Year-End Fundraising Stories and Stats Turn to Your System for the Facts

It’s here! Yes, the holiday season, and the biggest fundraising time of the year.

Year-end fundraising is so much more than asking for donations. It’s sharing the difference you are making and reaching out to folks in your community to say, “Hey, are you in!?!”

Sharing the difference you are making may seem overwhelming. Why? Because there is a LOT of good work to share!

The good news is you’ve got a terrific source to lean on for a window into that good work, your grant management system.

Let’s look at a few simple things you can dig out of your system to help with this year’s (and ongoing!) fundraising efforts:

Big Picture

• The amount of funds awarded overall.
• The amount of funds dedicated to each goal.
• The number of programs and services you are investing in within each of your strategy areas.
• How you’re partnering with agencies and programs.
• How all of this moves your mission forward.

Big Impact

• The number of people being helped through your investment.
• The location, race, gender, and income of those being served to show those most in need are being helped.
• The specific ways people are being helped.
• The number and percentage of people who are better off as a result of your investment and partnership.

Big Story

• Detailed accounts from program staff about how neighbors have been helped.
• First-hand stories from people receiving assistance.
• How you and your partners are working together to make all this big work possible.

With all the information you have at your fingertips in your grant management system, you’ve got a big head start on a successful year-end fundraising campaign and a model for sharing updates through the year.