I was in Tempe, Arizona last week working on a software development project (more to come on this; could be VERY cool for donor management and other nonprofit fundraising stuff), and I heard a radio commercial that gave me a great idea for a last-minute end-of-year campaign that would work for any nonprofit!
I can’t remember what organization ran the commercial (it was not an animal charity), but it would work for any type of nonprofit that can offer tax deductions for donations. The idea is generic enough that we can all run with it.
You could do this via email, print, radio, web, Facebook, etc. Just create a simple graphic (or I have a few you can download if you want to use these) and put some text with it; you’re good to go!
The text would go something like this:
Would you like to FINALLY get to decide how your tax dollars are spent?
I’ve always said that I wouldn’t mind shelling out money every paycheck (AND at the end of the year!) to Uncle Sam, if only I had a say in how the government spends my money. Then we’d truly have a government run by the people, for the people!
Well, if you make a tax-deductible donation before the end of 2011 to XYZ organization, in effect, you ARE choosing how your tax dollars get spent.
When you donate to a charitable organization, you’re allowed to take that donation as a deduction off your income taxes. It’s not exactly a dollar-for-dollar exchange, but if you know you’re going to owe some income taxes, it’s a great way to offset that. Personally, I’d much rather give money to XYZ organization than to the government!
In order for this to affect your 2011 tax return, you HAVE to donate before the end of the year. This helps us as well with our year-end fundraising, which is the time of year we rely on for most of our donations.
So think about it: your hard-earned money could buy food and toys for homeless dogs and cats….or $360 government pizzas. It’s up to you!
Obviously, you can change the text to suit your organization, but I think this is a fresh way of looking at the end-of-year pitches, and remind people that tax time is just around the corner, and they can help themselves by making a donation now.
Best of all, you can do this as an email campaign; it won’t cost you anything and will take very little time. Give it a try and let us know how it works out!
Emily Garman is COO of
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