November 2025: What I Want as a Donor
Greetings, fellow earthling -
November has been a month of highs and lows, especially through the lens of human rights and social services. Depending on your cause area, you might be scrambling to respond to any number of unhelpful political decisions right now…
If current events are driving up demand for your work or forcing you to deliver programs differently, tell your supporters about it! Update your year-end messaging to make it as timely and specific as possible.
In addition to a clear and current case for support, here are 5 things I hope to receive as a donor this holiday season:
1. Personal reflections and gratitude in November
Send a plain-text, personal email this month that helps me get to know you better and understand the role my donations play. Send it sooner rather than later (before Thanksgiving inbox chaos begins).
When I look back through last November’s nonprofit emails, almost all of them — even the “thank-yous” — had an ask. Surprise me by not asking, and by sharing something personal about yourself. Ask for a reply, not a gift.
Here's one I encouraged Ella at Community Mindfulness Project to re-send this year because I was still thinking about the subject line “Mental Mac-and-Cheese” a full year later.
2. Reference my giving history to make a tailored ask
Most of you can use merge tags for way more than just “Hi, First Name/Friend!"
If you send emails right from your CRM or these platforms can be integrated, you can pull almost any donor field into an email body or subject line — like:
Number of gifts a donor has made
Lifetime donation total
Amount given so far this year
Last year’s gift amount
Example of how you might weave this into an email:
“Your <$185> last year helped us provide XYZ. Will you blow us away with your generosity and help us meet increased need by donating $25 more this year?”
Or for monthly donors:
“You’ve given <$20>/month for the last <18> months. We see your name on our donor list every month, we rely on your support, and we’re so grateful. Heading into 2026, I’m wondering if you can increase your gift slightly to help us keep up with inflation and rising needs?”
Numbers are eye-catching, acknowledging my giving history makes me feel seen and recognized, and this can be totally automated. A little nerd work up front pays off big time. Tools like Fundraise Up even provide one-click upgrade links to ensure a seamless experience for monthly donors.
3. Give a personal shout-out after donating (public and private)
Most of you don’t get thousands of gifts at year-end — you get tens or hundreds. So every few days in December, post a video on social media thanking donors by first name (or first name + last initial). For extra credit, tag them if you can.
When I ran a peer-to-peer fundraiser for the Endometriosis Foundation, I used Instagram Stories to shout out each donor, and this social proof definitely encouraged more people to chip in.
Privately, a short thank-you video also goes a long way. If you have time, send a 15-second personal video by email or text. If not, record one heartfelt video and automate it to go out an hour or two after each donation.
Example:
“Hey! I just saw your donation come through. Thank you so much! I hope you’re having a lovely holiday season. Thanks again for pouring your generosity into <describe the mission>!"
Video is best, but you can achieve a similar effect with an automated voicemail using a tool like Slybroadcast or VoiceDrop. Just make sure your recording sounds like a genuine reaction, not a canned message.
4. Nudge me to share my giving
We millennials love a good humble-brag. 😈 So, give me a reason to share that I donated!
Send me a post graphic or a prompt to record a short video. Tell me it helps you raise more money when I spread the word. I’ll do it — but only if you ask (and almost no one ever does!).
5. Cut the appeals after I donate
If your donation and email platforms are the same or integrated (Zapier can help), set up an automation to tag year-end donors and exclude them from appeals for the rest of the year.
Extra credit: Create a separate version of those emails that swaps the ask for thanks and send it to that campaign donor segment.
At the very least, even if it’s manual, please remove me from appeal emails after I give. It seems obvious, but it’s surprisingly rare.
Want to have your year-end campaign fully baked by this time next year?
We’ve received nothing but positive feedback from this year’s Done by December cohort. ☺️
Michelle and I loved running this group, and we’re committed to doing it again next year. Kudos to the 2025 participants; we can't wait to cheer on your campaigns!
And you may remember a poll I sent out a couple of weeks ago…
I asked what's collecting the most dust on your to-do list, and 22 of you weighed in. Developing a monthly donor acquisition plan was the frontrunner, and I received email replies expressing interest in all of the projects, so I bring you…
Let me know if you have any questions about this new way to work together! I look forward to helping a handful of you improve your donor journeys next year.
If you put any of my year-end tips into practice, please share! I’d love to give you a shout-out (and your campaign some shine).
Good luck out there,
-Caroline
P.S. In case you missed my latest LinkedIn posts, here's a snail mail appeal I really like, and here's why you might want to focus Giving Tuesday on monthly donor recruitment!
