Laurel McCombs is a Senior Philanthropy Advisor at The Osborne Group.

The relationship between communications and development is critical all year round, but particularly in the last few months of the year.  Consider this:

• About one-third of all giving is made in the last three months of the year
• Almost one-quarter of giving is made between Thanksgiving and Christmas

With that much activity occurring in a short period of time, your efforts must be coordinated and efficient.  And, that requires a team effort.  So, what’s our game plan?

1. Determine your goals:  this might be dictated by your annual plan or a specific set of objectives that you create for the end of year, either way they should be integrated into your overall development and communications plans.  Determine where your goals intersect or where you can find efficiencies in working together.
2. Plan your strategies:  because there are so many opportunities this time of year, it can be tempting to try and do everything.  RESIST!  Select a few tactics aimed towards targeted audiences and knock them out of the park.
3. Implement and measure progress:  select a few key metrics to help you determine if your strategies are effective.  This goes beyond just dollars raised – what metrics can you measure to determine if your strategies are engaging new potential supporters or deepening engagement with existing ones?  What other objectives do you have for your donors?
4. Celebrate success:  make sure everyone understands their impact on your results and celebrate roles equally.  Remember that dollars in the door is often the most tangible way that development staff sees the fruits of their labor, make sure the communications team shares in those wins, but also make sure that development understands the long-term significance of things like open rates and shares.

Hopefully many of your end-of-year strategies are already under way, but as you head into the home stretch, here are few things to think about to make your collaborative efforts between development and communications as effective as possible:

• The message matters:  while your case for support should drive all your donor communications, the end of year can provide an opportunity for a nuanced approach to your regular message.  End of year can be a great time to punch up urgency, however, be careful of crossing the line into emergency.  We must make donors understand why their gifts are needed now, but in a way that demonstrates our strengths, not by creating a picture of desperation.
• The message matters, part 2:  in addition to creating urgency, you also have an opportunity to stand out from the crowd.  Let’s be realistic, you’re not the only organization reaching out to donors right now, but you do have a chance to be different.  First, make sure that you’re communicating beyond solicitations.  While there is a lot of money to be raised right now, you’ll be more successful if you’re mixing in a healthy dose of stewardship.  And, in those stewardship communications, avoid the generic “season’s greetings” and “happy holidays” messages that most people send this time of year.  Wow your audiences with authentic stories of the ways their gifts are making a difference.  Don’t just say thank you, show your donors why they are the heroes making real change that is affecting lives across your state.
• Communications can and should be two-way:  our ultimate goal is engagement and engagement means moving beyond one-way communication.  Regardless of the medium – newsletters, social media, email, etc. – with a little creativity we can find ways to engage donors.  Brainstorm ways to incorporate response devices or calls to action into your communications strategies.
• What about Giving Tuesday?  In a relatively short period of time, Giving Tuesday has become a massive annual event and a staple of most year-end plans.  But remember, this is not a case of “if you build it, they will come.”  Simply posting a few messages on social media with a link to your donation page will not result in gifts flooding in.  If you want to see big results from Giving Tuesday, then you must develop a multi-faceted, multi-channel plan.  Yes, like anything else, it takes work to get results.  The good news… If you do it right, Giving Tuesday can not only be a way to engage new supporters, but can provide an opportunity for engaging existing supporters as well.  Not ready to put the work in to Giving Tuesday?  That’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with taking a more passive approach if you don’t see it as a high priority for you right now, just make sure you have right-sized expectations for the results you’ll get from that approach.

Whether you’re focusing on major gifts or direct mail, social media or events, the end of the year provides some incredible opportunities to engage existing donors and bring new supporters to the table.  By collaborating effectively, communications and development can ensure that they both meet their goals and will set the tone to continue that collaborative spirit into the new year!