Use Your Time Wisely - Send an End of the Year Letter

Why should you send a year-end appeal?  

A year-end appeal is a letter you send to all (or almost all) of your contact list, encouraging them to take advantage of additional giving at the end of the calendar year. These are your monthly, annual, and one-time financial partners for this year, in addition to your regular newsletter list contacts who may have never given. 

A year-end appeal is the professional fundraiser’s term for this type of letter and can be a strategic and critical part of your effective fundraising. It provides a pathway for partnership and involvement as part of an overall strategy throughout the year. The end of the year is typically a very generous time for many families. And it is a great time to be aware of the generosity of spirit as well as remind your financial partners of their planned or annual giving opportunities.

This can be the perfect way to recap how their partnership has made a difference this year. This letter also gives you a chance to build a vision for a new need in the coming year and the solution that you would like people to be involved in with you. Entering into a new chapter of ministry, starting a new initiative, or reporting on a continuation of a work that was initiated are all examples of reasons for this type of letter. A year-end appeal viewed in this way is a chance to deepen your ministry and financial partnership. 

Excellent stewardship of financial partners involves more than just an annual letter; it requires a thought out, well-executed, and well-timed plan. A year-end appeal is absolutely not a substitute for individual interaction. It involves leadership and planning, rather than a passive “let’s wait and see what happens” attitude. This might mean you identify a handful of people to follow up with to personally invite them to be a part of the work.