What Happens When You Leave All Your Fundraising to the Final Days of the Year?, Ep #12

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Episode 12

With Benjamin Johnson & Matt Hussey

How does a charity maximize its end of the year giving potential? Matt and Ben take a deep dive into year-end fundraising strategies, the idea behind “Giving Tuesday”, and what year-end campaigns look like for Frontier in 2020. It’s time to get as enthusiastic as Matt’s Enneagram type about wrapping up the year right!


You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...

  • What’s up with the Toronto Raptors? [1:17]

  • Recapping the last episode and Matt’s Enneagram number [4:33]

  • Year-end giving statistics [6:55]

  • Matt remembers his first December at Frontier [8:42]

  • What is “Giving Tuesday” and does it matter? [10:46]

  • Is there such a thing as “too many emails” during year-end giving? [18:41]

  • Is event-driven fundraising necessary? [21:54]

  • Embracing optimism as a fundraising strategy [26:53]

  • Seasonality in fundraising [31:21]

  • What does an integrated marketing strategy look like? [34:03]

  • The shareability of fundraising [42:24]


Start with the end

A fairly recent trend in the charity world is Giving Tuesday. The idea is to take advantage of commercial holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday with a charitable spin on that Tuesday. And while it’s certainly not ineffective, it pales in comparison to the level of giving seen in December and the last few days of the year. This is why Ben recommends starting with the end to be a successful fundraiser. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having a day to highlight charitable giving. The world could certainly use more of that. But don’t neglect end-of-year fundraising efforts in lieu of hopping on the bandwagon. 

Don’t get lost in the background

Inboxes are made to be cleared. Most people try to get that little red bubble on their email app down to zero as quickly as possible. Often by the end of the day! It’s important to keep that in mind when deciding how often to send email communications to subscribers about donating. Consider the sheer volume of email ads retailers send out in general, let alone during the holidays. And while it’s not an exact comparison, the point is that when it comes to marketing of any kind; overcommunication is communication. Don’t get lost in the background by sending out only one end-of-year giving reminder. Leveraging the bulk of annual donations on the hope that readers will see and respond to ONE email in the middle of a communication heavy season is a HUGE risk. Marketers need to develop a strategy that will keep their organization at the front of donor’s minds before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Day.

Adopt an integrated marketing strategy

Integrated marketing strategies recognize the fact that there are multiple touchpoints with an audience throughout their day, week, month, and year and that people interact with different mediums in different ways. They also recognize the need for all marketing content to be consistent in voice and timed efficiently to maximize its efficacy. There is no need to isolate the different mediums of a marketing team. The structures of a charity often hold an organization back from achieving its potential. The direct mail team SHOULD be communicating with the digital team to come up with a unified strategy. When an organization uses all of its resources in an integrated way, everyone wins.

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