30% of all giving occurs in December. Do you want to hear a more surprising statistic?

10% of all giving happens in the last three days of December!

With that in mind, it’s important to think through your last-minute pushes to help meet your fundraising goal for 2019. It’s not too late to start, and my guess is, if you were to try at least one of these tips, you are very likely to get closer to (or even meet) your financial goals this year.

Here are X tips to help you get those last-minute gifts from your donors:

1. Prioritize your plan based on the potential of the highest yield.

At this point in the game, it’s likely that you don’t have the time (or maybe capacity) to strategically communicate with every single person on your lists, from small one-time givers all the way to your major lapsed donors. So, choose wisely.

Just because you can’t directly communicate and make your ask to everyone on your lists, you can communicate with some on your lists. And those you choose to focus on should be the people who have the potential to give the most or are the most likely to have open ears.

Your best prospects will be your current givers (they may be willing to give more if they are made aware of a specific need end-of-year) and any major (or mid) lapsed donors.

2. Pick up the phone

Yes, taking the time to make phone calls can be challenging and consuming. But if you’re unable to meet face-to-face with your donors (which many of us can’t), give them a call. It is far more personable than an email, and has the potential to yield a gift more frequently than an email.

3. Reach out to your lapsed donors

Studies show that many donors who have lapsed in the last year don’t realize they have lapsed. Reach out to them, thank them for their previous involvement and make a specific ask for them to join you in your efforts this year.

4. Communicate in multiple channels

It’s a busy time of year, and people often need to be reminded of your need more than once. By utilizing multiple different channels of communication, you can make sure that they’re in the know, and provided multiple chances to give (snail mail, email, social media, phone calls, or pigeons).

Alright, let’s get going! We hope these tips have been helpful and encouraging to you as you enter in your last couple of weeks for gifts. We believe in you and wish you all the best as we near the end of 2019.