Planning a year-end giving campaign

This guide is for the founder, board member or volunteer who will run your charity's year-end appeal: the letters, emails and calls that ask supporters for a gift in the last weeks of the year. A planned appeal usually beats a rushed one. After reading, you'll have a timeline, a way to split your list, a plan for each channel, the IRS rules on which tax year a late-December gift counts in, and a plan for thanking everyone quickly.

If you don't have a list of supporters yet, start with building a donor base. If you don't yet have a clear, short reason to give, write your case for support first.

Start with one goal and one story

Before you write anything, decide three things:

• What the money is for. One clear need works better than a list. "Help us keep the after-school program open five days a week" is easier to give to than "support our general operations", even when the gift is unrestricted.
• How much you hope to raise. Base it on what came in last year, plus a realistic stretch. If this is your first appeal, set a modest goal you can reach and announce.
• One true story. One person, one moment, one result, told with permission. The story carries the letter.

Be honest about what the gift is for. If you say the money is for one project, it must be spent on that project. Our guide to restricted funds explains why.

A timeline that works

Work back from December 31. Adjust it to your size; a small charity can do this in a few evenings a week.

Split your list into a few groups

You don't need complex software. A spreadsheet with a "group" column is enough. Useful groups for a small charity:

• Loyal donors: gave in each of the last two years or more. Thank them for their loyalty, and consider a call or handwritten note.
• Last year's donors: gave last year but not yet this year. Remind them what their last gift did.
• Lapsed donors: gave before, but not in the last year or so. A gentler "we've missed you" ask.
• Recent first-time donors: gave for the first time this year. Thank them again before you ask again.
• Never given: volunteers, event guests, newsletter readers. Explain the work, then invite a first gift.
• Monthly donors: already giving. Don't send them the standard appeal. Thank them, and you may invite an extra year-end gift or an increase.

Personalize at least the greeting, the last gift (where you have one) and the suggested amount. Our year-end appeal letter template shows how.

Choose your channels

Use the channels your supporters already use. Most small charities combine two or three.

• Letters. A printed letter with a reply card and return envelope still works well, especially for older and loyal donors. Keep it to one or two pages.
• Email. Cheap and fast, and good for reminders close to the deadline. Send it only to people who agreed to hear from you, include your postal address and a working unsubscribe, and keep each email short with one clear button. Our guide to email newsletters covers the basics, including the CAN-SPAM rules.
• Calls and notes. A two-minute call from a board member to your top donors, just to say thank you before the appeal arrives, often matters more than the letter.
• Social media. Good for sharing the story and the progress toward the goal, less good for the ask itself. Link back to your own giving page.
• Your website. Make sure the donate page works on a phone, loads quickly, and mentions the same story and goal.

If you send appeals to people in other states, check whether those states expect you to register first. See our guide to charitable solicitation registration.

Which year does a December gift count in?

Donors who itemize often want their gift to count in this tax year, so the last days of December matter. IRS Publication 526 says a donor can deduct a contribution only in the year they actually make it, and that a contribution is usually made when it is unconditionally delivered. It gives these rules:

Publication 526 has no separate rule for "online" gifts. A gift made by credit card on your donate page follows the credit card rule. For other electronic payments, tell donors to give a few days early, because the timing depends on how the payment is made.

What this means for you:

• Keep the envelope. A check mailed on December 30 that arrives on January 3 was made in December, if it was mailed then. Keep the postmarked envelope with the check record, and record both dates.
• A check dated December but mailed in January is a January gift. The date written on the check doesn't decide it.
• Pledges aren't gifts yet. A promise made in December and paid in February counts when it's paid.
• Don't backdate. Your receipt states the date you received the gift. Never change dates to help a donor; date the letter the day you write it.
• Don't give tax advice. Whether a gift is deductible depends on the donor's own taxes. Tell donors what they gave and what, if anything, they got back, and let their tax preparer do the rest.

Thank everyone, quickly

The appeal isn't over when the money arrives. How you thank donors decides whether they give next year.

• Thank within days, even in the busy last week. A short, personal letter or email beats a perfect one in February.
• Meet the IRS rule for gifts of $250 or more. The donor needs a written acknowledgment from you that names your charity, gives the amount of a cash gift, describes (but doesn't value) a noncash gift, and says whether you gave anything in return. Publication 526 says the donor must have it by the date they file their return or the return's due date, whichever is earlier. It also notes that charities typically send these no later than January 31 of the following year. Our guide to donor acknowledgments explains every part, and our donor thank-you letter template has the wording.
• Send year-end summaries in January to donors who gave several times. One letter can list each gift and its date, as long as it has all the required facts.
• Report the result. In January, tell everyone who gave, and everyone you asked, how close you got and what the money will do.

Then fold the new donors into your year-round plan. Our donor stewardship guide has a simple calendar.

After the campaign

While it's fresh, spend an hour with whoever helped and write down:

• how much came in, from how many donors, and from which groups and channels
• how many first-time donors you gained
• what it cost (printing, postage, email service)
• what you'd do earlier or differently next year

Keep the note with your appeal letter and list. Next September, you'll start from there instead of from scratch.

Your year-end campaign checklist

• We have one goal, one need and one true story, used with permission
• The donor list is cleaned and split into groups
• Each group has a channel: letter, email, call or a mix
• Emails go only to people who agreed, with our postal address and an unsubscribe link
• We checked state registration for the states we're mailing or emailing
• Thank-you letters are drafted before the appeal goes out
• We keep postmarked envelopes for checks that arrive in early January
• Every gift of $250 or more gets a written acknowledgment that meets IRS rules
• Any offer worth more than a token, for a gift of more than $75, comes with the IRS disclosure
• We report the result to donors in January and write down what we learned