How Two Nonprofits’ Year-End Campaigns Are Faring So Far

As year-end winds down, nonprofits are executing their plans to reach their fundraising goals by emailing those final asks, sharing one closing story on social media or sending those last thank-you letters for the year. 

Giving was up 4.7% year over year through the third quarter, but plummeted to a year-end 1.7% decline based on dismal fourth-quarter results in 2022, according to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. With this in mind, let’s see how nonprofits are doing so far based on GivingTuesday results, which showed a slight uptick in giving. 

To get a peek into nonprofits' efforts, NonProfit PRO spoke to nonprofit professionals in attendance at NonProfit PRO’s recent event, NonProfit POWER, to get a look at their GivingTuesday outcomes, new approaches to year-end giving and whether they’re worried about Dec. 31 falling on a Sunday this year. 

GivingTuesday Reflections

GivingTuesday has transitioned from a day meant to kick off year-end giving and celebrate giving to a day that has become divisive for nonprofits. Organizations’ approaches to the holiday range from embracing the day, to begrudgingly participating, to almost complete rejection (though they won’t turn down any gifts given in honor of GivingTuesday).

For The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), GivingTuesday is an even larger day than Dec. 31 for its digital channels. And this year, Joanne Wilson, the organization’s vice president of advancement operations, estimated the animal welfare nonprofit saw a 10% to 15% increase in GivingTuesday donations. The annual day of giving, which falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, tends to allow the Washington, D.C.-based organization to meet most of its annual goals as well. 

“It’s always bigger than Dec. 31,” she said. “So [for] some of our channels, December is when they bring in the rest of their money — direct mail, our mid-level program. I will not say that digital doesn’t have big Decembers [but] GivingTuesday is usually our biggest and then we sort of wind up winding down in December.”

Mercy Medical Angels, which provides free transportation to medical care nationwide, opted to not participate in GivingTuesday this year, Deborrah Grulke, the assistant director of development and marketing for the Norfolk, Virginia-based nonprofit, said. Mercy Medical Angels already participates in a giving day earlier in the year, so it made the decision when the organization was preparing for its annual gala on top of its year-end push this year.

“We have [participated] in years past, but what we realized is we get more participation through our give local day, which is in May,” she said. “And we didn't make such a big deal of it this year, but a couple of gifts trickled in.”

New Year-End Strategies and Outlooks

Last year, HSUS organized a historic beagle rescue transport, an effort that helped to boost its year-end fundraising efforts. As it looks ahead to fiscal year 2024, which kicks off in January, the organization has pivoted to a new tactic for 2023’s year-end campaign: thanking donors.

“If I'm not mistaken, [for] most of our fundraising channels, we have hit our budget goals for the year, which is amazing,” Wilson said. “So anything that we'll do in this last month will be additive.”

At Mercy, despite a last-minute decision to not promote GivingTuesday this year, the organization still expects to meet its year-end goal of $45,000 to $50,000.

“For this year, we have a challenge gift for new and increased donations,” Grulke said. “And we've already started to see some of those come in. So we think we're going to end in a strong position. At least meeting our goal.”

To help achieve that goal, Mercy Medical Angels has tested a few new approaches. First, it has used boodleAI’s new generative AI tool to help the team craft a stronger letter and ask, and had switched to DonorPerfect over the summer to better segment donors for its year-end campaign this year.

“So far, we're seeing gifts come in from people we haven't heard from for a couple of years,” she said. “Obviously, we've struck a chord.”

Dec. 31 Falling on a Sunday

Mercy Medical Angels typically knows who its year-end donors are and follows the date on the check to count money toward its year-end goal. Also, with a fiscal year running to June 30, there’s flexibility to ensure all year-end gifts are accounted for.

“We can tell accounting, ‘We know [about] that gift from Mr. and Mrs. Smith. They told us about it. It's coming from their donor-advised fund or it's coming from his company. It's a match for their annual gift,’” Grulke said. “Then we'll make some allowances and do a little shifting. But we're not really concerned about that Dec. 31 date. Yes, it's important but we know we have a little flip space there.”

Like Mercy Medical Angels, HSUS has a buffer built in to accommodate payments that arrive in the New Year but were intended for 2023, so the day of the week Dec. 31 falls on isn’t a problem for either organization. On top of that, HSUS tries to drive donors toward its call centers and digital channels to ensure all year-end gifts are received immediately.

“We have so many other options that we prefer to drive there instead,” she said. “And I think that that's sort of a winning strategy for us.”