Year-end always feels like a sprint. Donors are busy wrapping up the year, inboxes are overflowing, and your team is doing everything possible to make the most of the giving season. 

But amid the rush, there’s still time to help your supporters make a real impact, and even save a little on their taxes while they do it!

The truth is, many gifts in December are made in the final stretch. In fact, roughly 10% of all charitable giving for the entire year happens in the last three days. And although those donors definitely want to help your cause, they are likely making those gifts to lock in tax benefits for the year.  

That means every message you send, every story you share, and every opportunity you highlight between now and December 31 can make a difference. 

So while there’s not much time left on the clock, there is time to be strategic. Here are three smart giving moves your donors can still make before the end of the year, and how your nonprofit can help them do it. 

Many fundraisers think of cash when it comes to donations, but there's another valuable asset many overlook: gifts of stock. 

And no, we’re not talking about livestock! 

For savvy donors and nonprofits alike, stock donations present an incredible opportunity for giving that benefits both parties.

In this article, you will learn how stock donations benefit your nonprofit, the types of donors to focus on for this type of gift, and the tax advantages (and considerations) for both your organization and the donor.

Major gifts are almost always built on trust, timing, and strong relationships. 

But before a donor ever has coffee with you, they usually visit your website. 

And when they’re doing their research, often comparing multiple organizations they care about, they go back to your website again. What they find there can either build confidence… or quietly raise red flags. 

If you want to attract transformational gifts, your website needs to work with you, not against you. In this article, we'll explore 6 ways your website might be hurting your major giving program, and how to fix them.

Major donors often provide the largest gifts to your organization, making them a vital part of your long-term fundraising strategy (especially if you're working toward building or growing an endowment).

While economic conditions may shift, your mission and your community’s support remain steady. According to Fortune, some giving may slow during a recession, but people still give to the causes they care about. Susan Hirschman, Director of Wealth Management for Schwab Wealth Advisory, puts it best: “No matter what the market is, people will always give to charities.”

It’s easy to focus on maintaining relationships with your current major donors—and you should! But if you're thinking about long-term financial sustainability through an endowment, it’s equally important to expand your network of support. There are donors out there who are aligned with your mission and ready to invest in your future—you just need to invite them in.

We’ll help you get started with three of our favorite best practices for identifying, cultivating, and stewarding major donors.

The surrounding community provides nearly limitless opportunities for nonprofits to grow and expand their reach. Community outreach is a key strategy for acquiring donors and developing strong relationships with your organization.  

As your nonprofit explores new ways to improve outreach, it’s important to consider strategic partnerships, which can significantly enhance these efforts, providing additional resources, visibility, and support. In this guide, we’ll explore how to build and strengthen community partnerships to advance your fundraising goals.

Donor stewardship goes beyond securing a one-time gift; it’s about building donor relationships, deepening their loyalty, and encouraging recurring support. Strong donor relationships mean your nonprofit has a steady base of support, making it easier to grow and withstand market fluctuations that can interrupt strategic plans.  

A Donor Stewardship Matrix is an effective tool for prioritizing and personalizing engagement with donors, ensuring that your organization builds meaningful relationships and maximizes donor retention. It categorizes donors based on two key dimensions: 

1. Level of Giving (e.g., major gifts, mid-level gifts, recurring gifts, one-time gifts)
2. Engagement Level (e.g., active involvement, event participation, responsiveness to communications).

Each donor falls into a quadrant or segment, allowing you to tailor strategies based on their behavior and contributions. This guide explores how your nonprofit can create a donor stewardship matrix in five steps and how it can help you attract more gifts. 

Storytelling is a powerful tool for any nonprofit's communication strategy. The stories we tell resonate, build connections, and inspire action. 

Beyond telling stories about your cause or beneficiaries, there's a goldmine of potential in sharing the stories of your donors. These narratives not only showcase the impact of their contributions but also inspire others to get involved as donors.

In this blog post, we'll explore how you can effectively capture and use donor stories to enhance your nonprofit’s marketing and communication efforts. Consider this your quick guide to making the most of the stories your donors have to tell.

Once your nonprofit receives a major gift, it’s your job to maintain that relationship by showing appreciation and communicating the donor’s impact. You might steward major donors by sending program updates, inviting them to VIP events, and publicly recognizing their support. All of these efforts are effective, but you can make them even more impactful by incorporating storytelling. 

Telling stories is vital to successful nonprofit communications, even in the stewardship phase. Use these strategies to fine-tune your approach and improve major donor relationships through the power of storytelling.

Your nonprofit likely tells plenty of impact stories — on your website, in conversations with major donors, through program impact reports, and during your donor acquisition and volunteer recruitment efforts. Demonstrating your organization’s impact through storytelling is a powerful way to engage your stakeholders and prove the value of your work.

But for your stories to inspire real action from your audience, they must be grounded in data. In this article, we’ll explore a few steps you can take to infuse data into your stories, helping you earn more support for your cause, steward donors, and improve relationships with funders.

Attending the Nonprofit Innovation and Optimization (NIO) Summit last month was an unforgettable experience! 

The energy was electric, and the opportunity to connect with other nonprofit leaders was invaluable. The summit spared no detail with an incredible Indiana Jones-themed production titled "Generosity Jones and the Holy Grail of Fundraising"—a fun and memorable touch.

And very fitting - don’t you feel like fundraising is always an adventure of its own?

While the summit was packed with insights, one message stood out: optimizing the donor journey is critical, especially as we approach year-end fundraising. Read on to discover a breakdown of some of the things we learned and simple steps you can take to maximize your year-end success.