12 Tips & Tricks To Get Extra Donations For Your Christmas Appeal

♫ On the first day of Christmas my good friends gave to me, a song and a christmas tree ♫

Well not exactly…

Your good friends at GiveEasy thought you’d prefer 12 tips and tricks to get your charity extra donations this Christmas.

Trust us you don’t want us to sing you a song!

As we have helped hundreds of charities set up their Christmas appeals over the years, we have seen what works to create a highly successful end of year campaign.

To keep things super simple (as we are all about things being easy!) we have broken our 12 tips down into things you can do now, and things to do later.

Things You Can Do Now

1
Add A Link To Give On Direct Mail

When your supporters get a letter in the mail, many will want to donate straight away. Often the easiest way to donate quickly is to donate online. Charities have found that by adding a simple URL to their donor packs they give their supporters another convenient way to donate. They have also found that by having an digital donation option they can better track the performance of their mail packs.

2
Make It Festive

Christmas and the end of the year is often a happy and exciting time. People are looking forward to the end of year break and spending time with friends and family. Seeing the festive decorations go up everywhere reminds us that Christmas is coming.

For many charities adding some Christmas cheer and festive decorations to their donation pages or simply switching their general donation page to their Christmas appeal page helps put their supporters into a giving mood.

3
Make It Personal (personalised text & pre-fill)

Donors love being recognised for the support they provide to your organisation. No one feels appreciated when you give someone a gift or regularly give someone a gift and receive a generic cookie cutter response or experience. We understand when you are addressing hundreds of thousands there is no way for you to touch base with each supporter yourself. However, with personalisation technology such as personalised text and pre-filling, you can definitely provide a tailored experience for your donors on a mass scale.

Charities have successfully been using personalised text on their donation page, thank you page and receipts to improve supporter loyalty, advocacy and conversions.

Charities have also used the data they have on their donors to pre-fill the donation forms. This has helped increase conversions and reduced drop-off by making it easier to donate.

4
Add PayPal

PayPal is a very common method of payment. There is a proportion of supporters that will only use PayPal. By adding PayPal as an alternative method of payment you allow as many supporters as possible to donate.

5
Keep Form Fields To A Minimum

When donating, supporters want to give quickly without filling in too many fields on forms. So best practice is to keep the fields to a minimum.

6
Segment Your Data

Be sure to send the right messages to the right audiences. We have seen for our charities that spending that extra time to segment your data is well worth the effort.

7
Track As Much As You Can

Receiving unbiased feedback on what worked and didn’t work is so important. Charities who test and track their campaigns can use these insights to make improvements that they know work for their donors. Without tracking, you will not be able to properly analyse results and plan for your next campaign.

Things To Do Later

8
Add A Matched Giving Day To Your Appeal

Matched giving is a great way to motivate your supporters by having their donations doubled (or even tripled) for a limited time. The aim is to get supporters across the line where they may otherwise hesitate and / or donate more than what they originally intended.

Many charities have seen that with matched giving donors donate more and more often. Use matched giving as an addition to your Christmas appeal as a final push to get more donations from new and existing supporters.

9
Add A Countdown Timer In The Last Week

“Last Chance” or “Don’t Miss Out” in your messaging can be helpful in creating urgency, but nothing quiet has the same impact as an animated countdown timer.

By adding a countdown timer in the last week before Christmas and actually making the opportunity to give run out when the clock stops people are psychologically motivated to give because it plays on our fear of missing out (FOMO) - even if we weren’t that interested in taking action in the first place.

10
Keep Up The Reminders

We all know that the end of year is a busy time for everyone. At Christmas, people may intend to give, but it can slip their mind.

Your donors will appreciate a gentle reminder to give. So don’t be afraid to send multiple emails and SMS.

11
Add A Last Minute Final Ask With SMS

SMS is quick to set up, and it delivers in record speed. Almost all text messages are delivered in 15 seconds or less and 90% are read in the first 3 minutes. Charities have found SMS an instant way to communicate with their donors in the last few days before Christmas when no one is in the office checking emails.

12
Say Thank You Swiftly

When you give a gift you hope to receive a thank you. By thanking your supporters immediately after donating you are making sure they are being appreciated for their act of kindness. Use your thank you page as not just a confirmation page but as a way to personally thank them and show your appreciation.

Charities have also found that updating their donors on where the funds are going helps to keep your supporters feeling appreciated and warm for your next campaign.