Bill Scott

I heard someone say the other day that small gifts are not needed during a pledge drive.  All gifts are needed from everyone in your audience.

Now, there are certain gifts that last longer.  For example, some stations have found those who do a $1000 gift will be a part of supporting the radio station longer than those who do $10 a month.  While this is true, you still want to open the door for smaller gifts.

When I am on-site with a client helping with their pledge drive, we find a core ask.  Often we find that $1 a day is the most popular giving level.  That works wonders in your event having a core ask and perhaps something tied to that ask.  Recently, a client had a ministry partner,  if a donor gave $1 a day, it not only kept the radio station on the air but sent food, shoes, water or whatever the ministry partner was adding into the pledge.  Listeners love to know their gift is going further and having a bigger impact.  With that said, you still open the door for other gifts, larger and smaller.  If you were to listen to one of our drives, you would hear something like, “The dollar a day gift is the most popular giving level.  Not only are you supporting your station but you are sending (What the ministry partner was adding in) to a family in need.  However, if you are unable to do a dollar a day, do your best gift.”

Always leave the door open for larger and smaller gifts.  At the end of the day, the Bible makes a big deal about the widow’s mite:

Just then he looked up and saw the rich people dropping offerings in the collection plate. Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. He said, “The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others made offerings that they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all! (Luke 21:1-4, The Message)

We don’t want to stop people from doing their best gifts.  It’s true if you don’t have a core ask, you’ll find people will gravitate toward a smaller gift, not because they cannot afford more but it’s just human nature for many of us.  Have a core ask, that will help your average gift, ask for leadership giving, people are ready to do that as well.  I would encourage you to also open the door for smaller gifts.  I don’t actually say on the air that I am looking for listeners to give $10 a month but I do say, if you cannot do the core ask, please do whatever God has placed on your heart, do your best gifts.  Often some of the biggest sacrifices that are made for your station, comes in the form of a very small gift and yet it may be the most extravagant give you receive all year long.

Don’t steal the blessing from someone who can only do a smaller gift for your station.  Happy fundraising

As a fundraiser, I get great joy out of typing these words: “free money”.  I am amazed at how many radio stations do not do a year-end event.

As I travel I often hear: “our staff is chilling during the holidays”, “our staff has worked hard all year long”, or “our listeners don’t want another fundraising event”, among others. My response?  Yes, your staff has worked hard, but they also work for a non-profit station and this is one of the things that must be done in order to keep the ministry strong.  Only 3 percent of your listeners ever give, so there is room for growth, and it’s amazing how many of your listeners miss your fundraising event.  How many times have you finished your pledge drive and someone comes up and says something like “Oh! I had no idea you did your pledge drive.”  Trust me your listeners don’t listen to radio the way we dream they do, or should.

The fact is that many people during December are giving away free money, and all we have to do is catch it.  Yes, I realize there is work involved, but one that pays big dividends to the radio station.

Here are 12 interesting facts about year-end fundraising. 

• Nearly one-third of annual giving occurs in December.
• 12% of all giving happens in the last three days of the year.
• Over 53% of nonprofits start planning their year-end appeal in October.
• November 46% and December 30% are the most popular giving months for making year-end asks, but 7.7% of ORGS start as early as September.
• 28% of nonprofits raise between 26-50% of their annual funds from their year-end ask.
• Almost 60% of nonprofits make between 1-3 donor “touches” for their year-end campaign.
• Direct mail is the most popular medium for year-end asks, followed by email, ORG website, and in-person asks.
• The biggest giving day of the year is December 31st.
• $48 Billion is donated to nonprofits in November and December each year.
• 53% of larger first-time gifts are made by donors in December than by donors who start their giving at another time of year.
• 70% will donate through multiple channels.  Because 7 out of 10 Americans will donate through multiple media, utilized a multi-channel outreach approach for end-of-year donations.
• 64% of all donations are made by women.

I love what Mobile Cause listed as the top four primary reasons donors give over the holidays:

1. To be happier by helping others
2. To feel good about themselves by making a difference
3. To be connected to something positive
4. To take advantage of tax deductions

I asked, Dave Stephens, Development Director at the River in Columbus, and BJ Oneal, Chief Development Officer at WAY FM, to weigh in on why they find a year-end event so important to their ministry.

“Nationally, nearly 1/3 of charitable giving occurs in the month of December. We believe that an intentional year-end fundraising strategy is an opportunity to bring onboard new listeners and encourage existing supporters while they are already thinking about giving. At our station we have also partnered with the local Salvation Army to provide Christmas dinners to local families in need. So for us, year-end Fundraising is a way to partner with River listeners to feed both souls and mouths in our community.” – Dave Stephens, The River

Fundraising at the end of the year is more critical than ever before. Because of analytics, we see with better clarity that people more and more purposely budget to give at the end of the year. The obvious – they are in a giving mood, but more important, they are looking for the places to support that they identify with. That’s great news especially for faith-based organizations where giving is apart of the fabric of our faith. We should make EOY fundraising as easy and smooth as possible because people are ready! – BJ Oneal, WAY FM

I do a few year-end events and it amazes me how many people are ready to give, they are just looking for the right place to make their donation.  I love the fact that because it’s a year-end event and a single ask, 99% of what is raised is in your bank account within a few days.

It’s helpful to find a ministry partner to go with the year-end ask.  For example, I have one client who has tied their year-end ask to a local food bank so families in their area could have food for Christmas.  It was a one-two punch. The station tied the ministry partner to a certain level of giving.  Example: each $100 gift or $365 gift also released food for Christmas to a family in need in their community and kept their station on the air.

I would look at what a year-end event would look like for your station.  I would also run promo’s, a social media marketing campaign, and have your website set up for donations on December 31st as well.  

At the end of the day, it’s free money for those who are ready to receive it.