The holidays are a time for giving, and for many Americans that means giving not just to their families and friends, but also to support their favorite cause. Whether it’s out of habit, guilt – e.g., when we stop and think about it, we realize just how good we really have it – or just plain altruism, there’s no question about it: ‘Tis the season for charitable donations.
Of course, fundraisers are aware of this encouraging, immutable law of human nature, especially those working for social and human service organizations. In the eyes – and kind hearts – of the public, the condition of their clients appears especially adverse and acute at this time of year. Some of them are struggling in silence all year long, but during the holidays their pain and suffering resonates far and wide.
So like the men, women and children for whom they advocate, there really are no holidays for the fundraising professionals among us. Nonprofit organizations acting on behalf of the homeless, the hungry, the disabled, the ill and the infirm, among many other less fortunate segments of society, know this is the time to pull out all the stops in their appeals for financial assistance. This is the time to employ every proven, response-oriented strategy in the book.
For instance, Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries – which serves individuals who face a variety of barriers to employment, including physical and/or mental disabilities, illiteracy, homelessness, inadequate education, and welfare dependency – is just one of countless charities to include personalized name and address labels as a “freemium” – a tangible, additional incentive to respond – in their holiday appeal.
“Thanksgiving should be a day of thanks, not of despair. That’s why we’re asking you and your neighbors to help Goodwill continue its tradition of sharing fellowship and hope on this special American holiday,” wrote Joanne K. Hilferty, President and CEO, in a recent direct mail fundraising letter.
“I’m enclosing a sheet of personalized labels to say thank you,” she continued in the postscript. “Though it’s only a small gift, I hope it will come in handy and remind you of all the good you’re doing every time you use a label!”
Then there’s the matching gift offer, invariably a winner, which Covenant House – the largest privately-funded childcare agency in the United States providing shelter and service to homeless and runaway youth – incorporated into its recent “Bed & Blanket Matching Gift Challenge” appeal (dated October 18, 2004).
Wrote Covenant House’s Sister Patricia A. Cruise, S.C., “Before the cold weather sets in, I need to ask you to make a contribution to make sure we can get through the winter and give each child who comes to us a safe place to sleep and good food to eat.”
Sister Cruise continued, “I count on our Bed & Blanket Drive so much, and so do our kids. And thanks to some very special friends on our Board who have pledged to match donations to this year’s Bed & Blanket Drive, your support today will go twice as far to help us this winter. Any gift will be doubled to help our kids!”
And the American Liver Foundation – the nation’s leading nonprofit organization promoting liver health and disease prevention – incorporated not just one, but several powerful response-triggers into its “2004 Year End Appeal.”
In the mailing I received just this week, the ALF captured my attention by localizing the affirmation line (“Your generosity will help us fund research and provide vital services to all those in Sudbury and across Massachusetts who are fighting liver disease!”), personalizing the postscript (“Mr. Cargill, the amount of research we are able to fund in the coming year depends on the response of supporters like you.”) and using a deadline to create a sense of urgency (“So please be as generous as you can – and reply by December 31, 2004.”).
Last but certainly not least, there’s the “World’s Greatest Bake Sale” conducted by Community Servings, a Boston-based nonprofit organization that runs a free, hot, home-delivered meals program for people ill with AIDS, their dependents and caregivers.
Out of the goodness of their hearts, top pastry chefs, bakeries, churches, and caterers bake a variety of Thanksgiving pies, which are then sold for $25 each as part of this organization’s “Pie in the Sky” campaign, eventually landing on Thanksgiving dinner tables in more than 10,000 homes.
Now in its 12th year, this appetizing campaign is made possible by thousands of people who take time from their “regular jobs” to assume roles as bakers and sellers—helping Community Servings provide upwards of 650 daily meals to people ill with AIDS or other life-threatening illnesses.
So there you have it – just a few of the many different ways fundraisers are making the most of this season of giving. This is no time for a nonprofit organization to take a break. Given people’s level of generosity toward the tail end of the year, the holidays may be the best time to take in donations.
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