If your annual appeal doesn’t run for a whole year (at least), you’re doing it wrong.
For many NFP organisations, June was fundraising month. Some organisations likely started running their EoFY appeals in May. And it’s fair to say that the May/June fundraising season is critical for the ongoing viability and success of organisations that rely almost solely on grants and the generosity of supporters.
One of my favourite projects each year involves heading to the Northern Territory to serve Darwin’s 97 Seven during their annual appeal—three big “ask” days on the back of a lot of hard work by the CEO and a small band of volunteers over several weeks.
And that hard work paid off again this year, with more than $45,000 raised by the time the campaign wrapped up on June 30.
God is good.
During seasons like this, though, I’m reminded of something I learned as a young CEO many years ago—something I did my best to impart to my teams then and to clients now.
The lesson is this … your annual appeal is NEVER just a three day event … or a 4 week campaign, or whatever your annual fundraising drive might look like.
Your annual appeal is fundamentally a 365 day a year campaign. A friend of mine suggests that it actually runs longer than that (FYI: he suggests a 2-year cycle).
Either way, the point is that your big call-to-action moment lives or dies on EVERYTHING your organisation does and says on EVERY day of the year — before, during and after your appeal.
And, perhaps surprisingly, much of that activity wouldn’t ordinarily fall into the category of fundraising.
So, what do I mean when I say that your annual appeal is a 365-day campaign?
Well, I’ll cover as much as possible in future blog posts. But for now, let me leave you with this foundational starting point…
It’s all about the frequency, consistency, messaging and method of your communication with stakeholders.
Contacting your key donors, for example, in the days and weeks leading up to your appeal is not good enough if that’s the ONLY TIME they’ve heard from you in a year. In fact. I think it’s downright rude. Besides, why would anyone want to support your cause if the FIRST time they’ve heard from you since the last appeal is when you’re asking for more money?
And for anyone arguing that people still support your cause even when they hear from you only once a year… I wonder how much extra support you’ve missed out on because of that approach!?!
The fact of the matter is that communication is the key to successful fundraising, just as it is with every other significant relationship. Because — and I don’t want you to miss this point — fundraising is ALL about the quality of the relationships you and your organisation cultivate with clients, service recipients, supporters and other stakeholders.
And that will NEVER truly be possible over 3 days of asking for money done once or twice a year. PERIOD.