article taken from www.fullyfundedmissionary.org
Why You Should Engage in a Year-End Ask Campaign
Doing a year-end ask campaign is a great opportunity to stay connected with the people in your contact list. One of the pitfalls of being a missionary is being out of sight, out of mind. A year-end campaign helps keep you and your important ministry in front of people.
Approximately 70% of nonprofits in America raise about 30- 50% or more of their yearly budget in the month of December. This means that a large percentage of the public is giving in December and probably at no other point in the year. There are a number of people in your circles who would give at the end of the year if asked.
I’ve coached several missionaries through year-end campaigns. This outline I am sharing with you has proved to be very effective in 2018. Three missionaries that I coached all raised $5,000 or more and grew their monthly partnership teams by $600 a month or more. These three missionaries were exceptionally diligent and very focused; I can’t promise you the same results, but this does indicate that people are ready to give.
The year-end ask, visibility, reconnection and re-visioning of the year-end campaign can stimulate giving throughout the rest of the year. This is the low hanging fruit; the return for the effort is so worth it.
Additional Benefits
● A year-end ask helps you stay in front of your potential partners. Don’t be out of sight, out of mind.
● You are a messenger of the Gospel and a year-end campaign is a platform to share that message.
● It’s an opportunity for them to learn about the impact of your exciting ministry.
● A year-end ask connects people to missions that might otherwise not be.
● A year-end ask campaign enables you to build relationships with partners and potential partners.
● A year-end campaign can be a stepping-stone to a direct ask in spring.
This is an important part of the partnership development lifestyle, best done with regular partnership development (PD) trips and regular communication. It is one strategy of multi-strategy approach to partnership development.
The Big Picture
A large percentage of the public is motivated to share special gifts at the end of the calendar year. Consequently, a high number of nonprofits are going to be launching year-end campaigns. This means the number of emails hitting their inbox and social media traffic will be at an all-time high. We have to take some extra measures to make sure we stand out from the crowd. Your ministry is important; we need to be seen and heard.
Here are a few key principles that are going to shape our model and strategy:
1. We need to start early.
2. We need to be consistent.
3. We need to pour into them and give them good content.
4. Giving to your ministry must be super simple and convenient.
Start Early:
Often people choose to give to a nonprofit simply because the nonprofit was one of the first to reach out to them. If we wait until mid-December, your ask will be lost in the large volume of communications. I recommend that your first communication lands in their home the Friday or Saturday before Thanksgiving.
Be Consistent:
Because of the additional traffic, having a strategy that puts your ministry in front of people on a regular basis will help you be seen, heard, and remembered. I recommend bringing your ministry before them about every four or five or 6 days. I am speaking of a guideline, not a hard and fast rule. I might go 6 or 7 days to work around Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Christmas and December 26th .
Have Good Content:
Much of the nonprofit messaging your contacts will hear is often a little desperate, needy, full of crisis and urgency. I would like to see you set yourself apart with a different tone, being positive, uplifting and hopeful. Speak directly to the recipient, pouring into them, stirring their hearts and helping them grow in their life with Christ.
Don’t be needy, don’t be sensational, don’t try to justify your existence as a missionary. You don’t have to show them how awesome and impactful you are. Serve them, help them, be refreshing to them, encourage them, stir the imagination, inspire, give them hope.
I suggest you have a main theme that you carry throughout your 9-13 communications. Don’t try to write newsletter-like emails; it’s too difficult and you won’t hold their attention. A theme will allow you to build, go deeper and be of greater service to the recipient. Pick a topic like Advent, the first and second coming of Christ, devotional life, living on mission or growing in prayer, something that will help them grow. You could also choose the core values of your ministry organization including testimonies of transformation. You could even lead them through a 40-day devotional.
Make Giving Simple and Easy:
I would provide a way to give in every communication. Online giving is a must; if we don’t provide this option we will miss out on a lot of partnership. For online giving, make the give button clear, simple and easy to understand. The recipient should not have to click more than once. Make sure your online platform is phone-friendly, with a comfortable font and layout. Be sure to communicate that their gift is tax deductible. If it’s not, what can you do to make it tax-deductible? You want to do all you can to make this option available.
Some mission groups use a giving code for their employees, if this is used consider opening your private giving page, copying the link, and then connecting that to your give button. This process will save them the trouble of entering a giving code, save a click, and make the act of giving simpler. Make sure to include check writing instructions as well.
Our Strategy
A year-end ask is a lot different than raising partnership throughout the year. At the end of the year, people are more likely to feel generous; for people to give a special gift doesn’t require a high level of confidence or trust. People are making giving adjustments based on an unpredictable income and a portion of the public will be motivated by a tax break. Therefore, our strategy is going to look a lot different than it would raising partnership during the year.
Here are a few key points for our year-end ask.
1. Create a name list and get it as large as you possibly can. Don’t filter.
2. We will send a hard copy ask letter to about 100-200 people on your list.
3. Email will be our main tool, one going out every 4 or 5 or 6 days.
4. In addition to the emails we will call about 30-40 people and ask them to give.
5. In addition to the emails and calls, we will ask about 10-15 people face-to-face to share a gift.
6. We are going to make a direct financial appeal in the first communication, then about every third or fourth communication and the 30th and 31st of December.
7. I highly recommend that each short email have a video embedded. The video is a superior way to communicate and makes it much easier for the recipient to hear your heart and connect with you. If you can’t do a video for every email, then try to do it for about half of them. In the event that you just can do video, write really well, thought out, helpful, concise emails. I really encourage video though.
When to Begin (Late October, early November)
1. Build your list, don’t filter. Go through email accounts, social media, church directories (when appropriate), old address books, parent’s address books, brainstorm.
2. Identify your 35-100 hard copy recipients; (depending on the number of contacts you have) they could be partners, people who have shared a special gift, someone you are growing in relationship with, someone you just met. If you are planning a spring PD trip, any new asks for that trip should be on the hard copy list. It’s subjective but who do you think is the most likely to give?
3. Identify the 30-40 people you are going to ask on the phone.
4. Identify the 10-15 people you are going to ask face-to-face. Don’t travel to see them; ask people in and around your circles and social life. If you were planning to travel during the holidays anyway then feel free to ask out of town people face-to-face. Pick people you can see face to face in the month of December.
5. Start a Mail Chimp account or any other email platform, and load all your names into a year-end ask campaign. If you’re a first-time user, learn all you can about your email platform from friends, YouTube, Google search, talk forums and customer service. Also consider Constant Contact, Mailerlite, Active campaign and many others.
Early November
6. Pick a theme, topic, or story line. It must be something that can be used to encourage and build them up. Stay away from social topics, theology, your personal accomplishments, needs and politics. You don’t have to have a theme but I think it helps verses coming up with 10 different helpful emails. Most important is to be encouraging and helpful.
7. Organize your thoughts, outline the series and break each email and or video down into its own little outline. It helps me to think about it this way: when a person writes a book, they are addressing one topic as a whole. The book is going to make 4-6 major points, but they will all be about the main topic. The author then breaks the main points down into 8-10-12 chapters. Then each chapter has its own outline. I suggest you do something similar with your year-end ask theme. What is your main topic? What are the main 4-6 things you want them to know by the end of December? What are your 10-12 chapters? Now outline each email and or video (chapter).
8. Once you have each video outlined, take each outline and put it on its own one-page document. Should include video number, title, 3 talking points and possible action item (see item #1).
9. Schedule your video shoot. You could hire someone to film it, or you can have a friend with a decent camera do it or you can do it yourself with your phone. Most phones are good enough for this project. Using a phone makes it easier to schedule, costs less, is more flexible for multiple takes and/or different shooting days. Be sure to use a mic.
Second Week of November
10. Start shooting video. Create a set, or at least a controlled environment. The background should not be distracting; fireplace, bookshelves, outdoor with no wind, are all good options. You don’t need to spend any money on the set. Light is important. Experiment. It doesn’t have to be high quality; we are very forgiving with video today. You don’t want shadows or washout. Natural light is always good.
11. I recommend your phone, an inexpensive tripod, and a microphone. I bought a tripod at Best Buy for $25 and a lapel mic at the same store for $20. I have been using them both for years now. I would want better gear if I had a video channel or vlog, but for the short year-end ask you don’t need to spend a lot.
12. Once you are ready to shoot, I recommend you do it all in one setting. Your finished product is going to be about 30 minutes long, if you’re well prepared, you should be on set for only about 1.5-2 hours.
13. When you start to record use your one page title and outline from number #8 above. Use it to review, get your thoughts clear and hold it up in front of the camera right before you go live. This will be a visual marker when you do the edits and will make the process easier and accurate.
14. Edit each video. It doesn’t have to be fancy; simple is good. No need for zoom-ins or outs, intros or outros, moving graphics, cut-ins or on-screen text. You can do as much of that as you want but if you choose not to it doesn’t hurt your video any. This is a year-end ask, not a documentary or promo.
About the Third Week of November
15. Start to build out your Mail Chimp campaign. Choose a good subject line and title for each video. Write a short message to give context for the video. Use flickr or Shutterfly or something similar to find stock photos. Build each email with photos, text, video, giving instructions and a give button. When possible link it to your social media.
16. Use Mail Chimp features to set the time, date and the order that each email with video will go out. This will take some planning but will be well worth it. Once you have this built all you have to do is sit back and let Mail Chimp do all the sending. Set up the schedule for once every four or five days and the 30th and 31st . I would also alternate the times, using midmorning, late afternoon (4 or 5) and evening.
17. Write your hard copy for 35-100 people on your list. I recommend three paragraphs, giving instructions and a self-addressed, stamped envelope and nice paper. Be personable and professional. First paragraph share about the past year, highlights, some of the fruit, transformation and positive impact. Second paragraph cast vision for the coming year, what you feel like God is leading you to do. Be a ministry that is thinking ahead, planning and wanting to make as much impact as possible. Third paragraph, ask them to give, tie it to the vision for the coming year, have an excited tone, communicate partnership and make it clear that you can do more when we work together. Include giving instruction for online and check, keep it clear and super simple. Include a self addressed, stamped envelope.
About November 18th or 19th
18. Drop your letters in the mail.
19. Make sure everything is ready to go with Mail Chimp, make sure it is set to launch on the 22nd of November or so (Whatever the Friday or Saturday before Thanksgiving is).
About December 2nd , 3rd or 4th
20. Start making your 30-40 phone calls. Most will be to do an ask over the phone, some will be to ask for a face-to-face meeting. Consider sending a text before the phone call. For example: Hi Jim, David Roth here, have you got three minutes for a quick call? OR Hi Jim, David Roth here, I am going to call you tonight about 6:00, looking forward to speaking with you.
From about December 4th Through the 22nd
21. Make phone calls to invite people to share a gift, schedule face-to-face appointments, do face-to-face meetings. When gifts come in, write a thank you; if it’s large make a call.
December 27th Through the 31st
22. Finish calls, appointments, follow up, write thank you notes.
Example of email and or Video Outline (Item #1):
email and or Video #1 God’s Heart for Nations
● God is a missional God
●Abraham I will bless you so you will be a blessing to all nations
●Jerusalem, Judea and the ends of the earth
Action item: Recommended Reading, Let the Nations be Glad, Piper.
