4 Of 7 - EOY Series: Design, Plan, And Build

Rachel Shields

Our last post focused on EOY strategy and resources.  In today's post, we ask you to take a step back, scrutinize individual elements of your campaign, and ask yourself the following questions:

Do we have a cohesive campaign?

Other than your emails -- think about your website, Facebook page, direct mail, email signatures, etc...  Are they all conveying the same unified EOY message?

Do we make it easy for donors to support our cause?

Do your donors have to drill down a couple levels in order to give, or is your donate button front and center on your homepage?  The donate button should be easy to find and a bold color that stands out from the rest of the text/images on your site.  The same is applies when considering the donate button placement and color on your EOY email messages.  Seems so simple when you think about it, but you'd be surprised how often this is overlooked. 

Are we creating campaign-specific donation forms?

This facilitates tracking of campaign results and allows you to customize the text to coincide with your EOY messaging.

Do the subject lines of our messages create a sense of urgency to donate?

You know your audience best, but some ideas are "Only 24 hours to help _____", "Last chance to _____".

Does the email messaging/copy get to the point without being too wordy or busy?

The copy of your email should be compelling, concise, and culminate with a clear ask (i.e., Donate Now button).  Try to minimize any clutter at the end of the email message.  Multiple links or buttons could potentially distract or confuse a donor.

Do we have the Autologin functionality configured for emails?

In order to streamline the donation process, this automatically logs in a constituent the first time they click the link.  We'll include a link to the KB article with step-by-step instructions below.

Do we need further help to design and build the campaign?

If so, check out our Luminate EOY campaign kits below (which contain email templates and design files).