If you’re like most nonprofits, you get 30-40% of your annual donations in the month of December.

And if you’re like most nonprofits, your donors want a lot more from you…if you want them to renew their gifts.

 

Here’s what you can do this May to ensure a happy December:

Prepare to write the best appeal letter of your life. How?

• Fix your database so you can send an individualized letter to each donor: calling her by name and showing you remember her previous donation.
• Gather emotionally compelling stories.
• Take photos that tell a story, too.

If you prepare in May, you’ll write a great appeal this fall…and you’ll see the results in December.

Go beyond the thank-you letter. Show the donor how he is making a difference with a one-week impact report. If you seal the deal with the donor as soon as he gives, you’ll be on his donation list in December.

Make it personal. A Northeastern University student called my friend Amy to thank her for her gift. Then the University sent an email from that student to Amy, telling her the student’s story–and explaining how her gift had made the student’s education possible.

Find the right ambassador to speak from the heart. Your donors will thank you for letting them hear that personal story. And they will remember in December.