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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 your entire groups group 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 yearly 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 makes 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 at the end of the 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 needs gifts , rather than monthly support or gifts in kind. It is an important part of your overall MTD plan.
There is also a spirituality to the end of year ask. You can listen more about that in this podcast from our friends at Support Raising Solutions.
What is in
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these Solomon Pages?
In the following pages, we will provide "the plan," , along with tips, resources, and ideas to help you make this End-of-Year fruitful.
We'll start with a Sample Timeline (link) .
Four Key Elements in End-of-Year Ask
- Renew Relational Connection
- Reminder
Hey, find others who you can work on this with or even hold you accountable for 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 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
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Timelines
September/October
- Start planning/writing your year end communications.
November
- Have your November update arrive before Thanksgiving.
-Put your EOYA in the mail within the 3 days post Thanksgiving
December
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- Be aware of your ministry needs and identify the need for which you will seek extra financial support.
- Review your income, your support goal, and any holes you are experiencing financially.
- Begin praying over your donor list and the End of Year Ask.
- Send regular monthly updates describing how God is working in your location.
November
- Segment your Donor list.
- Create your End of Year Ask letter
- Key times for sending out the Ask letter run from the week before Thanksgiving until the 2nd week of December.
- Give attention to your plans for relational touches.
December
- Plan 1 or 2 times for phone calls after the Ask Letter has been received. If you can only leave a voicemail or text, focus on being relational rather than mentioning the Ask; remind the donor how much you appreciate them.
- Plan a reminder that is visual that will put you on the donor's mind in the second half of the month. Perhaps a family picture, something to hang on the fridge. Again, this is not to be a repeat of the ask. It needs to either encourage or provide a picture.
If this timeline doesn't work out for you, that's ok! It's more important that you to engage in this process and do it even if it's not done to the timeline above.
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Fixed Term Webinar
Watch or listen to this webinar that was done for our fixed-term missionaries field workers about the End of Year Ask. If you are a missionary field worker raising ongoing support, you will need to contextualize this since it is primarily focused focuses on those raising for a goal with a fixed amount.
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