5 Best Holiday Giving Campaigns to Inspire Your Nonprofit

Over 30% of annual donations in the U.S. are made during the holiday season. Nonprofits can make or break their annual fundraising goals during this key season of the year! Let’s take a look at some characteristics of successful giving campaigns, and at some highly-effective nonprofit holiday campaigns to inspire your org to reach its goals this year.

The Power of Holiday Giving Campaigns

Holiday giving campaigns can help you close out the year strong with increased donations and new supporters.

Why the holiday season is critical for nonprofits

While the overall numbers of nonprofit donations and donors have fluctuated over recent years, the time from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day remains the busiest giving season in the United States. Many nonprofits count on this end-of-year surge in donations to keep their organizations’ missions alive.

People often associate the holidays with feelings of gratitude, connection, and community. As people gather with family and friends to celebrate, feelings of generosity are evoked. For many Americans, the holidays are the main time of year to donate to charities and nonprofits.

To successfully court donors during this key time of year, nonprofits need to tell the story of their organization in ways that evoke the holiday giving spirit. We hope the creative examples below inspire your organization’s holiday campaign this year.

Characteristics of a Successful Holiday Giving Campaign

While the message and the medium can vary wildly based on each nonprofit’s mission and brand identity, as well as shifts in marketing trends, all top-performing holiday campaigns have key elements in common:

• A clear mission and purpose
• Engaging storytelling that connects with donors on an emotional level
• A simple, convenient, and mobile-friendly donation process
• Strategic and coordinated use of various marketing channels (including email, social media, and direct mail, when appropriate)
• Urgency tied to the holiday season
• A strong call to action

5 Winning Nonprofit Holiday Campaigns to Inspire You

Let’s take a look at some super inspiring — and super effective — holiday campaigns to get your creative juices flowing.

Compassion International: Giving through Gift Catalogs

Compassion International’s Gift Catalog Holiday Campaign is a popular fundraising initiative that allows donors to make a tangible difference in the lives of children around the world. By purchasing gifts from the catalog, individuals can sponsor a child’s education, provide food, healthcare, and more.

The catalog offers a wide range of gifts, each tied to a specific need or project, such as goats, cows, wells, educational projects, and much more. By choosing a tangible need or project to fund, donors feel personally connected to the impact of their giving.

Donors can see the direct results of their generosity through stories, photos, and updates. This creates a sense of fulfillment and encourages continued support. The campaign often features heartwarming stories of children who have been positively impacted by Compassion International’s programs. This emotional appeal resonates with donors and motivates them to give.

The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign: A Tradition of Giving

The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign is a beloved holiday tradition that has been a staple of many communities for decades. This iconic fundraising initiative involves volunteers standing outside of stores, ringing bells, and encouraging passersby to donate to the red kettles placed near the entrances.

The Red Kettle Campaign has been a part of holiday celebrations for so long that it has become a cherished tradition. Many people associate the red kettles with the spirit of giving and the holiday season.

The campaign’s visibility is unparalleled. The red kettles are placed in high-traffic areas, and the ringing bells draw attention to the fundraising effort. This accessibility makes it easy for people to donate, and reinforces trust and engagement.

The Red Kettle Campaign’s combination of tradition, visibility, personal interaction, community involvement, and impactful results has made it a highly effective fundraising initiative that continues to resonate with people in communities throughout the U.S.

Movember: Combining Holiday and Year-End Giving

Movember is a global charity event that takes place every November. The campaign encourages men to grow mustaches throughout the month to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health.

Since growing mustaches “for a cause” is distinctive and memorable, Movember stands out from other fundraising initiatives. The campaign also fosters a sense of community and camaraderie among participants.

Movember’s combination of a unique concept, community building, personal connection, fun activities, and impactful results has made it a highly successful and effective fundraising campaign.

Charity: Water’s Year-End Campaign: Clean Water for the Holidays

Charity: Water’s Year-End Campaign: Clean Water for the Holidays uses powerful storytelling, clear visuals, and effective impact reporting to drive donations.

By highlighting the challenges faced by communities without access to clean water, Charity: Water creates a strong emotional connection. Donors can see how their contributions will directly impact the lives of people in need.

World Wildlife Fund: Adopt an Animal for the Holidays

World Wildlife Fund: Adopt an Animal for the Holidays offers individuals the opportunity to symbolically adopt a wild animal. While the animals are not physically adopted, the campaign provides a unique and meaningful way to support WWF’s conservation efforts.

Adopting an animal allows donors to feel a personal connection to a specific species and its habitat. The campaign also provides donors with information about the adopted species, its habitat, and the threats it faces. This helps to raise awareness and educate people about the importance of wildlife conservation throughout the year.

Key Lessons From These Campaigns

These campaigns have some common themes and strategies that all organizations can learn from.

• Strong storytelling and emotional connection
• A friction-free donation process
• Using urgency (by connecting to the holiday season) to increase donations
• Leveraging social proof

How Your Nonprofit Can Craft a Holiday Campaign

Now that you’ve seen some impactful holiday campaigns in action, let’s look at the key steps for getting the most out of your nonprofit’s marketing budget this year. Here are some key steps for crafting a successful holiday campaign:

• Set clear goals and metrics for success
• Identify the best channels to reach your audience (social, email, and/or direct mail)
• Craft a compelling story that resonates with holiday themes
• Plan ahead for Giving Tuesday as a kick-off date
• Use powerful visuals, videos, and/or testimonials

Let’s dive into some more ways to make your campaign a success.

Keep Your Messaging Simple

Keep your campaign focused on a single big idea, and always use direct, simple, and jargon-free language. Your call-to-action should be especially clear, so donors know exactly what to do to help your organization succeed.

Here’s an example of a call to action that could be simplified:

“Our organization is dedicated to providing essential services to underserved communities. We believe that everyone deserves access to quality healthcare, education, and housing. Please consider making a donation to support our mission.”

Now, take a look at this simplified version:

“Help us give hope this holiday season. Your donation will provide essential services to families in need. Donate now.”

Hopefully you can see how a simple, concise message has more impact and power.

Create Urgency with a Matching Gift

Sometimes urgent situations — such as humanitarian crises — create an urgent need for donations. Nonprofits that are built to respond to these situations know that an urgent call for needed help is often effective.

During holiday campaigns, urgency of a different kind can be created with matching gifts. With matching gifts offered during a limited time, each donor’s generosity is amplified. This is an opportunity to engage with both high impact donors who can offer a set matching amount, and with those who will be more likely to give a smaller amount knowing it will be matched. Be sure to do the math for potential donors — let them know how impactful their matched gift will be.

As part of your holiday campaign, encourage donors to check with their employers to find out if matching is available. Many donors are unaware of both matching campaigns and opportunities to have their gifts matched by their employer. Don’t miss your chance to take advantage of extra motivation to give.

Cultivate the Holiday Giving Spirit

During the holidays, people are inspired to give by positive feelings of connection and gratitude. Think about the holiday movies many of us watch every year, and the feelings of community and generosity they evoke. The family reunions in Home Alone, New Yorkers singing carols together on the street in Elf…this is the vibe that people are searching for during the holidays. If you can tap into this feeling, donors will be moved to contribute to your organization.

Emphasize Feel-Good Content

Now is the time to use your most feel-good impact stories. Choose stories  that highlight the meaningful work your organization does throughout the year.

People want to ride the emotional high of the holidays as long as possible —  so emphasize the positive outcomes of your org’s work in your holiday campaign content.

Inspire Some Friendly Competition

Social media challenges have been a big fundraising winner for many orgs over the last several years. Think about the ice bucket challenge! Your org could create a holiday twist with a “Holiday Sweater Challenge” or a “Gingerbread Building Challenge.”

Another approach is to encourage donors to challenge their friends and family to come together to reach a certain amount of donations. Consider how fundraising captains raise money to run a 5k for charity, for instance, and see if you could implement a similar model as part of your holiday campaign.

Another option is to use challenges to help gather user-generated content to share your message. Have participants create holiday-themed content and share it on social media to raise awareness about your cause and fundraising efforts.

Start Planning for a Successful Nonprofit Holiday Campaign with Big Sea

Feeling inspired to get your best-ever holiday campaign off the ground? We’re here to help with everything from ideation to execution, so you can enter the holiday season feeling confident in the potential of your fundraising efforts.

Contact us today to get started.