5 Ways GivingDNA Helps You Build a Better Year-End Campaign

Year-end giving already? Absolutely. By planning now, you can ensure you have the right tools to develop a robust and effective year-end campaign.

The secret to your success? Data. Today’s donors expect a personalized experience informed by their relationship with your organization. In short, one-size-fits-all appeals no longer work. It’s all about meeting donors where they are with the right messages. Advanced data analytics tools help you accomplish this.

Let’s explore how GivingDNA can help your organization achieve significant results with a successful year-end campaign. 

Take a Data-Driven Approach To Boost Retention

Nonprofits that develop a data-driven strategy for their year-end campaign can see as much as 70% growth year over year (YOY). This reality is especially important when aiming to keep retention rates high amid economic uncertainty.

A focus on retention involves five key principles:

1. Making a solid first impression
2. Putting the focus on the donor
3. Serving up personalized, relevant content
4. Bringing your mission to life through content
5. Following up with a second ask

Use data to drive the appeals you make. Here are two groups you can identify with GivingDNA and target in your year-end campaign:

• Donors who have yet to give this year: Create versions of appeals that courteously say you miss them and that they haven’t given recently.
• Mid and major donors giving each year: Use personal outreach to thank and cultivate them. 

Segment Your Data

Next, segment your data to target donors with the most relevant messaging. GivingDNA can help you dig deeper to identify those who are more likely to respond to your appeals.

We suggest focusing on two specific groups:

• Philanthropic non-donors supporting causes like yours are likelier to engage with your appeals.
• Candidates primed for upgrade potential.

Both sets are pre-built into GivingDNA, so pulling a list is quick and easy.

The Houston SPCA used GivingDNA’s hyper-personalized data and insights to identify existing or previous givers with the potential to give more. As a result:

• Four families gave five $100,000 gifts.
• Dozens of donors increased their giving to $10,000 or more.
• Donor engagement increased by 26.8%. 
  
  

Adopt an Omnichannel Strategy

Twenty-nine percent of constituents contributing through an organization’s website do so after being contacted through another channel. In practice, omnichannel giving integrates all the communication channels your organization uses. The goal is to provide a seamless, unified experience for your constituents.

First, find your donors’ communication preferences. Then, use that preferred channel to move the donor to other communication strategies. For example:

• For donors who respond to direct mail — in your following letter, give them a compelling reason to go to your website and download some content.
• For digitally responsive donors — send them an email letting them know you’ll be calling donors next week to thank them.

Donors who engage with you across multiple channels have a 300% higher lifetime value than those who only use one communication style. GivingDNA provides a breakdown of donor communication preferences to get you started. 

Communicate Donor Impact

Align your year-end communication strategies with the impact your donors and non-donors want to see. After all, 72% of donors say impact and results are very important factors in their decision to give.

Survey your donors and ask them why they gave. Then, document that data in your customer relationship management (CRM) software so you can quickly find your different reasons for tailored messages.

GivingDNA’s rich affinity data can help you build a hyper-effective communication strategy. If you know what other organizations donors have given to in the last 12 months, you can appeal to them in new ways.

Take a food bank. Someone who supports education might also support efforts to provide meals to students outside school hours. Knowing what parts of your mission donors value can create an emotional bond that boosts new and recurring gifts. 

Don’t Neglect Giving Tuesday

Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales decreased YOY in 2021, but the amount of Giving Tuesday donations in the U.S. grew by 9%. The lesson is clear: consumer spending doesn’t drive charitable giving.

This year, go beyond a broad appeal on social media and target a specific audience to help you meet a set goal. For instance, in 2021, an organization offered Breakthrough Ministries a matching gift if it could raise $40,000 on Giving Tuesday.

With GivingDNA, Breakthrough identified a specific audience to target:

• Donors who typically gave $1,000 in November or December
• Those who gave via credit card
• Digitally responsive donors

Breakthrough created hyper-personalized emails for each of the 76 individuals on its list. As a result, it raised $46,000 and secured the matching gift for $86,000 total. 

Let GivingDNA Guide Your Data-Driven Strategy

Analyzing and segmenting data can be daunting — especially for smaller organizations. But it’s essential for a successful year-end campaign. By starting now, you can equip your fundraising team with the tools and experts who can help.

Give every donor on your list a relevant experience that compels them to support your cause, whether for the first time or at a higher level. Book a GivingDNA demo today.

Want more year-end campaign tips? Download our free eBook, 5 Keys to Data-Driven Year-End Fundraising, today.