Timing is everything.
Whenever you're communicating with donors, timing is key! You want to be aware of your big picture timing – be smart about when you plan things on your master calendar. You also want to be smart about the days and times you send your communication. Below are some tips that will help you communicate with donors at the right times.
Big Picture (Annual) Timing Tips
- End of year giving is important! November and December are the months when people are most generous -- try to raise capital during your end-of-year campaign.
- July and August are the slowest months for giving – you may want to focus on acquiring donors over the summer, but it isn't when you're most likely to raise a lot of capital.
- Don't forget about special holidays. Think about special days that giving can be linked to. So, if you raise money for breast cancer research, schedule a big campaign during breast cancer awareness month. Or, consider asking people to give on the anniversary of when your organization started.
- Look at iDonate's campaign chart. One of the great things about noncash giving is that different types of assets work well during different times of the year. Check out our asset planning chart to help you plan different campaigns at optimal times.
Day-to-day Email Timing Tips
- Daytime/working hours are good times for emails – People are usually more responsive to emails when they're at work.
- Avoid Mondays and Fridays when you can – research shows those days can be less effective for email campaigns than the middle of the workweek.
- Times of day when people are most likely to open an email: Ending an email mid-day (1:00 3:00 P.M.) has the best results. If you're sending emails in the morning, 9:00-11:00 A.M. also has good results
- What type of content are you sending? Educational emails (e.g. introducing a new campaign) are best sent earlier in the week. Action emails often perform well later in the week. There are some action emails that might be best sent over the weekend-- especially ones that require someone to be at home to take action (e.g. if you're asking someone to donate jewelry since jewelry is likely to be at a donor's home).