How to Develop Your Year-End Ask Strategy

There’s no doubt about it — as a fundraiser, you are now in the busiest, most productive time of your year. Hopefully you’ve developed a strategic plan for your whole year and know how to approach the next couple of months to reach your organization’s financial goals.

Still, even with a strong plan, developing the right year-end ask amounts can be tricky. 

I can’t tell you the hundreds of times I have talked to major gift officers who don’t know the details of their caseload or their donors’ interests and situations. When you’re constantly being pulled into meetings or asked to do other tasks — or don’t have the support of leadership in focusing on your caseload — it can feel extremely challenging to be strategic with your donors. And what’s worse is once that pressure to get the money starts coming down, you may find yourself asking for gifts that harm the long-term relationship with your donor. 

The goal is to come to your donor from an authentic place of partnership. When that’s how you approach the donor, and you have a donor who loves your organization and is comfortable with your relationship, it’s much easier to ask for an increased donation. Now, assuming you have your head and heart right and a strategy in place, you can start to get to your year-end ask strategy by asking yourself a few questions: Do I know my donor’s story? Do I know what their year’s been like? Am I ready to approach them in a way that is respectful of that?

These questions will form the foundation for your ask strategy. 

So, before you start putting in those 60-hour work weeks and go from meeting to meeting, here's some advice — for both major and mid-level gifts officers — on how to develop the right amounts so you can find year-end success.

1. Focus on Your Top Donors Who Haven’t Renewed Their Year-End Gifts

Review your tier A and B donors who gave in September and October of last year but haven’t given this year. Start reaching out to them right away to check in. Once you’ve done that, locate all of your caseload donors who are behind on giving for the year. Maybe some donors haven’t given like you thought they should have. Start outreach to follow up and engage them. 

2. Identify the Variance Between Actual Giving and Your Goal for Each Donor 

You’ll want to use that information to identify your year-end ask amount. As you review, it’s important to look at the financial information carefully. If the donor gave $1,000 last year over four $250 gifts, asking for a flat $1,000 doesn’t make sense. You can also share a menu of giving opportunities that cover a range of gift amounts — all being at least a slight increase.  

3. Discover Any Donors Whose Giving Seems Too Low

Consider what you know about a donor who is behind in giving by a few thousand dollars. Have they told you their business is suffering? Is a parent in hospice or recovering from a major surgery? 

Conversely, do you see a goal that was a little low, and the donor shared that their business is booming? You may want to put a stretch goal into your year-end proposal. Doing this level of evaluation will help you create more accurate and meaningful asks that take the donor into consideration. 

4. Locate Any Lapsed Donors

Review the same kinds of information amongst your tier C donors. How many donors have lapsed or might have had a recurring payment accidentally paused? 

In your proposal to these donors, you want to make sure your solicitation is in line with previous giving, but allow them an opportunity to add more. Let’s say someone has been giving $2,500 for four consecutive years. It’s appropriate to ask for $3,000. Don’t assume a donor is set on one specific amount just because they’ve done it for a while. 

5. Determine Which Mid-Level Donors Haven’t Given a Year-End Gift

Scour your mid-level portfolio (typically around 600 donors). If they’re in jeopardy of lapsing, reach out in a way that will inject some energy and motivation into their giving plans. A great way to do this is through a matching gift opportunity. This often secures some small increases from donors who were previously on the fence. 

6. Remind Donors Who Give Via Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) or Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs)

Don’t forget to send reminders to your donors who give directly from DAF and IRA donors, especially if you haven’t seen a gift come through yet. Make it easy on them, too. Send an email or letter with your organization’s stockbroker information and your Depository Trust Company (DTC) number to aid their search. 

Also, the DAF assets totaled $229 billion in 2022. Maybe there’s a reason for a bold request to double their support. Know when those donors want to hear from you so they have a proposal in hand and enough time in the calendar to make a year-end gift. It’s not too late if you do this now.

Remember, time is of the essence right now. Stockbrokers and advisers need time to process transactions before the end of the year. Major donors only have so much time to meet in person before the holidays take up valuable space on their travel calendar. As always, be courageous and never make assumptions about what the donor can (or cannot) do.

If you know your donors well enough and can highlight their desire to make a difference in the world, you can be confident in your ask strategy to finish out the year. 

The preceding post was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.