October 2025: Year-End Planning Treats
Happy sp👀ky season!
I LOVE Halloween. My 18-month-old son is too young to be freaked out yet, so we're having a blast checking out neighbors' decorations. He says “Wooooo” for every ghost we see, and “Ah, Ah, Ah” (mimicking The Count) for every bat.
I look forward to sharing photos of our costumes in next month's edition...
September-October has been madness, but worth the push! Year-end campaigns are coming together nicely, and our Done By December cohort wraps up next week. We couldn't have asked for a better group of people—and missions—to work with over the last three months.
😱 But one thing really spooked me about the group:
Many of the participants had never created a donation page for their year-end campaigns before. It turns out, a lot of nonprofits point people to their generic donation pages at the end of the year—without even changing the headline, photo, or suggested donation amounts.
So scary! Such a missed opportunity. And this doesn't need to be a ton of work. It can be as simple as duplicating your regular donation page to create a year-end version with a unique headline, case for support, photo or video, URL, and suggested gift amounts.
By taking this extra step… you'll reduce friction and raise more. Donors will appreciate the more timely messaging and visuals, and continuity with your other year-end content.
And the benefits aren't solely for donors. A year-end donation page also makes your December easier. It's easier to track gifts back to your campaign-specific marketing. It's easier to add a QR code to your direct mail pieces or event materials. And it gives you more flexibility to test adjustments during your campaign without disrupting your main donation page.
Here's my latest article for iDonate with a comprehensive checklist for a high-converting year-end donation page. Hope it helps!
🎃 🍬 More Free Treats: Toolkit
+ AI Prompt for Planning
You've hit the year-end freebie jackpot! The Causevox Giving Tuesday & Year-End Toolkit just launched. It's overflowing with expert tips and templates. One of my tips made it into the Giving Tuesday section, but it applies to all of your content:
"Treat ChatGPT Like Your Year-End Intern
Ask for fundraising copywriting rooted in Philanthropic Psychology, at or below a 6th-grade reading level.
If AI hatches an idea that gives you the jitters, explore it! But if it gives you the ick, trust your gut.
Always ask for sources!"
It's been fun writing ChatGPT prompts for clients over the last couple of months to fully leverage AI for planning and drafting content.
Here's one of the prompts I wrote for Done By December members to use when they first started developing their campaigns:
🤖🤖🤖
"I’m preparing a year-end fundraising campaign for my nonprofit and need help generating a donor persona, campaign focus, goals, and theme/name ideas—all to inform a campaign that stands out from other organizations in our community and cause area. We want this campaign to be both motivational and memorable for our donors. I’m attaching a document with key background info about our organization, donor base, and past campaign performance. Based on that, please help me with the following:
Create a donor persona for our ideal year-end donor—including demographics, motivations, emotions, giving habits, and the best ways to reach and inspire them.
Suggest a core campaign focus that aligns with what we do, what our donors care about, and what’s most compelling this year. Bonus points if the campaign centers around us hosting or sharing activities or content that our donors will really appreciate.
Propose 2–3 SMART campaign goals, including a fundraising goal and donor engagement goal(s) (like # of gifts, new donors, new monthly donors, re-engaged lapsed donors, and/or up-leveled donors), factoring in U.S. predicted economic and fundraising trends for year-end 2025, and keeping in mind that year-end 2024 fell during a presidential election.
Brainstorm 2–3 campaign theme or name ideas that are emotionally resonant, mission-aligned, and adaptable across channels (email, social, donation page, etc.). Ideally, these theme options strike different tones, giving us distinctly different options to choose from.
Please base your recommendations on best practices, relevant benchmarks, and examples of what has worked particularly well in year-end campaigns for organizations of a similar size and mission, while also including fresh ideas to stand out.
Also factor in the broader context of year-end 2025, including the expected U.S. economic conditions and the fact that 2024 was a presidential election year, which may impact donor sentiment and behavior across different issue areas.
Let me know if you need more information from me to generate the best results."
🤖🤖🤖
Notice how I'm giving a lot of context and guidance (like you would with an intern!) for the best output. If you use this prompt, let me know how it goes!
And fellow Halloween lovers, please send me pics of your costumes. Even if we've never talked before, I want to see them!
'Til November,
-Caroline
P.S. Are you making the same mistake I spotted on the back of this van?
P.P.S. Want a detailed demo of Avid, a very cool AI fundraising tool? Reply to this email and I'll set it up! By booking through me, you'll get 5% off if you decide to purchase.
