Start 2024 on a strong note with our Kick-Start Your 2024 Nonprofit Workshop Series. Our four-part series comprised of 30-minute sessions offers actionable strategies aimed at elevating your organization to unprecedented success in 2024.
But before diving into 2024, it is important to successfully wrap up and reflect on 2023. This involves completing essential tasks such as Year-End Reporting, Giving Statements, and Tax Receipts. This process can often be labor-intensive or manual, especially for those utilizing many disparate nonprofit technologies, or those lacking nonprofit technology altogether and relying on spreadsheets.
In our series’ first workshop, Giveffect Senior Client Success Account Manager Lorenzo Sibilia delivers practical guidance on utilizing nonprofit technology for key year-end tasks. His expertise in sharing practical best practices and insights will help you reflect on the past year’s achievements and establish streamlined, efficient processes for successfully attaining your goals in 2024.
Workshop Highlights: Year-End Reporting Strategies
Giving Statement Reporting: Funding Channels
1. Recurring Gift Revenue
Reporting on recurring gifts is essential as it provides insights into sustained donor engagement and the predictability of revenue streams. By utilizing advanced filters in your nonprofit technology reporting tool, organizations can isolate and analyze recurring gifts. This offers a detailed perspective on the growth and retention of committed supporters. Additionally, this nuanced exploration of recurring gifts not only enhances financial transparency but also showcases the loyalty of donors. Providing this level of detail is vital for presenting a colorful picture that resonates with board members, empowering them to make informed decisions for the organization’s future.
2. Peer-to-peer Fundraising
Beyond the individual impact, if your organization leveraged peer-to-peer campaigns in the last year, showcasing the collective power of these initiatives is invaluable to share in your year-end reporting. Tools like Giveffect’s ‘participants summary report,’ help organizations gain valuable insights into the dynamics of their supporter network. This information becomes instrumental in shaping strategic decisions. The collective strength fostered by peer-to-peer fundraising contributes significantly to a more comprehensive and impactful year-end reporting process.
3. Major Donor Cultivation and Conversion
Major donor cultivation and stewardship play a critical role in the context of year-end reporting and planning. Tracking interactions and engagement at each stage of this process serves as a compass for strategic decision-making. Defining what constitutes a major donation is a team-specific endeavor, allowing organizations to tailor their approach. With platforms like Giveffect’s Major Gifts tracking as part of the CRM, the identification and tracking of potential and actual major donors become seamless, offering a comprehensive view over time. This approach provides a valuable lens for assessing the number of donors at various stewardship stages, serving as a strategic tool for year-end reporting and shaping organizational goals based on an intimate understanding of donor relationships and potential.
Customizing Reports & Generating Giving Statements
When it comes to customizing reports and generating giving statements, start by determining what giving information your team would like to convey to your donors. And then, get to crafting.
If available in your nonprofit software, use replacement variables, also known as ‘merge fields,’ to make this process incredibly personalized with donation amounts and even volunteer/engagement history, in an automated way. Next, determine your policy on which documents you’d like to generate and send, and to whom. Once you’re ready, get to generating! For example, Giveffect’s built-in statement tool simplifies the process by generating an annual statement template and tax receipt with a wide range of replacement variables to choose from for each donor or household.
Crafting Personalized Thank You Messages with AI
To accompany your giving statement, craft a message of gratitude for your donors. It’s important to let them know how much their support and contributions mean to your organization. Consider updating them on how you’ve allocated their contributions and share any results. For this message, try getting creative with images, videos, and graphics. Don’t forget about those replacement variables to ensure that content is aligned with donor giving history, capacity, interests, and preferences. Consider using a Generative AI tool, one of the fastest emerging tools in our sector today, to assist with crafting your personalized messages.
Final Thoughts:
From strategic approaches to year-end reporting and tracking major donor cultivation to personalized giving statements, these practical practices lay the foundation for informed decision-making, impactful communication, and overall success in the year ahead. As we implement these key strategies, we are poised to propel our nonprofits toward growth, engagement, and achievement in 2024 and beyond.
Ready for more key insights for a successful 2024? Join us in our next webinar below:
Nonprofit Workshop 2: Diversify Your 2024 Nonprofit Fundraising Strategy
January 31, 2024, at 1 pm ET
To learn more about how to leverage Giveffect’s tools in 2024, schedule your personalized demo today!
