Fundraisers Have No ‘Summer Slump’

For many nonprofits, fundraising energy becomes sluggish as the temperatures rise. It may not be prime event season, donors may be too busy for a visit, mailing an appeal letter might be put off until fall, and online efforts take a back seat to vacation and “summer hours.”

While the challenges of raising funds in the summer are real in many cases, it’s not an excuse to coast for eight or more weeks. After all, summer is followed rather quickly by what is typically the most important quarter for fundraising—and that annual occurrence, Dec. 31.

So while vacations and enjoying the warmer activities should not be neglected, neither should fundraising. In fact, there are some great things to focus on before Labor Day, especially if you want to achieve your annual goals and have a spectacular year-end.

Review and revise (as needed) your appeal plan for October through December. Are there groups of donors you’re neglecting? Do you have a great plan in place for reactivating lapsed donors and just maybe getting some people on that big list of non-donors to take the plunge and give? Do you have in your schedule time to work on a request that arrives in-home in early January, asking monthly automatic donors to consider upgrading? Do you have enough time built in to get all the e-appeals and letters you want to send out in November and December done—not simply “somehow,” but with the best copy and graphics possible to capture attention and move donors to respond? Do you have some clear offers that you can build into reasons to give?

Review your online giving portal to make sure it’s donor-focused and robust enough to handle even more responses. Online giving is going to increase each year (in most cases), so what was “just fine” last year may now be inadequate. Don’t wait until your system crashes to find that out. Use some downtime now to make sure it’s ready for what you anticipate will be your best year-end online giving response ever.

Figure out what you want to learn before year-end to be a better fundraiser—and get started. Whether it’s the book you want to read, the course you want to take or the mentor you want to secure, use the summer to move that dream forward. We’re all extra busy in the fall, so ask more seasoned fundraisers for advice or recommendations when they have more bandwidth to help you.

Take a risk. Summer is also a great time to try a fundraising skill that is new to you. Whether it’s writing a newsletter article, meeting with a donor, researching foundations, planning a new event—or whatever else—use your time to explore new possibilities. You may just find a previously unknown talent that makes you an even better fundraiser.

Talk to your donors. Pick up the phone and make some calls—not just once, but every week. Thank your donors. Tell them how much they mean to your organization. Let them know if programs that will be launched or expanded in the fall. Build their excitement—and deepen a friendship at the same time.

Send me an email if you have a question you’d like me to tackle. I can’t answer everything since I’m still on a journey of learning, too, but I’m always looking for “felt needs” to discuss in this column. So if your summer reflections lead you to wonder about something related to fundraising (especially direct response and operations), contact me at pamela@pjbardeninc.com. While I can’t promise you fame and fortune, if I use your question you will get a mention in “Old Dog Fundraising”!

Regardless of how you spend your summer, this old dog hopes it’s a great prelude to your best fall ever. After all, the work we do as fundraisers builds on what we’ve done in the past, so make every minute count—and don’t forget to have fun, too!