5 Design Tips to Make Your Year-End Appeal Campaign Stand Out
Fall is in the air, and year-end appeals are on your mind. In the non-profit world, asking for donations is critical to the success of the organization and it can stress us to no end. With a little strategic planning and clever design, you can create a year-end appeal that inspires and influences your donors. Take these five design tips to make your year-end appeal stand out!
Brand your campaign.
Develop an overall theme and look to your campaign and use it across all communication channels - direct mail, email, text, social and your website. Keep in mind your overall branding guidelines, of course, so the donor recognizes this is from your organization. Attract attention with 2 to 3 different images and headlines to use over the entire campaign.
Design for the donor.
Customize the design and message to each communication channel. Take your mailed letter for an older audience and turn it into a shorter email ask or a video ask for social media. Make sure you’re segmenting your donor list and strategize the best communication method based on their preferences.
Stand out in the mailbox.
Design the outside of the envelope with a message or choose a different color envelope. Your ask won’t work if they don’t even open it. Once they open it, make sure your piece is visually appealing. Break up a letter with headings, pull-quotes, and pictures. Or think outside the box and create a different sized printed piece like a holiday card or postcard. Don’t write “Dear Friend”— customize your letters to have the person’s name on it. Get your team to hand write a special message on the piece..
Make the call to action clear.
Design your call to action so the donor knows exactly how to donate. Make it easy to find and understand. Customize your call to action for your donor. A millennial probably doesn’t own a checkbook, so don’t ask them to write a check.
Don’t forget about your website or online donation page.
Don’t take your donors to your generic donation page. Create a year-end campaign page and make sure it is mobile-friendly. Donors should intuitively find where to donate with your website’s sleek and clear design. Update your home page and other pages to direct donors to your online donation page.