Ways to Promote Your Holiday Fundraiser, Even If It’s Last Minute
Contents
Don’t push your holiday fundraisers and drives to the back burner this holiday season! According to a study done by Network for Good, 29% of giving occurred in December and 11% of giving occurred in the last three days of the year. It’s the season of giving so you need to make sure that you are marketing to your target audience as much as you can. If you are working on your campaign last minute, then use the examples in this post to help you reach out to your audience.
Email Marketing
Email is a great way to reach your audience effectively because you can customize and personalize your message. If you are running your campaign last minute, then email marketing is an important platform to focus on, whether it’s reaching out to your existing donors or your whole contact base.
It’s important to note that supporters in different stages should be approached differently when marketing your fundraiser. For example, you can directly ask your recurring donors and advocates to participate in your fundraiser. So if you’re short on time, then this is the group of people to concentrate on.
If you have time, you can create a different email for your newest subscribers and less active supporters. This audience will most likely disregard a direct ask so you will need to create an email that creatively grabs their attention before leading them to your donation landing page.
So what makes up a compelling email? An attention-grabbing subject line and an email that contains relevant, concise information. Let’s take a look at each of these factors.
Compelling Subject Lines and Preview Text
Writing a compelling subject line and enticing preview text is key to standing out in your subscribers’ inboxes because email marketing only works when they open your email. We’ll go over tips and examples that will hook your readers.
Tips
- Personalize the subject line
Great marketing emails sound like a conversation. That’s why including your subscribers’ name makes more of an impact. Emails with a personalized subject line are 26% more likely to be opened than those without one.
- Use preview text for extra encouragement to open email
While your subject line should be concise and creative, you have more freedom to be more straightforward and lengthier in your preview text. Use this space for one last push to open the email. Phrases like “Details inside” or “Learn more” generally do the trick, but feel free to get more creative.
Examples
If you need to draft up a marketing email ASAP, then here are some foolproof subject lines and preview text pairings that will get your reader interested in learning more about your holiday fundraiser.
Announcement Email Subject Lines and Preview Text Pairings
Subject line example | Preview text example
- [First Name], Will You Join Us? | Together, we’re unstoppable. Help us make an impact this winter through our [Name of Fundraiser]! Learn more now.
- [First Name], Save the Date for [Holiday Drive Name]! | It’s that time of year again to help change lives. [Date of Fundraiser] - Save the date for [Name of Fundraiser]!
- A Special Invitation Just for You, [First Name] | You’re invited to make a difference this holiday season through our [Holiday Drive Name]! Learn more now.
Reminder Email Subject Lines and Preview Text Pairings
Subject line example | Preview text example
- [First Name], Don’t Forget About [Name of Fundraiser] | [Name of Fundraiser] is just around the corner! Here are more details.
- 2 Weeks Away: [Name of Fundraiser] | [First Name], just a friendly reminder that [Holiday Drive Name] starts on [Date of Fundraiser]. Here’s more information about it.
Final Email Subject Lines and Preview Text Pairings
Subject line example | Preview text example
- [First Name], Today is the Day! | The [Name of Fundraiser] is here! Join us to meet our goal!
- TODAY: [Name of Fundraiser]. Let's Make a Difference. | [First Name], [Name of Fundraiser] is finally here! Join us in making a positive impact on the community this holiday season.
Email Copy
After you convince your audience to open your emails, you have to keep them hooked. Make them feel like a part of your organization, by including how this holiday drive can benefit both of you! Make sure your copy is concise, conversational, and emotionally appealing.
Remember to take into consideration how long your contacts have been involved with your organization when writing your copy. To help you write an effective marketing email for all of your audiences, here are some key phrases to include in the body of your email message.
Key Phrases to Include in Advocates’ Holiday Fundraising Emails
- Thanks to supporters like you, we can continue to [Your Organization’s Mission].
- To continue making an impact on our community, please consider making a gift to our [Name of Fundraiser].
Key Phrases to Include in New Supporters’ Holiday Fundraising Emails
- By supporting us this holiday season, you'll be making an impact on your community.
- To see how donations have helped us [Your Organization’s Mission], read our [Link to Relevant Success Story Blog Post].
- No gift is too small.
Social Media Promotion
While you are more limited on personalization and customization techniques on social media, you still need to inform your followers about your fundraiser on your social media accounts. Reiterate the same messaging you used in email marketing to make it easier on yourself and to remain consistent across all marketing channels.
Promoting your holiday fundraiser on social media works if you are doing it last minute or have already planned out a full campaign in advance.
Be sure to share relevant content paired with attention-grabbing copy to stop your followers from scrolling down their feed and engage with your post. We'll go over examples of content and copy to help you spread the word about your campaign.
Engaging Social Media Copy
Since you can't customize font size or style on social media platforms, you have to find other ways to make your content appealing. For promoting your holiday drive, you want to keep your content high-level and concise to ensure that even your newest followers get the main point of your post without feeling overwhelmed. Use your more detailed stories for your blog posts and donation landing page.
Tips
- Appropriately format your copy for each platform.
On Twitter and Instagram, be sure to use plenty of hashtags (be sure to make your own for your fundraiser) and keep the tone informal and fun. Keep a similar tone for Facebook posts, but reduce the use of hashtags. On LinkedIn, don't use emojis or hashtags, and use a semi-formal, professional tone.
- Make the copy relatable and compelling.
Even though you are promoting your holiday campaign on social media, it doesn't have to sound that way. Don't be afraid to ask open-ended questions or use a compelling stat to grab your followers' attention. Your copy should read like it's the start of a conversation instead of sounding like an ad.
- Don't make it all about the donations.
Social media platforms are great ways to spread the word about your fundraiser. Focus some social media posts on encouraging your followers to share or retweet your post to their friends, instead of directly asking for donations! Up the ante by including a small incentive for sharing your post. This tactic can create extra awareness for your campaign and potentially result in more donations.
Examples
Here are some templates you can use to promote your holiday fundraiser on your social media accounts:
Twitter Social Media Posts
- Looking for a way to give back to this holiday season? Join us for our annual [Name of Fundraiser] to help make a difference in your community. [#FundraiserHashtag]
- RT to spread the word about [#FundraiserHashtag] and we'll pick a random user to win [Small Incentive]
- It takes under a minute to change someone's life. Join us in raising money for [Your Organization's Mission]. [#FundraiserHashtag]
Facebook Social Media Posts
- Want to join us in [Your Organization’s Mission]? Our [Name of Fundraiser] is raising money to do just that and you can help! Learn more now.
- We are so excited for this year’s [Name of Fundraiser]! Who’s ready to help us meet our goal and [Your Organization’s Mission]? Learn more today.
- We are hoping that this year’s [Name of Fundraiser] is the biggest one yet! Here are 3 ways you can help us meet our goal:
- Share this post to your news feed!
- Tag 2 friends who want to give back to a great cause.
- Donate what you can! No gift is ever too small.
LinkedIn Social Media Posts
- Each year, we strive to raise money to help [Your Organization’s Mission]. Please join us in making an impact on our community by contributing to our [Name of Fundraiser]. Every donation makes a difference. Learn more today.
- [Name of Fundraiser] is a great opportunity to give back to your local community. We are hoping that this is our biggest year yet! Find out more on how you can help make a difference this holiday season.
Content to Share on Social Media to Promote Your Holiday Fundraiser
Once you have the right words to capture your audience’s interest, then you have to lead them to a relevant piece of content that matches your copy. Here are examples of content that you can share with your followers:
- Your Donation Landing Page
First and foremost, you need to share your donation landing page. Note: This is NOT the same thing as a checkout page where your users are immediately prompted for credit card information. For more do’s and don’ts on donation landing pages, read our blog post.
- Links to Relevant Blog Posts
You can lead your followers to your blog post so that can learn more as to how your organization fulfills its mission. Success stories are a great example of content that is relevant to your fundraiser. Make sure the posts contains a call-to-action that leads to your donation landing page.
- Visual Components
It’s best to use images to catch your followers’ attention. If you are hosting an event for your fundraiser, then share a photo of your team at the event. You can also create infographics that have compelling stats to draw your readers in on why they should give back to your cause.
- Short Video
Videos are a great way to get across a longer message without your audience’s eyes glazing over. Your video can be funny or have a serious tone, just make sure it appeals to your target audience more. Include captions on your videos so that your followers can watch it anywhere without having to have the sound on. For a break down on the best video length times on the different social media platforms, check out this blog post.
Don't miss out on the donation opportunities that come with the holiday season. Hopefully these tips and examples encourage you to promote your holiday fundraiser!