‘Tis the Season for Festive Fundraising
We work with a lot of adult hospices – and each has quirks to make their fundraising campaigns stand out. But there’s one campaign children’s hospices nail every time (that adult hospices often shy away from) – Christmas. Children’s charities are the second most profitable fundraisers at this time; but, there’s still a place for adult hospices under the mistletoe.
When hospices are done ‘Lighting up Lives’ – the temptation to settle into the holidays can be strong. But ‘tis the season for giving – and it’s been found that more people donate to charity in December than any other month! Don’t worry that you’ve just asked, this is your chance to offer donors a way to interact with their (favourite) local charity – not a time to be skipping your Christmas wish list!
Don’t chicken (or turkey, or ham, or nut roast…) out!
Hospices are the embodiment of community, family and togetherness – so Christmas really is the time to be giving the big national charities a run for their money (quite literally) – you just need the right gift wrapping.
Our approach is to remind donors that, yes, getting boozy and carefree is great – but that won’t be everyone’s experience this year. We all hope for a Christmas filled with that nice warm fuzzy feeling of being surrounded by those we love – and for hospice patients, it’s exactly the same.
Which brings us to what to ask your community for – support to help nurses, volunteers and other staff deliver small but important joys; being able to manage pain relief, so a patient can sit with their family, eating Christmas dinner, even if it’s been pureed and reshaped to look like a roast (yes, we’ve seen that). It’s about keeping traditions and finding happiness, in whatever form it may take – only a real Scrooge could ignore such a pure ask.
The sleigh bells (and whistles)
What is it about the festive season that has donors digging deep? Perhaps it relieves some of the pre- and post-gorge guilt; or, maybe it’s just when we take stock of the past 12 months, and, with good health and a bit of money in our pocket, we figure it’s time to give back.
But, let’s be honest with donors about what it costs to deliver care; a price point of £20, which we see so often, is so precise that it can seem, ahem, made up. A physical, tangible proposition, like a nurse’s time, or the cost of keeping the hospice open for Christmas lunch – and then painting a picture of why that’s so important – will blow generic asks out the water.
And ‘arrivederci’ to anxiety about over-asking; if all your appeals are all unique, you should ask as often as your charity is in need. If it’s genuine (and providing amazing palliative care always is), communicating with donors won’t get stale – for them or for you. Just be sure that every time someone donates you’re thanking them, remembering and acknowledging their support next time.
Then, allow them to help with something else; something to decorate, or write on and send back, so they’re really a part of the Christmas experience – then you’re guaranteed a winner.
Santa’s workshop is here to help…
If you like the idea of our Christmas elves helping you create your own unique, profitable appeal this year, look no further. It’s no secret that we’re pretty good at Christmas as our calendars are already filling up – so drop us a line soon; we’d love to hear from you!!