Can you feel the love tonight this December? If you’re a Not-For-Profit (NFP) organization, you should. December is undoubtedly the most important fundraising month and is a critical time for the non-profit community.
According to a study on 45,000 NFPs by the Network for Good, an overwhelming 31% of annual giving in 2014 occurred in December. Furthermore, 12% happened in the final three days of the year. If this is not an eye opener, I don’t know what is.
What’s remarkable about this is that, in most countries, December is also the biggest shopping month. NFPs are not only competing against other NFPs for donor money, but also against retailers looking to take advantage of the holiday shopping season and consumer dollars.
Fortunately, December is a special month. People tend to be more giving during the holiday season and are already in the mindset to open their wallets to those who are collecting for good causes. There could also be other reasons why people tend to be more generous in December as showcased by the 12% spike in donations in the last three days of the year. This is most likely a last ditch effort to take advantage of charitable tax benefits. This is great for NFPs.
So if you’re a non-profit and you’re not taking advantage of the holiday craziness, you should probably start doing so. Even a simple direct mail campaign would suffice. However, to be truly effective, you should be prepared to roll out with an integrated marketing strategy, utilizing both direct mail and online giving.
At JR Direct, we work to understand the needs of your cause to give your direct marketing campaign the highest return for your marketing dollar. Whatever your challenge, our experts can help you build an effective direct marketing campaign.
