Planning Your Year-End Charity Fundraising in 9 Steps

The end of the year is a pivotal period for fundraising, often representing around 30% of annual revenue for many charities.

Between seasonal generosity, tax incentives, and heightened public attention, everything aligns to make this a strategic opportunity not to be missed. However, without adequate preparation and a clear strategy, many organisations fail to take full advantage of the potential this period offers.

To help charities prepare for this crucial period, we present 9 steps to plan their end-of-year fundraising campaign, compiled in a fundraising guide that will help you:

- effectively structure your year-end campaign,

- maximise donations,

- and strengthen supporter engagement.

A structured approach, from campaign review to post-campaign follow-up

The guide is designed for charities and associations of all levels of digital maturity. It takes you step by step, from reviewing your previous campaigns to post-campaign evaluations. Each stage is supported with practical advice, inspiring examples, and ready-to-use tools.

To support you even further, the iRaiser fundraising guide also includes a ready-to-use content calendar and a detailed campaign roadmap, designed to help you structure and pace your campaign month by month.

Among the topics covered in the guide:

Plan Your Year-End Campaign Now to Maximise Your Charity Fundraising

The success of a year-end campaign relies heavily on solid preparation. The earlier you begin, the more time you’ll have to refine your strategy, optimise every donor touchpoint, and mobilise your teams under the best possible conditions.

Here are the first steps to take:

• Analyse the performance of your previous campaign: review what worked well last year, identify friction points, evaluate the most effective channels, and highlight key actions to replicate or adjust.
• Set clear and achievable objectives: such as target amounts or number of donations.
• Structure your campaign timeline: map out the main stages (preparation, launch, peak activity, reminders, acknowledgements) and assign responsibilities clearly across your team.

Choose and Diversify Your Communication Channels

To maximise the impact of your end-of-the-year campaign, it’s essential to engage your community through a variety of touchpoints. Each channel has its own strengths and added value, depending on your goals, audiences, and available resources.

Your website remains a cornerstone, featuring an optimised donation form and tailored content. Email marketing helps you build and maintain a personalised relationship with donors, while social media fosters engagement and encourages sharing with a wider audience.

Don’t overlook the role of external partners and networks in extending your reach, or the effectiveness of printed materials. By incorporating elements such as QR codes that link directly to your donation form, you can capture support at just the right moment.

Using the Right Donation Forms to Maximise Your Conversion Rate

Donation forms are at the heart of a successful year-end campaign, as they optimise every stage of the donor journey.

These digital tools make it possible to personalise the experience by tailoring messages to different segments - whether regular donors or new supporters - at the most relevant moments.

For this strategic period, focus in particular on:

• Native donation forms integrated into your pages: these provide a seamless, frictionless experience, helping to boost your conversion rates.
• Pop-in donation forms: ideal for capturing attention at the moment when visitors are most engaged.

To maximise the effectiveness of your donation forms, focus on creating a smooth, user-friendly experience: minimise the number of steps and required fields, particularly on mobile devices. Lengthy forms often discourage donors and can significantly reduce conversion rates.

We also recommend adding donation equivalents to illustrate the concrete impact of each gift (for example: “£ 30 = 3 hot meals distributed”). This helps strengthen donor commitment at the key decision-making moment.

Accelerate Your Fundraising in December

December is the time to step up your efforts and capture the final surge of generosity before the year ends. Use frequent reminders, highlight the sense of urgency, and emphasise tax benefits to motivate donors.

5 Simple and Effective Actions to Boost Your Year-End Charity Fundraising

You don’t need a large budget to increase the success of your year-end appeal. With a few easy-to-organise initiatives, you can generate real momentum and build solidarity around your cause. Here are five ideas to get you started:

1. Leverage Giving Tuesday: amplify your year-end appeal by linking it to this global movement of generosity.
2. Launch a matching gift campaign: partner with a company to double each donation received.
3. Run a solidarity challenge on social media: invite your community to take part around a dedicated hashtag.
4. Offer a digital advent calendar: share daily reasons to get involved, inspiring stories, or key impact figures.
5. Set up a collective challenge: define a short-term goal with a visible online progress bar and personalised acknowledgements for participants.

Want to discover the other steps, the practical tools and the inspiring examples that can help you plan an engaging year-end campaign? Download the iRaiser guide and end-of-year initiatives into a powerful driver of fundraising success! 

Download the guide: 9 Steps to Plan Your Year-End Fundraising Campaign