We’re in the thick of the fourth quarter, and your team is working hard on the most consequential appeals of the year for your mission. We have seen time and time again that the final weeks of the year reward the teams who did the prep work to make year-end giving easy for their donors.
This checklist breaks the next eight weeks into small, doable pieces.
Know who you’re asking before you start
One finding can help shape every week of your plan. Our latest Pulse Check: Giving Season, Decoded report found that 59% of gifts are from returning donors, up from 46% over the last five years.
The same report found that one-time gifts are the vast majority in the season, and donors statistically make one gift in the season. Your year-end plan should make that one gift easy, and make the people who already know you feel known.
Week 1 (early November): Set your plan
- Pick one clear year-end goal and one core story you’ll tell through December
- Map your send calendar: Giving Tuesday on December 1, then the final push from December 26 to 31
- Segment your list into returning donors, lapsed donors, and new prospects
- Assign owners for email, social, the website, and the donation form
- Book a date for a full test gift on every form you’ll promote
Week 2: Fix your donation form
Your form is where every email and post ends up. If it’s slow, long, or confusing on a phone, the rest of your plan leaks. Our six donation form fixes before Giving Tuesday post covers this in detail.
- Make a test gift on a phone and time it
- Turn on digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay if your platform supports them
- Check that suggested amounts match what your donors actually give
- Offer bank payments for larger gifts
That last point matters at year-end. The Giving Season, Decoded report found that ACH transfers bring in five times more per donation than credit cards. ACH is a direct bank-to-bank payment, and it’s a natural fit for donors making a considered, larger year-end gift.
Giving Season, Decoded
Week 3: Write your year-end emails
Draft the whole sequence now, while you have time to edit.
A typical year-end series includes:
- A Giving Tuesday preview and day-of sends
- A mid-December impact story with a soft ask
- Three to four sends from December 26 to 31, ending with a "final hours" message on the 31st
Write a separate version for returning donors. Thank them for last year’s gift, name what it did, and ask them to do it again. For subject line ideas, take a look at our Giving Tuesday subject lines we shared last year.
Week 4 (late November): Final touches before Giving Tuesday
- Load emails and social posts into your scheduling tools
- Set up a goal or progress bar on your campaign page if you’ll use one
- Confirm any matching gift and get the donor’s approval for how you describe it
- Brief everyone who’ll answer donor questions that day
Week 5 (December 1): Giving Tuesday and the days after
- Run your plan and post progress updates through the day
- Send a thank-you within 24 hours to everyone who gave
- Don’t add Giving Tuesday donors straight into every December appeal. Give them a thank-you and an impact update first
- Note what worked so you can repeat it at month-end
Week 6: Impact and stewardship
Mid-December is a good time to show, not ask. Send an impact story to your whole list and a personal note to your top donors.
- Share one specific result from this year, with a photo or a short quote
- Have board members or leaders call or email major donors
- Remind donors who give through a donor-advised fund that you accept DAF gifts
Week 7: Prepare for the final week
- Schedule your December 26 to 31 email sequence
- Add a site banner or popup that points to your year-end form
- Test every form again, especially on mobile
- Check that receipts go out correctly and that your year-end receipt language is ready
- Agree on which team members will be on call between Christmas and New Year’s
Week 8 (December 26 to 31): The final push
- Send on December 26 or 27, then again on the 29th or 30th
- On December 31, send at least twice: a morning reminder and a "final hours" message in the evening
- Remind donors that gifts must be made by midnight on December 31 to count for this tax year
- Check your form and payment processing every few hours
Turning Giving Season into year-round support
We gathered a panel of experts to explore how better donation experiences, AI-powered optimization, recurring giving, and donor self-service can help nonprofits convert more supporters and build lasting donor relations in the Giving Season and beyond.
Watch our webinar with The Lustgarten Foundation, Indspire, and the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank below.
What happens after December 31?
The countdown ends at midnight, but the work doesn’t. In January, send annual summary receipts, thank every year-end donor, and invite your most engaged one-time donors to give monthly. Since donors statistically make one gift in the season, the conversations you have in January are crucial to turning that one-time gift into a long-lasting relationship.