Insights from GOBEL’s annual giving webinar with Carly Thalmann, VP & Practice Lead, Annual Giving, and Jonathan Isorena, AVP, Annual Giving & Digital Programs
Year-end is the single most important stretch of the annual giving calendar, and this year the stakes are higher than usual. The latest sector data tells a consistent story: fewer donors are giving, and the donors who remain are giving more. For Directors of Annual Giving, that trend changes what winning looks like in Q4. For foundation and health system leaders, it is a signal that the pipeline feeding major and planned gifts needs deliberate attention now, not later.
In our recent webinar, Make Your Move, GOBEL’s annual giving team walked through the current benchmarks across direct mail, digital, and mid-level giving, and laid out a practical playbook for the year-end season. Here are the insights, the data, and the moves we recommend.
The State of Play: Fewer Donors, Larger Gifts
According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, donor counts are down 3.6% while revenue raised is up 5.0%, and retention has slipped another 0.2%.
What this tells us is that organizations are increasingly relying on fewer donors who are making larger gifts. That is why the goal at year-end this season should be participation: more unique donors and more gifts.
Direct Mail Is Still Your Strongest Piece on the Board
With so much attention on digital channels, it is easy to assume direct mail has faded. The data says otherwise. Direct mail continues to generate the largest share of annual giving revenue for many programs, yet many organizations aren’t using it to its full effectiveness.
So, what does a winning direct mail strategy look like this year-end?
- Hyper-segment and versioning. It’s important to meet donors where they are with your organization. That means personalizing each piece through versioning – creating distinct versions for segments like current donors, lapsed donors, and new prospect donors that acknowledge their relationship with you and provide gift arrays based on past giving.
- Make the donor the hero. Balance storytelling with impact messaging so donors can see what only they can make possible.
- Give every segment a seat at the table. Annual giving, mid-level, and major giving audiences should all be part of the year-end mailing conversation.
- Plan the after, not just the ask. With donor counts declining, stewardship of new donors matters more than ever. A new donor welcome series is one of the highest-leverage investments you can make to convert one-time givers into loyal donors.
Digital Is Your Wild Card, and Frequency Is Not the Enemy
We consider digital a wild card because it continues to grow and evolve each month. The encouraging news is that healthcare organizations continue to see growth in this space. But it’s important to remember that digital rarely works in isolation. It works best when it complements your other channels, especially direct mail. Here are a few winning strategies to guide your digital strategy at year-end:
- One Move Wins: Your emails should have one unmistakable call to action. As we approach year-end, donors are overwhelmed with messages and decisions. If your email asks them to watch a video, register for an event, follow you on social media, and make a gift, you’ve created too many choices. Instead, every fundraising email should answer one question: What do I want the donor to do right now? And that answer should almost always be: Make your year-end gift today.
- Invite More Players: Invite additional audiences who are not included in your direct mail strategy. This could include your long-lapsed donors, or your younger grateful patient prospects.
- Segmentation: Just like direct mail, your email list shouldn’t be treated as one audience. Current donors, first-time donors, lapsed donors, grateful patients, employees, and prospects all have different relationships with your organization. Tailoring your messaging based on where donors are in their journey consistently produces stronger engagement and better fundraising results.
- Inbox Warrior – Don’t pull back in December. The average nonprofit sends 14 emails in December. Your donors are primed and other nonprofits aren’t waiting.
Mid-Level Giving Is Your Power-Up
Mid-level giving is one of the fastest growing areas of annual giving, and it is the natural bridge between your annual fund and your major and planned giving programs.
Mid-level giving donors are informed, intentional, deeply loyal donors, and generic appeals erode the insider relationship they expect. A winning mid-level strategy this year-end includes:
- Plan early. Pull your list of Q4 renewal and lapsed mid-level donors in mid-September and block calendar time for personal outreach between marketing touchpoints.
- Version for mid-level. Make the relationship manager the signer of the mid-level letter, or include a lift note introducing them with their direct contact information.
- Work the channels in tandem. Personal calls and emails should reference the story and impact messaging in your mail and digital campaign, creating one cohesive donor experience.
- Open the door to bequests. Plant a single, low-pressure legacy giving mention in year-end communications, ideally as an insert in your acknowledgments, without disrupting the immediate ask.
The Bonus Move: A Matching Gift
When donor counts are down, and the goal at year-end is participation, a match is a great incentive to renew existing donors and bring new donors into the fold. Secure your year-end match donor by September by first looking at leadership and mid-level donors already giving at meaningful levels. The match does not have to be a new gift; many organizations use an already-closed gift and frame it as “all gifts up to $10,000 have been matched,” turning the match itself into a stewardship moment for the funding donor.
Then make the match impossible to miss. State the match amount, the December 31 deadline, and the doubled impact in every communication, from the envelope to the PS to the donation form. One GOBEL client saw revenue and participation increase more than 150% on a matched year-end appeal, making it their highest-participation appeal in three years.
Choose Your Path: Building the Year-End Calendar
The strategy comes together on a calendar, and the sequencing matters. Not sure how to plot out your calendar? Want to get some ideas on how to weave together print and digital channels to achieve the greatest impact?
The Bigger Picture for Healthcare Philanthropy Leaders
For senior leaders, the takeaway from this data is strategic, not tactical. Annual giving is where your organization’s future major gift, principal gift, and planned giving donors are found, qualified, and retained. A year-end season that maximizes participation, invests in new donor welcome and stewardship, and treats mid-level donors as the pipeline they are will pay dividends far beyond December 31. The programs that win are the ones that treat year-end as a coordinated, multi-channel campaign rather than a single appeal.
Ready to make your move?
GOBEL partners exclusively with hospitals, health systems and related organizations to deliver comprehensive Annual Giving solutions that strengthen donor pipelines and accelerate philanthropic growth. Our services span from program assessment, content and journey development, acquisition strategy, and robust data analytics—including post‑campaign reporting and dashboard creation—to help organizations build sustainable, donor‑centered annual giving programs. If your team is exploring ways to strengthen your annual giving program, we would welcome the opportunity to connect.
