NONPROFIT EGGS . . . ALL IN ONE CHRISTMAS BASKET . . .
As a nonprofit leader and/or development director, December can be a very stressful month. According to Blackbaud, and pretty much any other study out there, December is the month that brings in the largest amount of fundraising dollars.
So for many of you, this is the month that will "make or break" what you do for your fiscal year. If we just described you, we have a few thoughts for you to consider as you reflect on 2022.
1) If you follow us on social media and read our weekly blogs, you would know that we constantly encourage organizations to fundraise all year long, and not wait until the end of the year. Far too often we will hear a fundraising plan being that the organization is just going to send an end of the year letter to donors. No meetings, no personal request, just sending a letter. If you are putting all your fundraising eggs into this one Christmas basket, you are going to be very disappointed. Not only do many donors already have an idea on where they are going to give by this time, those who are willing to give to you . . . you may have left a lot of money on the table by not asking for a specific gift earlier in the year.
2) Make sure do face to face asks throughout the entire year. There are a number of reasons why you should, which you could agree or not agree with, but let's just make one simple argument that we can all be on the same page for. Let's pretend you have 100 donors who have the POTENTIAL to give at least $1,000. If you wait until December to make your asks, and assume the days of December 21 - 31 are pretty much impossible to meet with anyone . . . that means you would have to meet with 100 people in a span of 3 weeks. Not the most realistic plan out there. We suppose if you meet with people for 10 mins each, and open your meeting times up to 5 am to 1 am, it is possible though.
Having a fundraising plan, scorecard, and accountability can make all the difference in the world when it comes to hitting your donor goals. Would we love for you to use Midwest Studies Group to help connect you with donors and/or create your fundraising plan? Of course. However, the most important thing for you to get out of this week's message is this . . . use the entire year to your advantage in 2023 and it will make all the difference.
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To learn more about strategic and fundraising plans, feasibility studies, planned giving studies, need assessment studies, and capital campaigns, visit us at www.midweststudiesgroups.com.