As the temperatures heat up and the summer months begin, have you noticed that giving is cooling off? Don’t panic! It’s completely normal. There’s even a term for it: the summer slump.
Seasonality is a big part of fundraising. Check your historical fundraising data. We’ll bet you’ll notice a recurring pattern of highs and lows that occur around the same time every year.
For many nonprofits, the year’s most noticeable fundraising lows happen during July and August–hence the name summer slump.
So what can you do when giving slows down? We’ve got a few tips up our sleeves!
How to Navigate the Nonprofit Summer Slump
Navigating the summer slump may look a bit different depending on your team and your nonprofit. The only wrong thing to do? Panic and completely stop!
Whether it’s taking an intentional step back, planning ahead, or pushing through, you have three choices that will help you conquer any fundraising slowdowns you face.
Tip from the Playbook: Before planning for a summer slump, make sure to review your nonprofit’s calendar. Your annual giving slowdown may happen at a different time of year! You can still use these tips, but adjust them for the time of year that is most beneficial to your organization.
Giving Slump Option 1: Take a Step Back
Is your nonprofit in a good place with fundraising this year? Don’t have any big summer plans for the organization? Use the summer fundraising slump as an opportunity to give your team (and yourself) a bit of a breather.
Nonprofit burnout is a very real thing, and leaning into a slower time with intentionality can help you avoid it.
Think of a few things that usually get pushed to the side throughout your busy times. Use this slowdown to take them on.
Here are a few ideas:
- Clean up your data – Having healthy data can make or break your fundraising and marketing campaigns, but keeping up with it can be a challenge when it’s crunch time. Whether it’s catching up on reporting from your communications channels or reviewing your donor database for errors or inconsistencies, clean everything up now so that you’re ready to use this data for outreach, analysis, or decision-making later. Split this task up among team members or trusted volunteers if you can!
- Review your giving methods – Take some time to review each of the ways a donor can give to your organization, whether through an online giving platform, at a donation kiosk, over the phone, via text-to-donate, etc., etc. Is everything user-friendly? What can be improved? Now’s the time to fix anything that needs it, especially as you gear up for your next big fundraising season.
- Learn something – No matter how long you’ve been in the field, there’s always something you can learn! Sign up for a course, attend a webinar or conference, purchase (and actually read) a book, listen to a podcast, or join a networking group. You’ll expand your knowledge and maybe get a few ideas for your upcoming campaigns.
- Say thank you – Donor cultivation doesn’t stop just because you aren’t actively fundraising. Use this time to build better relationships with your donors. Send handwritten thank-you notes, update your standard acknowledgement letter, and make a few phone calls to donors. Simply express your gratitude and share the impact their generosity has had on your organization – no asks allowed!
Fundraising Slowdown Option 2: Plan Ahead
Not comfortable with taking a complete break from the action? If you’re worried about losing focus on hitting your fundraising goals, but still want to give donors a bit of a break, take this as an opportunity to get ahead!
Get into planning mode with these tips:
- Prep for your next big thing – Do you have a large event in your nonprofit’s future? What about your year-end campaign? It’s never too early to start planning for these big fundraising opportunities. Use any extra time to really think through your themes, goals, budgets, and more. Start reaching out to beneficiaries to capture stories, get a jump on reserving dates or venues, or put your sponsorship packages and fundraising activities together. Trust us, future you will be thankful!
- Do some donor prospecting – Research is your friend, especially when time is on your side! Review internal and external data to find patterns in demographics and behavior, enabling you to see where and how you might be able to secure new donors. Conduct wealth screening of potential donors as well as current donors to determine if any are poised to become major donors as well.
- Reach out to current (or potential) major donors – After your initial thank-you calls (as we talked about in Option 1 above) and donor research, consider using your summer slump as a time to start reaching out to major donors and prospects about upcoming gifts. If you’d like to use a matching gift challenge and/or peer-to-peer fundraising as part of your next campaign, now is the time to start securing matching donors or your initial peer fundraisers.
- Bring on a new team member or consultant – Thinking about bringing someone else into the fold of your organization? Now is a great time to do so! You’ll have more time to conduct interviews with potential employees, consultants, or agencies. And you’ll have more breathing room to onboard them before the next wave of fundraising or events hits.
MVP Advisors is ready to fill any gaps at your nonprofit! Whether you’re looking for campaign development, donor prospecting, content creation, or strategic planning, our team of consultants has the experience and skills to help.
Summer Slump Option 3: Push Through
In some cases, you may need to push through a giving slump. This could happen if your nonprofit faces an emergency or crisis situation, or if you’re getting close to the end of your fiscal year but not close to hitting your fundraising goals.
First of all, take a breath! You’ve got this!
Then, get ready to turn your fundraising slump into a fundraising triumph with these ideas:
- Launch an urgent fundraising push – Find yourself coming up short on your goals for your fiscal year? Or perhaps an emergency or crisis has occurred for your beneficiaries? Put together an urgent fundraising campaign that shares why you need funds now and the immediate impact donors can have on your mission. Consider using crowdfunding to spread the word and raise money even faster.
- Call on your LYBUNTs and SYBUNTs – Keep track of your LYBUNT (Last Year But Unfortunately Not This) and SYBUNT (Some Year But Unfortunately Not This) donors and give them a call. Let them know the impact their gifts have had in the past and ask if they’ll make another contribution to help meet the current (and urgent) need.
- Plan a summer-themed fundraising campaign or event – If you aren’t feeling pressured but would still like to avoid a giving slowdown, consider planning a summer-themed fundraising campaign or event. This is a great route for nonprofits that offer programming or services in the summer – such as a camp, homeless shelter, or food pantry – and thus will put funds raised to work right away. Check out this list of 14 summer fundraising ideas for inspiration.
The good news about fundraising during the summer slump? You’re more likely to be heard! Your nonprofit won’t be competing against as many organizations as you typically would during peak fundraising times like spring event season or the giving season in November and December.
Tip from the Playbook: This isn’t an all-or-nothing approach! You can pick two (or even all three) of these options to implement throughout your nonprofit summer slump. One of our favorite combinations? Taking a break for a few weeks before jumping into planning mode!
Conquering Your Fundraising Slowdown
The nonprofit summer slump may get a bad rap, but you can use it to your advantage! Remember, you have three options (and you can pick more than one):
- Lean into the fundraising slowdown and use this time to reflect and recharge.
- Start planning for your next fundraising campaign or event.
- Push through with urgent or seasonal fundraising tactics.
Whatever you do, don’t panic. Seasonal giving slowdowns don’t last forever!
And if you need some help, whether it’s with planning ahead or a last-minute campaign, reach out to the team at MVP Advisors. Our consultants have been in your shoes and are ready to assist as you take on your seasonal slump with confidence!