Year-end fundraising campaigns are a fundraiser’s bread and butter.
Groundbreaking, right?
Ok…not really. But are you ready to fully capitalize on the upcoming giving season? As in, the one happening in 2026?
Things change from year-to-year. Something that worked in 2024 may be ineffective now. While other tried-and-true tactics are still, well, true!
When planning for year-end, look at what was effective for your organization in recent years, review current donor data from within your nonprofit, and take external research into account.
That’s what we’ve done right here in this blog!
So, without further ado, let’s dive into everything you need to know about year-end fundraising campaigns in 2026.
FAQs About 2026 Year-End Fundraising Campaigns
To help you plan and execute an effective campaign during the 2026 giving season, we’ve answered ten frequently asked questions about end-of-year fundraising through the lens of this year’s fundraising landscape.
1. Is End-of-Year Fundraising Really Worth It?
Absolutely!
November and December are two of the biggest giving months of the year. December alone sees approximately 30% of all annual giving!
Donors are typically in a giving mood during the holiday season. Others have simply been conditioned over time to give during these months.
Your supporters are also often trying to make those tax-deductible donations before the end of the year. This is one big thing to consider for your small and mid-level donors in 2026: many are now eligible for a deduction, even if they don’t itemize.
It’s definitely true that you shouldn’t only rely on year-end fundraising campaigns for your organization’s revenue. But ignoring this data could put you at risk for missing crucial donations.
2. When Should I Start Planning for Year-End Fundraising?
It’s never too early to start planning for the giving season!
If you’re looking for a more specific answer, however, we recommend starting in August.
Take a look at last year’s campaign – what worked? What didn’t?
Take the time to set your campaign’s goals, define your team’s responsibilities, and start thinking about topics like which beneficiary stories to feature, your theme and messaging, and more.
You don’t have to have everything figured out four months in advance, but starting the planning process early will help you stress a lot less when November rolls around.
MVP Playbook Resource: We have a free Year-End Fundraising Timeline available to download! This resource outlines our recommended approach to planning, implementing, and wrapping up end-of-year campaigns over the course of six months.
3. Should We Still Participate in Giving Tuesday in 2026?
Every year, we hear this question. In 2026, our answer is, “For sure! But…”
Giving Tuesday keeps bringing in record-breaking giving numbers…an estimated $4.0 BILLION was raised in 2025 alone. And several donors specifically look for nonprofits to support on this day.
On the flip side, it can be really hard to break through the clutter on a global giving day as big as this one.
So, our advice is to participate, but not rely on it.
Join the conversation with a few social media posts and an email or two, but don’t overwork yourself for a single day.
We talk more about this topic – and share several Giving Tuesday dos and don’ts – in this blog.
4. Who Should We Target with Our Giving Season Campaign?
While it might be tempting to cast a broad net and hope for the best, defining target audiences will result in more donations for your year-end fundraising campaign.
It would certainly be great if everyone in the world wanted to donate to your nonprofit. But the reality is that everyone has different priorities when it comes to giving.
Targeting those who you know are more likely to make a gift in the first place may take more time up front, but it will save you effort and resources in the long run. Not to mention an improved return on investment!
Even better? Segmenting your target audience and adjusting your tactics and messaging to appeal to each one.
A segmentation strategy for year-end fundraising campaigns may look like this:
- Target Audience 1: Current Donors
- Segment 1: Major Donors
- Segment 2: Recurring Donors
- Segment 3: Mid-Level Donors
- Target Audience 2: Lapsed Donors
- Segment 1: LYBUNTs (Last Year But Unfortunately Not This)
- Segment 2: SYBUNTs (Some Year But Unfortunately Not This)
- Target Audience 3: Potential Donors
- Segment 1: Non-Donor Volunteers
- Segment 2: List Purchase (of Contacts with Similar Attributes to Current Donors)
In the next answer, we discuss how to resonate with these segments.
5. How Do I Resonate with Donors During Year-End Fundraising?
If you’ve read the FAQ and response above about who to target with year-end fundraising campaigns, you’re already part of the way there!
To resonate with your target audiences and segments, customize your messaging depending on the intended recipient. While you want your nonprofit’s voice and the campaign’s overall theme and message to shine through, making changes to your storytelling and call to action can go a long way.
For example, sharing too much introductory information about your organization or failing to recognize previous support could result in a missed gift from a major donor. But asking a non-donor for a large gift – especially without first sharing the real impact of your organization – will likely be a miss as well.
And that’s another way to resonate with your donors: impact. Today’s donors want to know how their support is making a difference. Telling real stories and sharing transparent data that showcase this impact builds trust and encourages them to give.
Finally, use donor-centric language! In 2026, most of your donors don’t care about helping your nonprofit meet your goals – they care about supporting people, animals, places, or causes. Using “you” as often as possible puts them at the center of the story, and shows them how those you serve truly need their donation this year-end.
MVP Playbook Resource: Does it feel like we’re throwing a lot at you? Our free Fundraising Campaign Checklist outlines 12 must-dos to keep you on track as you plan your next campaign.
6. What Communications Channels are the Best During the Giving Season?
This might feel like cheating a bit. But the outreach channels that are best for your nonprofit are the ones that fit your audiences. You have to thoroughly understand your donors and their preferred communication methods in order to answer this question for yourself.
We do, however, always recommend a multi-channel (or “omnichannel”) approach to fundraising and communications campaigns!
That means utilizing a mix of several communications channels, like direct mail, email, social media, and paid ads, to reach your intended audience.
Doing so helps you reach more potential donors, especially if your audience segments are best reached in different ways. It also reinforces your messaging to those who see your outreach more than once.
After all, it can take at least seven touchpoints before a donor takes action and makes a gift!
MVP Playbook Resource: Our Target Personas Worksheet guides you through the process of creating target personas, which can help you choose the best messaging, communication channels, and more for the audience(s) you’d like to reach.
7. Should We Include a Direct Mail Appeal Letter in Our Campaign?
Ok…hear us out. For many years, we would’ve automatically given you an emphatic “YES!” when asked about sending fundraising appeal letters.
But we do have a caveat this year: like with all communications channels, it depends on your audience.
We encourage you to first ask yourself a few things:
- Have my donors responded well to direct mail in the past?
- Or is my target audience typically among those who tend to respond well?
- Do I have an existing list with current mailing addresses? Or do I have the budget to purchase one?
- Do I want to directly target new potential donors with a mailing list?
- Do I also have the budget for printing, collating, and postage?
Notice we didn’t ask you about the age of your donors! Many studies are actually showing that Millennial and Gen Z donors are responding well to direct mail fundraising.
The difference? Unlike older generations, they’re more likely to read your appeal letter, then go online to make their gift.
So, if you answered any of the above questions with a “Yes”, we encourage you to include direct mail in your year-end fundraising campaign.
Where you might make changes is how donors can reply with a gift. Include a QR code to your donation form along with your remittance piece to capture those more interested in online giving. Consider saving a bit by sending either a postcard or a letter without the remittance to those who have historically only donated online.
And speaking of online giving…
8. Are Online Giving Forms a Must for Year-End Fundraising Campaigns?
To be candid, online giving forms are a requirement year-round – not just during the giving season.
Because the majority of your donors are now giving online!
You don’t have to create a new fundraising page for your campaign, unless you want to use a campaign-specific goal thermometer or find it easier to track the success of your campaign this year. We do encourage you to update your current donation page to reflect campaign imagery, branding, and messaging!
Make sure to also test your nonprofit’s online donation experience prior to the launch of your campaign. Even better, ask friends and family to test your form and share their thoughts!
Your digital fundraising page should succinctly tell your story as well as drive donors to give with an impactful CTA. Include an embedded giving form that is quick, secure, and easy to use – collect only the most important information so you don’t lose donors at checkout.
If it’s difficult to find where to donate or to complete a gift, many would-be donors will leave your site before doing so.
Tip from the Playbook: Instead of making different fundraising pages to track donations to your campaign, create UTM links that you can track in Google Analytics. Use these links in your social media posts, email campaigns, direct mail QR codes, and more to help you assess the effectiveness of different tactics and messages.
9. Do I Have to Spend A Lot of Money to Be Successful this Year-End?
If you have a limited budget, don’t fret!
While building a budget for things like printing, postage, and some paid social media can help you engage more donors, you can still do a lot with a little.
Spending even a little on social media advertising can help your page reach more viewers through highly targeted efforts. And sending a direct mail piece to even a small list of donors can help you stand out.
What are some things we feel are worth investing in?
For one, a solid fundraising platform. Most free platforms aren’t actually free – they usually involve high fees or tips for your donors. But there are several affordable options out there that have tools to help you create a great donation form, segment your donors, and more.
Two, we recommend hiring a nonprofit consultant, even if it’s just for the giving season. Year-end fundraising campaigns can feel overwhelming. Consultants offer fresh perspectives, help you develop effective strategies and messaging, and keep you on track through the end of the year.
But one of the best ways to save a bit on year-end fundraising campaigns is to leverage the connections you already have.
10. How Do I Get My Board, Major Donors, & Other Champions More Involved?
Consider who your nonprofit’s champions are (or could be). They might be your board members, major donors, monthly donors, community partners, dedicated volunteers, or even just people who are already saying great things about your organization.
Then, think about how you could ask them to help spread the word and raise more this year-end. Some ideas for your nonprofit’s champions include:
- Matching Gift Challenge – Ask a few of your reliable major donors if they’d be willing to put forth a matching gift challenge. With this challenge, your donor promises to match every dollar donated, whether up to a set amount or within a certain time frame.
- Peer-to-Peer Fundraising – Turn your donors into advocates for your mission! Ask top supporters to create a peer fundraising page (linked to your campaign’s primary page) featuring their own donation form, a personal story, and an impactful CTA. They then share this page with friends and family, asking them to support a cause near and dear to their hearts.
- Donor Stewardship – Get your board members more involved with donor stewardship! Ask them to write personal notes on a few appeal letters or thank-you cards. You could even recruit a few to help you make phone calls!
- Social Proof – Ask current board members, donors, volunteers, and other champions to share your giving season campaign with others and explain why they choose to support your mission. Let them know that sharing a social media post, forwarding an email, or texting a friend can greatly expand your nonprofit’s reach.
Remember, people tend to give to people over organizations! When your “champions” – aka very real people – share their personal stories and connections with your organization, their friends and family are likely to donate in support of their loved one.
BONUS: How Can I Get Help With My 2026 Giving Season Campaign?
This is our favorite year-end fundraising FAQ! Why? Because WE can help!
MVP Advisors has a team of experienced nonprofit consultants ready to offer a hand in giving season campaign planning and strategy, content development, donor prospect research, and so much more.
In 2026, we’re offering several Giving Season Coaching packages to fit your goals and budget. Each participant gains access to eight group bootcamp sessions, a private LinkedIn group, and 1:1 coaching opportunities. We’ll walk you through creating an effective year-end fundraising campaign, with lots of check-ins, experience-backed advice, and helpful resources designed to empower you to raise more this giving season!
Click here to get started or set up a call to learn more. But hurry! Prices go up on September 1.