Year-End Giving

Hello everyone,
 
I hope you are well! December is our big push in the nonprofit sector for donor engagement and giving. A while back I shared a few of the statistics below, but I wanted to pull them back out as a reminder. Forty percent of charitable donations are typically being made in December, according to The Fund Raising School and the School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. Also, here is additional data to think about that come from a host of giving research, such as the School of Philanthropy, Advancing Philanthropy, USA Giving and Volunteering, AFRC Trust, etc.:
 
1)   At least 50 percent of prior donors should repeat their gifts at the same amount.
 
2)   As many as 15 percent of prior donors will increase if asked.
 
3)   After making a third gift, the donor is likely to remain a consistent donor for five to seven more years.
 
4)   Gifts made by renewal donors are five to eight times higher than gifts made by first-time donors.
 
5)   After five years, gifts from renewal donors will provide 80 percent of money raised each year.
 
In addition, the podcast for this month is an interview with Jay Love, Co-founder of Bloomerang. The topic is about why multi-channel communication does not equate to social media. You will find it goes along with the context of the statistics that I shared. Keep your focus and end the donor's calendar year strong.  
 
I hope you enjoy your Christmas or Hanukkah, if you celebrate them or any additional holiday, and have a Happy New Year. I pray that the end of the year will be a flood of people choosing to love people, whether they agree with them or not. Many of you have heard me say often that people are messy. Well, I am messy, and people have chosen to love me. I choose to do the same. As we all know, it's easy to love those we like, but we are called to love all. Thank you for choosing to show others they matter and for giving of yourselves to show that love. I hope you can take time to reflect and see how much the year has brought, both glory and challenge, as well as how much love you have shared with others.  
 
All the best and warmest,
 
Jamie