Your Final Checklist for Year-End Campaigns: Optimism, Monthly Donors, and Activating High-Net-Worth Donors
We cannot know how much longer listeners will respond to public media’s loss of federal funding, but we’re heading into the biggest fundraising season of the year with cautious optimism. Cautious because some listeners might steer more of their giving to food banks and other organizations that help people directly affected by the government shutdown. This doesn’t mean that many listeners won’t help us too. It’s on us to make a compelling ask. Here are some tips and strategies to consider as you refine your year-end planning.
Stay Direct, Stay Optimistic: Framing Your Sustainability Narrative
Have you recovered all of this year’s funding loss? If not, that must be part of your narrative. Either way, your narrative should focus on your station’s long-term sustainability and how financial support from your local community is taking on a new, bigger relevance with the permanent loss of federal dollars.
Your messaging should remain as direct and specific as it has been since the rescission. Your tone should be optimistic. You’re asking listeners to join a winning team, a growing movement of people who are putting their money behind what they believe in and value.
Engaging the Habitual Giver
People who give in December give for the same reasons anyone else gives: They value your programming, your mission, your service and commitment to your community. The difference is year-end givers follow routine, whereas others follow impulse when it comes to when they give. So your December appeals are talking to listeners who might not have been paying much attention earlier in the year. Continue to be aggressive in the volume of asks, but not in the tone of the ask. You and your team might be reaching the point of fatigue when it comes to talking about your federal funding loss, but it’s still top-of-mind for many listeners and you need to stay on this for as long as that’s true.
December givers are less likely to become monthly donors compared to people who give earlier in the year, However, the number is growing year over year. Make the case for monthly gifts and tie them to the reality that the loss of federal funding is for the foreseeable future. Let your audience know very clearly and succinctly that their ongoing support is what we need to counter the ongoing loss of federal funding.
The Case for Consistency
There’s an understandable urge to want to reach listeners who want to give one-time gifts, but there’s no evidence suggesting that going all in on monthly gifts suppresses one-time gifts, and monthly gifts are key to your station’s sustainability over time.
Activating High-Net-Worth Donors
Just like membership donors, mid-level and major donors can be creatures of habit and give in the last quarter of the year. In a normal year there are reasons for donors to give in December, but this year, in particular, there’s BIG motivation for high-net-worth donors to make larger contributions before Dec 31st. On January 1, COVID relief measures will expire and tax law will change, so there are strong advantages for donors who itemize their taxes (only 1 in 10 Americans still do) to give generously in this calendar year.
Here are some ways to activate your high-net-worth donors.
- Ask donors who have multi-year pledges to accelerate payments, giving their 2026 gifts early.
- Ask donors who typically give in Q1 to give before Dec 31st.
- Ask the donor if they work with a philanthropic or financial advisor whom you should include in gift conversations.
- Pull lists of donors who have given via stock transfers, DAF gifts, or QCD in the past and prioritize getting in contact with them now about year-end giving.
- Run on-air spots asking for non-cash gifts before the end of the year and update your website to make that giving easy for donors.
Many of your mid-level and major donors were activated during the advocacy campaign and in the aftermath of the federal funding cut. How many others started giving earlier, especially for those that are habituated to give in December? The return on the investment of your time is especially large for renewing or upgrading these gifts, so make a plan to engage and ask your mid-level and major donors.
The Critical Importance of Non-Cash Gifts
The importance of non-cash gifts can’t be overstated, the average stock gift is $8,000 while the average online cash gift is $128. Wealth is primarily held in assets, not cash. Only 8.3% of Americans’ assets are cash so if you are only asking for cash gifts you are missing out on much larger gifts.
As we head into this critical year-end giving season, the message is clear: optimism and focus are our greatest assets. Your direct, clear narrative to listeners should focus on your station’s long-term sustainability and the community’s essential role in replacing federal funding. This invites listeners to join a winning movement. Whether through monthly giving or a substantial, non-cash gift, every contribution ensures the continuity of the public media service that is so vital to our communities. Lean into this moment, and make it easy for your community to invest in the independent future of your station.
