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Church leaders know that year-end giving can have a big impact on their annual budget, which helps to fulfill their mission. In fact, churches receive an average of 30% of their annual donations in the month of December alone! This is why creating an engaging and effective end-of-year giving campaign is essential to your church’s financial health and its ability to continue impacting your community. 

If you haven’t started planning yet, don’t worry! This guide will show you what to communicate and how to get your message across, as well as the best giving tools to maximize your end-of-year giving strategies.

How to engage donors for year-end giving

The key to creating an effective giving campaign is to focus on your donors. These are your partners in ministry, individuals who believe in your mission enough to offer support out of their own pockets!

Here are five best practices to effectively communicate your end-of-year giving campaign:

1. Share testimonies‍

Excite your donors by celebrating every win—like financial goals your church accomplished throughout the year leading up to your campaign. Most importantly, demonstrate how you’re doing good by sharing real-life stories and testimonies 

This could look like spotlighting a family who found hope through your counseling ministry, a student whose life was transformed at camp, or a missionary who was able to reach more people because of your church’s support. These stories breathe life into the numbers and allow donors to see themselves as part of something bigger.

2. Share the numbers‍

Your year-end report provides the opportunity to paint a picture of your church’s impact on your community as well as the world with numbers and statistics.

‍Make a connection between donations made and Kingdom impact. Donors will love it! This will be the fuel that inspires even more generosity with your church end-of-year giving and fundraising efforts. 

‍Pro Tip! Consider creating an “Impact Report” at the end of each year, showcasing exactly what church donations have funded over the last year!

Examples include the creation of a children’s playground, three school outreach events, a food pantry for the homeless, etc. You can also include things like:

  • Number of baptisms
  • Number of church app downloads
  • Numbers reached on your live streams
  • Small group numbers
  • Missionaries funded domestically or abroad
  • Funds donated to important causes
  • … and much more!

3. Cast your vision & share goals‍

Next, it’s important to share your vision for the next year and outline your goals. Be sure to provide specific and attainable objectives that inspire your donors. Your community will feel more compelled to donate to make your well-planned vision a reality, especially once they know what it is! 

This is also a good time to remind donors about any of your current or upcoming in-person or online fundraising events.

4. Create calls to action‍

Once you’ve thanked your donors, shared this year’s achievements, and outlined your goals, it’s time to call your donors to action.

Clearly relay what you’re asking from them, as well as the options they have for donating. Point donors to your giving website, custom mobile app, and text-to-give solutions. You can even make church giving as easy as possible by offering tap-to-give solutions like Subsplash Tap and accepting stock and cryptocurrency donations.

And don’t forget to highlight tax deductions and any other benefits they may receive from their contributions.

5. Say “thank you” & stay positive‍

Following up with expressions of genuine gratitude to your members who have given their time and money to your church is one of the most important parts of a year-end giving strategy. 

You can do that by writing a personal thank-you message to donors after your end-of-year giving campaign has ended. A personal touch from church leadership will go a long way, helping donors feel valued and appreciated, much more than just hearing a generic thank-you message from the Sunday pulpit.

How to communicate your end of year giving campaign

How to communicate your end-of-year giving campaign

When it comes to fundraising appeals, communication is key. Taking a multichannel approach to sharing your end-of-year giving message will most effectively raise awareness for your church’s goals and financial needs. This means having a consistent message and driving awareness through each channel, including your church’s website, custom mobile app, social media, and email. It also lays the groundwork for receiving more donations in the future. Let’s take a look at some effective ways you can do this.

Add multimedia & visual elements

Before sending any  communication, start by creating some engaging images and multimedia content to attract people to your campaign. Create videos of testimonials from your volunteers, as well as those who have been impacted by your church’s outreach. Don’t forget to celebrate milestones and thank your supporters for their generosity!

Having these elements in place will help you more effectively communicate your message. They also provide useful resources for your supporters to share on their individual social media pages.

Here are the channels you should use to communicate and engage your donors: 

Website

  • Add a year-end giving section to your homepage with a link to your main donation page.
  • Create a dedicated webpage that details your church end-of-year giving appeal.
  • Include a link to your giving page on your website’s navigation bar.
  • Provide information about how to contribute cash, check, stocks, and non-cash gifts.

Pro tip! With Subsplash Giving, your donors can choose to give smaller recurring donations instead of a larger single gift. Recurring giving will become ongoing support for your ministry into the next year.

Switch to Subsplash Giving

Mobile app

  • Place your giving button prominently on the bottom navigation bar and main menu of your church’s app.
  • Create a dedicated fund for your end-of-year giving campaign.
  • Send push notifications with clickable links to information, updates, and actionable requests.
  • Add a special end-of-year giving link on your app’s navigation bar.
  • Make a special end-of-year giving tab on your app with all the information about your campaign.

Social media

  • Share your year-end appeal on your social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
  • Include a link to your dedicated giving webpage.
  • Reach out to your followers and social media influencers and ask them to share your campaign on their social media.
  • Be sure to include campaign videos, graphics, testimonials, and thank-yous to make your posts more engaging.

Email

  • Craft a compelling email subject line that inspires participation in your end-of-year giving campaign. As a starting point, ask yourself, “What would I open?”
  • Be sure your email drives people to your online giving page.
  • Ask for your supporters to sign up for recurring donations in your emails.
Provide the best giving tools

Provide the best giving tools

Before engaging your donors, be sure your giving channels are in top shape. If you haven’t set up online giving, consider this—churches that offer an online giving solution see an average increase of 32% in overall giving! 

Encourage generosity by providing your supporters with multiple convenient ways to donate. Here are the top three donation channels you need to have: 

Online donation page

Creating a donation page on your church website provides a convenient way for your users to give to your church. Be sure to include these giving features:

  • Your church’s branding—donors are much more likely to complete their donations if your giving page looks like it’s part your church’s website rather than a generic giving page
  • Button or link to your donation page on your homepage’s header and main menu
  • Donation form that is simple and straightforward
  • Recurring giving option for people who want to contribute on a regular basis
  • Donor-covered fees allows your donors to cover credit card transaction fees for your church
  • Credit, debit, or ACH (electronic check) payment options
  • Apple Pay & Google Pay payment options

In-app giving

People spend hours on their phones every day using apps, and 90% of adults make purchases through their smartphones. Because people prefer to spend more time with their mobile devices compared to laptops or computers, offering an in-app giving option is one of the most effective ways to increase donations!

Guest giving

Many people will want to give to your church this year, but not all of them want to go through the hassle of creating a giving account to do so.

Subsplash gives your church a “Guest Giving” option that allows people to give without creating an account. This allows your donors to give quickly without unwanted extra steps.

Text-to-give

Just as the name implies, text-to-give allows your donors to give by texting from their smartphone. Subsplash Giving offers this service at no charge. Here’s how it works:

  • Your donors send a text to a special number for your church’s online giving
  • They receive a text with a link to your giving page
  • After opening the link, they’ll input the donation amount and submit their contribution

Tap-to-give

Subsplash Tap makes year-end giving simple and engaging by letting people give with just a tap of their phone. Each Tap Disc and Stand uses NFC technology to instantly direct donors to your year-end giving page, campaign, or app—no typing, searching, or scanning required.

For churches, this means you can place Tap Discs on seatbacks, lobbies, or welcome centers so generosity is just one tap away during your holiday services. Plus, the link can be updated anytime in your Subsplash Dashboard, allowing you to highlight different campaigns throughout the season without reprinting materials.

Subsplash Tap not only boosts giving but also helps people connect more easily with your mission at the most generous time of year!

Next steps

Taking these steps for communicating your end-of-year fundraising campaign will help energize your donor base and increase your overall donations. A well-thought-out campaign can significantly help your church benefit from the year-end giving season. 

While most giving solutions only help your church collect donations, only Subsplash Giving is a part of a larger suite of engagement tools—The Ultimate Engagement Platform™. This all-in-one solution makes it simple for you to communicate with your audience and receive donations through your website, app, and text-to-give.

To find out just how much Subsplash tools can increase your giving and engagement with your community, [.blog-contact-cta]connect with a ministry consultant today![.blog-contact-cta]

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