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Year-End Fundraising Reality Checks: One Thumb Can Make It Or Break It!
Description
How can you improve the year-end donor experience before the giving rush begins? Bloomerang Chief Marketing Officer Ann Fellman showed us where a donor’s path to giving can get difficult and what to do after the gift arrives!
This Nonprofit Power Week finale follows the donor journey from campaign message to donation page to the first welcome. Ann asks teams to walk through their website and giving process with fresh eyes: Can a first-time visitor quickly understand what the organization does, where a gift goes, and what difference it makes? Does a recurring donor have an equally clear path?
Then comes the thumb test. Pick up your phone, scan the QR code on a direct-mail appeal, and try to give one-handed. Tiny text, unexpected steps, or a difficult form can turn an interested donor’s moment of generosity into a frustrating errand.
A small team does not need to rebuild everything before December 31. Ann recommends choosing one or two improvements with the greatest effect on the donation experience. As she puts it, “Pick one thing to do it and do it really well.”
The work continues after someone clicks submit. Ann describes a young event attendee who made a $25 gift partly to see how the organization would thank her; she had more to give, but wanted to experience its response first. The lesson for fundraising teams is to plan the welcome, impact update, and next contact for every new donor, whether the first gift is $10 or $25.
Ann also explains why a recognizable look, voice, and message should carry from direct mail and email through to the donation page. Donors may encounter only a few pieces of a campaign. Each one should help them know they are in the right place.
Watch for a focused way to strengthen this giving season—and build the relationship that carries into the next.
Key Takeaways
- Test the full giving path as both a new and a recurring donor.
- Use a phone and one thumb to check QR codes and donation forms.
- Fix the one or two points most likely to stop a completed gift.
- Segment messages around whom you want to reach and what they need to hear.
- Plan the thank-you, impact update, and next contact before gifts arrive.
- Keep campaign identity consistent across mail, email, ads, and landing pages.
00:00:00 Nonprofit Power Week finale
00:01:47 Ann Fellman on sharing sector knowledge
00:04:39 Why the giving season needs an after-gift plan
00:08:24 Test the donor journey before year end
00:10:07 Try the one-thumb donation test
00:11:56 Choose the fixes with the greatest donor impact
00:13:54 Segment messages before building the campaign
00:14:53 What a $25 gift can reveal about your welcome
00:18:10 Keep campaigns recognizable to donors
00:20:33 Connect mail, email, ads, and donation pages
00:23:28 Do one or two things well
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