law and Year-End Giving **Disclaimer: We cannot predict how the new tax law will impact year-end giving, BUT we can share what we know and what our team is thinking through. The Chronicle of Philanthropy has reported, It s predicted there will be a $16.3 billion drop in giving this year due to the tax cut The Chronicle of Philanthropy also reported that an estimated 21 million fewer households will itemize their deductions People will have more cash in their hands because of lower federal rates. What are they going to do with it? Will they donate that extra cash back to a nonprofit?
How to Create a Detailed Planning Calendar
Start planning your campaign early If you haven t started yet, make a commitment to start now!
Key dates to flag in your calendar Thanksgiving: Nov. 22 Black Friday: Nov. 23 Cyber Monday: Nov. 26 Giving Tuesday: Nov. 27 Last day of the year: Dec. 31 Religious holidays: Hanukkah: Dec. 2-10 Christmas: Dec. 25 Kwanzaa: Dec. 26 - Jan. 1
How to start planning Use your data 1. Review last year s campaign results. What worked well? What didn t? 2. Look at your donor data and understand who donated to your campaign last year. 3. Start to identify key segments of donors you can target based off different characteristics. Learn from others Secure matching gift funds Identify your campaign theme What other organizations do you admire or support? Look back at emails from last year for inspiration and find new ideas to try this year. Matching gifts are a common way to incentivize donors. Get creative matching gifts can come from corporate partners, board members or major donors. Build a story arc and focus on the language you want to use to appeal to supporters.
By September Aim to have your story arc completed Start to prepare your campaign assets materials for your website, social media, and email Determine how you ll integrate your online portion of your campaign with your offline presence If you your year-end campaign has a direct mail component, your story should be integrated across all mediums
By October Year-end campaigns should be live and ready to deploy in October Define your target audience, how will you segment your donor appeals? Map out your marketing schedule, outline what messages are going out and when across all your respective channels Develop marketing creative and promotional assets PRO TIP: Keep things donor-centric. Think through how you ll tap into your donor s emotions AND convey the impact of their contribution
By November Build excitement for your campaign and kick off donor communications in early November Launch your campaign and schedule donor communications Send at least three to four emails to your donors to create some buzz Capitalize on Giving Tuesday as the start of year-end
How to develop a strong promotional strategy
Key promotional channels Email Organic social media Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram Direct mail Radio advertisement spots Online paid advertisements, Facebook, Google, etc. FREE GuideStar Profile
Update your FREE GuideStar Profile 1. Visit www.guidestar.org 2. Select Update your Nonprofit Profile 3. Select Get Started Now 4. Begin telling your nonprofit s story 5. Get rewarded for your transparency
Characteristics of a successful promotional campaign Cohesive messaging and branding across all mediums of communication Multi-channel communications, don t just rely on one channel to communicate with donors Ask more than once! Stand out during the year-end giving season and adopt a for-profit communication strategy Don t just ask for donations, emphasize the impact Use personalization
What we love about this campaign Build Giving Tuesday and year-end communications to include October awareness month Maintain consistent story arc and communications to carry momentum through December Strategically incorporate corporate matches to generate early success
What we love about this campaign Early strategic communications to engage supporters Multiple matches to challenge donors throughout the day Compelling story arc featuring families they serve
What we love about this campaign Strong branding for the shoe that grows (#Giving Shoesday) Specific goal to provide 600 pairs of shoes to children Segmented communications according to supporter behavior
Why donor segmentation is KEY
Donor segmentation cuts through the noise In today s digital age, your donors get more email than ever before! When the content of your email and asks are tailored to a strategic subset of donors, you ll drive higher open and click through rates
Quick tips on how to segment your donor base Gift size: donors who give less than $100 shouldn t receive the same donation appeal as those who give more than $100 Frequency: recurring donors or donors who have given more than one time may receive a different appeal than brand new supporters Programmatic: if supporters give to a specific program, ask them to donate again or consider funding another program Giving History: look for opportunities to engage lapsed donors, volunteers, and/or supporters on your blog or email list who have not yet donated
Personalize your donor stewardship If a donor gives to a specific program, your thank you should highlight that impact Explain how their money is being used and establish a consistent cadence to share impact Recurring donors should receive consistent communications underscoring the impact of their gift Don t stop at thank you! New donor retention rate is only 25% Returning donor retention rate is 60% After receiving a donors year-end gift, launch a two-three part email series to nurture that relationship
Why Giving Tuesday is an opportunity you can t afford to miss
Giving Tuesday by the numbers In 2017, 3.4% of all transactions on Classy occured on Giving Tuesday that s 13 times more than a regular day on the platform Organizations acquire 3 to 5 times more new donors on Giving Tuesday than on a regular day 15% of donors acquired on Giving Tuesday give again before the next Giving Tuesday Giving Tuesday donors are 3 to 4 times more likely to become fundraisers than yearend donors
Download The State of Modern Philanthropy for more Giving Tuesday data http://bit.ly/2k8gjfb
Giving Tuesday as a launch pad for year-end Build excitement for the day (again, think for-profits approach to Black Friday!) Continue and develop the same story through both Giving Tuesday and year-end( and segment communications!) Engage supporters strategically with matching gifts, competitions, and/or incentives
Our favorite Giving Tuesday campaigns Strong imagery Creative match prominently featured on campaign page Present different suggested gift amounts to engage segments of donors
Our favorite Giving Tuesday campaigns Creative use of graphic elements Story and layout reminiscent of a microsite Fixed background images give life and variety to the page
Our favorite Giving Tuesday campaigns Builds on Thanksgiving holiday and sentiment to further spread their organization s mission Fosters personal connection with donors by featuring individual turkey stories Sends donors turkey swg: card, photo, and bio
Questions?
Question: What else do you want to learn about year-end giving? Answers go in the questions tab
Thank you for joining us!