When is the Best Time to Mail a Year-End Giving Fundraising Letter?
Many people ask us: "Should I mail our appeal before or after Thanksgiving?"
Well, a lot of appeals arrive right before Thanksgiving.
And, a lot of appeals mail in the first two weeks of December.
So you have a lot of competition whether you mail your year end giving letter before or after Thanksgiving. The main points to keep in mind are that
25-35% of giving takes place between Thanksgiving and New Years, so you do want to send an appeal in the November-December time frame.
Many people set the reply form aside to make a decision later, so it doesn’t matter so much exactly when it got there, but it does matter that you remind them to take action!
It is more important to take the time to make sure the list, salutations, ask amounts, and annual appeal letter are the best possible than to rush through everything trying to make a specific mailing date.
Having said that, here’s an actual example of a good schedule for your year end appeal:
November 10 – Letter Mailed
November 22 – Reminder email
November 30 – Reminder postcard mailed
December 4-8 – Phone-a-thon
December 27 – Reminder email
Here are the results from that schedule.
Notice that gifts came in during the entire period. Donors save their reply cards and don’t act immediately. Remind them!
There was a bump in gifts received after the weekend of December 4-5. This probably reflects the influence of the postcard and the phone-a-thon.
And many gave right after Christmas, when they sat down to make their end-of-year decisions.
Recommendation:
Ask the first time in September or October
Ask again in November or early December
Use multiple channels to remind donors to take action
Need help getting out your annual fundraising appeal letters?
Whether you need lists, data work, printing and mailing, or help with writing, design and editing, we are ready to help you! Call or email us today!
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Contact us today at garyh@fivemaples.com for a free consultation.
