calendar year end donor behavior

Recently the Network for Good released The Online Giving Study: A Call to Reinvent Donor Relationships it covers a wide variety of online giving behavior and interactions, essentially pointing out that people give to people. The greater the level of the "personality" of the organization exhibited online, the greater the chance and size of the donation.

Of more relevance to the current time of year, 33% of online giving is processed in December with just over 20% within the 48 hours of the 30th and 31st. Donors who give online typically provide a larger gift and are typically more comfortable with recurring gifts - ultimately leading to a larger lifetime contribution.

The end of the year is a great time to encourage that type of gift for all of next year - "make a commitment today that will help us for all of 2011."

Message timing is perhaps the most crucial component - create a "year end" version of the homepage (or your portion of the website if that is not possible) for the last couple of weeks of the year. This focuses on giving and placing your best case forward - emphasize to the folks who visit you online that giving at this time of year is crucial to your success and as someone who values you, they matter.

Create a countdown effort - provide a goal, a measure of the progress to it and a clear expectation that your donors are going to make a difference for you. Utilize social networks, identify a series of supporters who can do grassroots work to support your cause and encourage them to encourage others.

Time your emails to be effective - early in the morning/at the start of the workday. Get it in on top of the rush of the day but avoid being bucketed with the overnight spam. This is especially important on the 31st - get your message in early in the day - remember that over 10% of online gifts will be made that day - keeping your needs and cause on the top of the list keeps it on top of mind and the money flowing through your page.