It’s in the air! Can you smell it?! The holidays are almost here!
But that also means the busy holiday season is upon us. The gift-giving. The parties. The annual appeal. You’re going to be swamped with things to do in and out of the office, so here’s a compilation of 6 blog posts you may have missed this past year, to help you with all that you have to do in the final stretch of 2012.
1. Priorities: The People First—Sohini gave us a great reminder of what the focus should be in all of your nonprofit asks: the people. Read this blog post for ideas on how you can get your house in order for the upcoming giving season.
2. Give Them a Reason to Donate—An oldie-but-a-goodie, this post is about reminding you to keep that one message in mind when communicating with your donors. If you want them to give, you need to give them a reason first.
3. How to Get People to Act—Honing in on individual stories will be more effective than telling your donors about the millions in need. This blog post will help you narrow down the focus in your nonprofit communications, to best maximize the return.
4. Show You Want Their Support—Asking for a donation isn’t enough to convince people to donate. You need to show that through other ways—for example, an easily-navigable website, or fast response times to inquiries.
5. Host a Party—Everyone loves holiday parties (if you don’t, check to see if you have a pulse!) and it’s a great opportunity to host events to raise funds, or just to let your donors get to know your organization a little more. These tips will help you put it together.
6. Don’t Forget to Say Thank You!—You can be off-beat yet still get the message across to your donors of how thankful you are of their support. Show them you really appreciate their donation by using one of these 22 ways so say thanks. (Don’t forget to thank your fans on Facebook, too.)
What’s on your to-do list for your annual appeal?