We’re almost there. That time of year filled with thank you notes, appeal letters, and “last chance to give” emails galore. Whether you’re mailing an appeal letter or sticking with email this year, year-end is fast-approaching. And the sooner you start planning, the better.

With all the whirlwind that is Year-End, I want to make things as easy as possible for you. So here’s what you need to do to get ahead of the chaos that is to come.

Figure out your key messaging

There are so many questions you need to ask yourself before you skip ahead to drafting your letter or writing social media posts. Let’s not beg for donations here. Get to the heart of what you’re doing and why your donors should care about it.

Take a step back and figure out some key messaging. Start by asking yourself some questions:

Why does your work matter? Why are you running an End of Year campaign?
What are your goals?
Do you have something specific you can tie your numbers to?
What stories have you heard that perfectly sum up the impact of what you do?
Who are you doing this for?
Why should your donors care?
Do you know how much money you’re trying to raise?

Once you’ve gone through some of these questions, it’s time to brainstorm ideas. Bullet point to your heart’s content.

Come up with a campaign name. Set a timer for 10 minutes and list as many title ideas as you can think of.

List the key takeaways you want donors to remember. What impact did they have this year? How will their gift help you next year? Why is your work so important?

Put an outcome to your dollar amounts. When 71% of nonprofits struggle to measure outcomes, putting a dollar amount to your ask will help you connect with your potential donors. List out clever ways to package what donors are supporting. Instead of $20,000 towards your work in general, can you put a number to how many people will be impacted?

How many backpacks will be purchased with your donors’ help?
How many gifts of $50 do you need to provide clean water to a whole neighborhood?

Here’s the thing about this brainstorming process: ideas usually can’t be forced. The good news is: you don’t need to figure everything out in one sitting. Give yourself a few days to mull your ideas over.

You might brainstorm on Monday, focus on something else for a couple days, then revisit your list come Thursday. The same goes for drafting your appeal letter —it’s going to take some time to “massage your message” and get something you’re ready to share.

Draft your letter early

I once read somewhere to set a goal of drafting your letter before September. HA! Is that possible? Has anyone in a small shop ever done this? We’re lucky if we even send a letter out on time, let alone get ahead!

Ok fine. In all seriousness, you DO want to get that draft together on the earlier side. If November comes around and you haven’t started your appeal letter yet, you’re asking for panic mode. So let’s not do that.

After you listen to this episode, set a timer for 15 minutes and list out some of the main points you want to make in your appeal. Start thinking about stories you want to share—any highlights from the last year or things donors made possible. Dump out all the ideas you have so they’re all in one place and your wheels can start turning.

When it comes time to actually write your letter, I want you to focus on just ONE story about ONE person. It’s proven over and over again that this method will result in more gifts. It’s human size!

When you have a draft, get another pair of eyes—but not TOO MANY eyes. It’s great you have 3 board members plus the board president who are super passionate about proofreading. Wonderful, leverage those skills. But let’s not turn this into a massive committee review. Instead, you really want to keep the eyes on your letter to a minimum. One, maybe two opinions.

Beyond that, and you’ll be fighting over the wording of one sentence for a week straight. You don’t have time for micromanaging.

Choose images & graphics

Writing an amazing letter is a work of art. Designing a letter: also, a work of art. My greatest advice here is to keep it simple.

You’re going to get way more traction from a simple letter that feels like you (the ED) sent a personal letter to the donor.

Keep in mind that if it’s too overly designed and busy and hard to read, especially for your older donors, they might get frustrated and not donate at all. By keeping your letter simple, you ensure your letter is also easy to read.

That being said, if have a design-inclined volunteer or board member, awesome. Use their skills for social media. Lean on them to create some graphics or choose a few photos to be the “face” of the campaign.

If you don’t have extra help in the visuals department, don’t fret! That’s where something like Canva will come in handy (and the pro version is free for eligible nonprofits!).

Choose some templates and use your brand colors to create your social media posts. It seems like a simple step, but it’ll really make content planning easier later on.

Rein in the printing process

When it comes to printing, there are a lot of different options. Pick the one that makes the most sense for you.

Are you mailing everything out with the help of some volunteers?
Will the printer be mailing your letters on behalf of your organization?
Will you get the letters delivered to you, then you send them to board members to sign and mail?

Once you figure out how letters will be delivered, you’ll need to either print yourself or select a printer to do it for you. If so, are you reaching out to half a dozen printer companies to figure out pricing? Please don’t create a new email for each company from scratch!

Set up a standard template for your quote requests so you can just copy-paste and get quotes sent quicker that way. And keep a shared folder with all the printer information in it—like how many remit envelopes you had to order. Then next year you’re not totally starting from scratch.

While you’re at it, make sure your envelope templates, appeal letter drafts, logos, and other digital assets are all saved in an easy-to-find folder too. Nothing worse than wasting time trying to find what you need.

Get your donor lists in order

You’re probably tempted to save donor lists for the very last minute. Who wants to trudge through all that data? Also: who wants to know how many of your donors haven’t given yet (...like all those mid-year donors that seem to have disappeared this year...)??

No one wants to ruin their week with a reality check, but try to think of it this way: you’d rather find out now instead of finding out just before your last board meeting of the year.

Getting to know your donors will help you have a stronger year-end campaign.

Start to make sense of how many donors gave last year but not this year (a good old LYBNT list).
Figure out where the bulk of your donors are—are they mid-level? Major donors? Monthly givers?
Start making a priority list of who you need to connect with over the phone in the next couple of months.

Again, I know you don’t WANT to do this. But when you start to understand who your donors are and who you need to try and retain, it’ll be easier to segment your emails and phone calls moving forward.

Organizing your donor lists is the first step to getting your board members involved in the process.

Activate your board members

Start thinking about how you are going to activate your board members. How can you help them be advocates for your year-end campaign?

Let’s talk through some ways to get your board members more involved.

First, make sure to confirm everyone’s donor lists (hopefully well before November).

Second, set your expectations.

Are board members expected to call a certain amount of donors on their list?
Will they be writing handwritten notes?
Are they going to be folding and mailing out the appeal letters?

Next, consider creating a suggested schedule for communications. Maybe board members will call their list around Thanksgiving time to share their gratitude, then they’ll text or email a week or so later.

Finally, make sure your entire board is following you on your social channels and actively sharing posts. (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard of board members pressuring EDs about the importance of growing your social following, yet they don’t follow or share posts themselves!). You cannot work in a silo; ESPECIALLY on social media.

If you want to take board activation to the next level, think about putting together a Board Member Toolkit. In a Canva link or Google Folder, include social media photos and graphics, sample social media posts, and maybe even emails or phone call scripts.

Does a toolkit seem like a bit much? Well the easier you make it on your board, the easier it’ll be for them to become active and vocal advocates. You can’t be expected to do everything on your own. So activate those board members and enter your Year-End campaign with confidence.

When it comes to making your end of year easier, here’s the biggest takeaway I want you to remember:

Have fun with it

I know it’s easier said than done, but let yourself feel light. The weight of year-end is heavy enough as it is, but remember: there is only so much you can control. There might be a typo in your appeal letter....a donation form that breaks....a donor who gets annoyed by your campaign emails. Let yourself laugh and find some lightness in an otherwise heavy time. It’ll be next year before we know it! And you’ll forget about the little stressors come January 1.

How to get ahead of the year-end chaos