Whisking Up Year-End Success: The Pros and Cons of Different Fundraising Channels
When it comes to your year-end fundraising campaign, selecting the right channels is like choosing ingredients for your favorite holiday bake. Each one brings something unique to the table, but not all are a perfect fit for every recipe. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of some popular fundraising channels to help you whip up the right mix for a successful campaign!
Social Media: The Sugar Rush
Pros:
Social media is like adding sugar to your bake—it’s fast, sweet, and can give you that quick boost of attention. With the right message and visuals, your post could go viral, bringing in a rush of donors who are just a click away from giving.
Cons:
But, just like too much sugar, social media can be unpredictable. Engagement can spike one minute and fall flat the next, leaving you with inconsistent results. Also, you’ll need a constant stream of content to keep your audience engaged, which can be time-consuming, especially for smaller nonprofits.
Email Marketing: The Quick Mix Batter
Pros:
Email marketing is like a quick-mix batter—fast, easy, and affordable. You can reach a large number of donors in minutes, and personalization options allow you to tailor each email to different audience segments. Plus, it’s easy to track results, so you know which messages are rising to the top.
Cons:
But just like a quick mix, email can sometimes fall flat or taste…well…like you didn’t spend time on it. With overflowing inboxes, it’s easy for your appeal to get lost, ignored, or sent to the dreaded spam folder. And while the reach is broad, it lacks the personal touch of other channels.
Telephone Campaigns: The Handcrafted Pastry
Pros:
Telephone campaigns are like handcrafting a pastry—time-consuming but personal. A well-done call campaign builds rapport, deepens connections, and can lead to meaningful gifts. It’s especially effective for lapsed donors or those who prefer one-on-one interactions. I LOVE recommending phone campaigns to small nonprofits because it makes them stand out from the crowd. While bigger nonprofits are mass communicating in ways that monologue at donors, smaller nonprofits can create deep connections with their donors by starting dialogues that engage donors.
Cons:
However, like a complex pastry, telephone campaigns are time-consuming. A high-quality telephone campaign requires trained staff or volunteers, which can be resource-intensive. Or a single staff member can do this, but it takes up a fair amount of their time (I tell clients to budget 2 hours for every 50 phone calls you need to make.) Plus, results depend on having the right timing and message to avoid sounding too “salesy.” If you’re regularly engaging your donors, a phone call fits right in with what they expect of you. If you don’t, a phone call feels fishy.
Direct Mail: The Slow-Baked Classic
Pros:
Direct mail is like a rich, slow-baked cake—reliable and comforting. It offers a personal touch that many donors still appreciate, especially older audiences. When done well, a direct mail piece can leave a lasting impression, like the aroma of a freshly baked pie. I especially like including little hand-made touches, like writing notes in the margins to specific donors or throwing in a token of appreciation (like a vinyl logo sticker) or something to remind them of our mission (a small drawing by a child in our program). These obviously hand-made touches go so far in reminding donors how critical they are to your mission.
Cons:
Direct mail is a little like sourdough bread…it’s a big investment of time and patience…and at times the dough will go flat! Direct mail requires planning ahead, from design to printing to delivery, which means a longer lead time. Plus, postage and printing costs can be higher than other channels, so it’s not the cheapest option in your fundraising mix. Furthermore, you need a pre-existing donor base. Buying lists can be appealing, but the ROI is worse than almost any other fundraising method out there. So I tend to recommend that smaller nonprofits use this method only with their current donors, and even segmenting and sending only to older donors to get the best rise out of this particular method of raising dough.
Peer-to-Peer: The Homemade Cookie Swap
Pros:
Peer-to-peer fundraising is like hosting a cookie swap—everyone gets involved! It’s a fun, community-driven channel where your supporters raise funds on your behalf, spreading the word like the aroma of freshly baked cookies. This method helps expand your reach through personal networks, bringing in new donors you wouldn’t reach otherwise.
Cons:
Just as some people might bring store-bought cookies instead of homemade to your cookie swap, not all peer-to-peer fundraisers will be equally effective. You’ll need to provide lots of support to your fundraisers and hope they stay motivated through the campaign. Given that this method is overly reliant on volunteers and ambassadors, it’s only really effective for organizations with passionate supporters.
Major Gift Solicitations: The Gourmet Dessert
Pros:
Major gift solicitations are like serving up a gourmet dessert—you have to be refined and targeted, but the returns can be extremely high-reward. A single major donor could be the cherry on top of your year-end campaign, providing a large gift that makes a significant impact. For small nonprofits, I often recommend leveraging one or two major donor relationships to create gift matches to incentivize giving via other channels.
Cons:
But gourmet desserts take effort and expertise. You’ll need to invest time in relationship building, personalized asks, and careful stewardship. This channel typically targets a smaller group of donors, so while the payoff can be huge, it’s not as scalable as other options.
YOUR HOMEWORK
Every year-end campaign needs the right combination of ingredients to ensure success. Whether you’re looking for a quick sugar rush or a slow-baked masterpiece, the key is to balance your channels in a way that suits your audience and goals.
This week, read through this pro/con list and decide which of these channels might work for your organization. Next week, we’ll talk about how to piece all of it together and send you a fabulous multi-channel map template to plan out your campaign.
