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What is an End-of-Year Ask?
It is a special ask for ministry partners giving them an opportunity to engage at the end of the calendar year. It’s important to give you entire groups of loving followers at least one opportunity a year to increase their involvement in your ministry. Many studies indicate that interested friends and donors would like two opportunities a year to increase their involvement.
Why is this EOY Ask important?
Statistics indicate:
- 31% of all charitable giving happens at year end.
- 12% of all giving happens in the last three days of the year.
This is a season when everyone you know is making some financial choices for this year and next. Two streams of thought are happening. They are deciding on their giving priorities for the next year. They are also receiving end-of-year bonuses and choosing how to be generous with their windfall earnings.
How should I be thinking about EOY requests?
The end of year ask is not just about asking. Typically, it is a season when you are intentionally deepen relationships with your team of supporters, by increasing personalized interaction and offering a new opportunity for involvement. Even if you don't feel you have space to warm those relationships with your team, you can at least give your friends and donors a chance to engage more.
Friends and donors are interested in special needs and high impact causes a the end of year. (Think Christmas List) This ask could be toward a tangible and current need (rising health insurance costs, increase in monthly rent, needing a vehicle, baby on the way, etc) or it could be a call to the action of generosity (allows you to build in times of strength to help in the lean times). Generally, the EOY Ask focuses on special need gifts, rather than monthly support or gifts in kind. It is an important part of your overall MTD plan.
What is in these Solomon Pages?
In the following pages we will provide "the plan", along with tips, resources, ideas to help you make this End-of-Year fruitful.
We'll start with Sample Timeline (link)
Four Key Elements in End-of-Year Ask
Review and Segment the Donor List
Renew Relational Connection
Ask
Personal Reminder
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Hey, find others who you can work on this with or even hold you accountable to doing this. It is often easier to do things in community with others who are also doing the same thing you are. Post on Reliant’s private Facebook pg. if you want some accountability or to find some others also engaging in the End of Year Ask.
Overwhelmed? Starting Late? Feeling behind?
In addition to the classic approach to EOY Asks, we will include "minimum viable" tips, for those who get a late start.
Initial Goal Fund-raiser?
If you are still raising your initial support, your key strategy is to keep doing what you were trained to do at NST. Discuss with your MTD Coach any hopes you have for end of year giving.
Sample Time - lines
September/October
- Start planning/writing your year end communications.
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If this timeline doesn't work out for you, that's ok! It's more important that you engage in this process and do it even if it's not done to the timeline above.
Fixed Term Webinar
Watch or listen to this webinar that was done for our fixed term missionaries about the End of Year Ask. If you are a missionary raising ongoing support you will need to contextualize this since it is primarily focused on those raising for a goal with a fixed amount.
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