4 Tips for a Better End-of-Quarter
“End-of-quarter” can be an incredibly stressful time for campaigns. Key fundraising goals have to be met, which mean finance and digital teams are stretched to the absolute limit. To make end of quarter a little bit more pleasant, we bring you four of our best tips (along with some email inspiration) for the folks on the digital end.
1. Keep some emails in your back pocket
When you’re sending an email a day for 4 or 5 days in a row, you can run out of ideas quickly. So have some ideas in your back pocket that you can use and don’t require a ton of brain power to put together. Here are a couple ideas that you can use for when you’re out of ideas.
– Statistics on campaign strength
Share how many people have joined your campaign (likes on Facebook, volunteers, email subscribers, etc.) How much you’ve raise this quarter already. How many donations you’ve already received for the quarter. People like to feel like they are part of something and see that your campaign has momentum.
– Thermometer
Show folks how close you are to hitting your EOQ goal by including a thermometer that shows how close you are to hitting your benchmark.
– Average contribution
If you have a low average contribution (under $35 bucks) share that with your supporters and ask them if they’ll chip in the average donation amount.
– Sharing why other people gave
After people donate, redirect them to a form asking to share why they gave to your organization or campaign (make sure they opt to have their story shared, of course). Pick the most impactful ones and share them with your email list. This is also a major time saver since you only have to do some light editing.
– Email from a donor
Ask a donor to share why they contributed to the campaign and asking people to join them and suport the campaign.
Also consider sending targeted asks to people who haven’t contributed yet (ask them to step up and make their first contribution to help your campaign meet their deadline) and recurring donors (ask them if they can chip in a little more during end of quarter.)
2. Write everything you can in advance.
This might go without saying, but get as much content written and approved in advance. Writing can often be the most time consuming process, but with some preparation you can take a huge weight off your shoulders. This way all you have to do is code up the emails, send subject line tests, pick a winner, and report back. Phew.
3. Get organized
Create a master calendar for end-of-quarter so you can keep track of approved and sent emails, along with which are on deck and which ones you need to follow up on. This can be especially helpful for consultants juggling multiple clients. It might take a minute to set up, but will certainly save you time in the long-run.
4. Celebrate!
Whether you working on a campaign or at a consulting firm, take a minute to celebrate hitting your goals and congratulating yourself on a job well done. End-of-quarter isn’t for the faint of heart, so organize a team bonding activity (who doesn’t like laser tag?) a lunch potluck or a pizza party. There are a lot of ways to take a minute as a team or department to celebrate your success, and it’s always nice to have something to look forward to during the final stretch. Plus, it’s also a great time to debrief on the tactics that were effective and the ones that weren’t.
