On the same day as the autumn equinox, I walked through several stores, including Home Depot and Lowes, looking for some outdoor items - only to see the patio furniture has been replaced with… Christmas decorations? I hardly got my fix of pumpkin spice, and the candy canes and gingerbread flavors are out. In a few years, “Christmas in July” will have a whole new meaning.
Years ago, I would have been annoyed that the first day of fall was overshadowed by Christmas. It still makes me roll my eyes, but my protests will not stop it from happening earlier and earlier each year. Inside this cultural phenomenon is a vital fundraising lesson.
Our donors live in the same world that we do. They are having the holiday season thrust upon them earlier and earlier. And guess what… other nonprofit organizations are jumping on this opportunity to have their appeals start earlier as well. If you wait until December to ask for money, you are far too late. You can stick your head in the sand and protest the early onset of Christmas, or you can adapt your efforts to consider the early Holiday reality.
It remains true that December is the best time for fundraising. However, the other reality of December is that donors are drawn in many directions, and if you do not go out of your way to grab their attention, they will be too busy from Thanksgiving to year-end to give you attention.
As I said, we recommend that you ask earlier, but that also means you will need to communicate more times because your appeal is now spread over 6-8 weeks with a whole lot happening around us. I teach the “Ask-to-Touchpoint Ratio™” - a principle stating that you much have non-ask type communications between asks/appeals to garner donor attention and admiration. Map out your communication calendar from now until year-end. Mix in holiday cards, soft reminders, and the use of a theme to carry a campaign for a longer a duration and minimize the extra work for you and your team.
The competition for donors’ attention mixed with the need to ask several times without donor fatigue will certainly lead to a busy year-end. Perhaps the holidays starting earlier and earlier can be used to our advantage - giving us more time to fit in all the communications we need to solicit enormous support through “the most wonderful time of the year.”
Use this as your reminder to get your initial year-end appeal letter out by Thanksgiving, build out several communications throughout the end of the year to stay on your donor’s radar so you can compete for their attention and their support. If you don’t other organizations will! Don't forget to check out our line sales and resources.
enomenon is a vital fundraising lesson.
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