It’s coming, and it’s important. A well-crafted annual appeal plan will yield strong end-of-year financial results.

Here are the major steps–start today!

1. Determine the campaign theme, and get agreement right away. Every element of your appeal pivots around the theme.
2. Make a plan. Itemize the components, audience(s), formats and the target dates for distribution.
3. Create your expense budget.
4. Sit back and analyze the plan. Try to poke holes in it. Does the flow make sense, with other things that are going on? Will you have the resources you need for each component?
5. Gather data. Your appeal will need facts. What measurable work has been completed, thanks to your donors?
6. Open documents (even if they are just a blank page) for each component. Fill in anything that seems easy. Could you crack off four social posts, or your year-end appeal, at least in draft form, today?
7. Arrange for an excellent professional photographer to take your campaign photos. Create a shot list. Select 8-10 campaign images that you can use throughout the campaign.
8. Draft the main direct mail letter, featuring the agreed theme. The language will be used and reused, with modifications, throughout the campaign.
9. Once the main letter is approved, put your head down and draft your response device, e-appeals, social posts, thank you card, video scripts, and newsletter articles.
10. Roll out your campaign, adhering to the distribution dates.
11. As gifts come in, thank your donors.

A few things to think about:

Tell donors how their gifts are invested in your mission. It's our donors who work hard, and it's our donors about whom we should be proud. Pictures are helpful.

Invite donors to be a part of something powerful. An invitation is more compelling than asking for their support.

Welcome donations of every size. Small gift donors have big hearts–and they often remember your charity in their Wills.

Say thank you. Create a system for making calls of thanks. Know who is on your thanking team, and set high standards for placing the calls within 48 hours. A voicemail is a viable option.

Make a big deal out of first-time donors. They’ll give a second time, if they are really recognized the first time.

Beware false economy, like printing in-house, or using Dear Friend instead of personalizing. Your time is far better spent on active development work, like calls to key donors, and, no one will thank you for the money you saved stuffing the envelopes.

Direct mail works. We all had an unexpected chance to see how much of a difference direct mail makes during the 2024 postal strike. Donations ground to a halt. Momentum was lost. Letters nudge people in ways that other modes do not.

Hit it with everything you’ve got. We just can’t know where people are when you send an appeal, or place a phone call. Be unapologetically bold in connecting your amazing charities work with the donor’s desire to make the world a better place.

Analyze your results. What is your cost per dollar raised? Can you compare that to last year? Did you have any feedback from donors on what they read or saw? Keep a record of what you did, when, to whom and record results.

And, my final tip: Finish reading Charity eNews and then take the next hour to write your year-end e-appeal copy. Schedule it to send, and forget it. You’ll thank yourself in December.

Sandra Baker, CFRE, works in both advancement and admissions at Hamilton District Christian High. Sandra also has a philanthropic consultancy and coaching practice. Reach out for a chat or to talk about your annual appeal strategy.