Before you leave your desk behind and head home to celebrate the upcoming holidays, we want you to think about doing four things:
1. Be sure your donors have a way to reach you over the next 10 days: If you’re not in the office next week, consider ways that your donors can contact a live person every day from December 26 through the 31st with any question about donations. You can leave an alternative number on your organization’s answering machine, roll your office phone number over to your cell phone, or ask a qualified colleague in the office to answer calls. But don’t miss out when that large donor calls just looking for a last minute detail. If they can’t reach you, they may go knock on another door! Just today I was trading stories with a fellow fundraiser about the big gifts that we’ve seen come in those last few days (and even hours) of the year over the phone. And, yes, I do think some donors are going to try to reach you on December 31, even though it’s a Saturday.
2. If you haven’t already done it, send some holiday cards: It’s not too late to send Happy New Year’s cards to your top donors or as many of your key donors as you can with the time you have left. A handwritten note can go a long way. Not another ask, not a report, just good cheer!
3. Send a last minute e-mail reminder: A gentle reminder about giving at year-end by e-mail is really important. You want to be top of mind for those many donors who sit down during the last few days of the year and pull out their checkbooks and credit cards. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or complicated - simple clean text and design is best.
4. Make a priority list for when you return: Whenever you do come back to the office, you’ll want to know where you left off. What are your top three priorities? If you’re coming back the week of December 26, be sure to contact as many donors as possible in the time you have left before the end of the giving year. If you’re coming back to the office in early January, you’ll have to jump in with both feet to figure out where you are in terms of results and how you will handle the acknowledgements in as timely a way as possible.
Good luck – and have a wonderful holiday. We’ll be thinking about you!
