FotoDuets/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Many nonprofits rely on year-end giving for the bulk of their annual income. But this year fundraisers are grappling with how to adapt their strategies — and capture donors’ attention — during a time of multiple crises.

If your nonprofit is not directly responding to Covid-19, focus on conveying to donors how you’ve adapted your work and stayed true to your mission despite this crisis, says Kristin Wiggins, head of development at Father Joe’s Villages, a homeless-services charity in San Diego. No matter your cause, stress that “what you do and how you serve your community is critical and needed” now, she says.

As many people continue to operate remotely, fundraisers are wondering whether — and how — to include direct mail in their strategies. Some groups may see more returned mail for addresses of organizations that have closed during the pandemic, says Laurence Pagnoni, chairman of the LAPA fundraising consultancy, but direct mail is still yielding impressive results — especially for larger groups.

Be thoughtful about when your appeals will hit donors’ mailboxes, Wiggins says. “This being an election year, there will be a lot more mail that people are receiving leading up to Election Day,” she says. “If you can time yours to come right after Election Day, in that first week of November, that may help with how long it takes to get through the bulk mail system.”

Learn more in Ask an Expert: Your Questions About Year-End Fundraising. For more guidance, buy the recording of our recent webinar How to Shape Your Strategy at Year’s End, which you can watch whenever you like.

Take care,
Lisa Schohl
Editor, Online Learning

Tip of the Week

To manage remote employees successfully, consider the best channel for each communication. Define simple guidelines and stick to them, such as when to use email versus online messaging, says Cynthia Adams, CEO of GrantStation, a company that runs an online database of grant opportunities. If you’re not sure which method to use, make a phone call, says Ajay Dahiya, executive director of the Pollination Project, a nonprofit that makes micro-grants to community leaders. He likes to use video calls about 75 percent of the time. “A lot can get lost without seeing the body language, the tone, the context of what’s being discussed,” he says.

But don’t over rely on video, Adams says. Some employees don’t like feeling they need to tidy their work area and their appearance when telecommuting.

For more tips, visit How to Run a Virtual Office, From Leaders Who Have Done It for Years. And consult our resource center for more than 1,150 articles and tools for nonprofit professionals.

Major-Gift Fundraisers: Learn From Your Peers

Join our webinar — Attracting big gifts from wealthy supporters gets more competitive each year, but 2020 has upended traditional approaches to big-gift fundraising. With the pandemic wearing on, in-person meetings on hold, and the economic outlook dim, how can you stay in touch with key donors in meaningful ways — and win big gifts? Join the Chronicle for a 75-minute webinar to learn from three big-gift fundraising experts who will explain:

• How to prioritize donors when there is never enough time
• Ways to engage wealthy supporters and deepen ties with them — virtually
• How to inspire big donors to give in these challenging times

Sign up today to get a special early-bird discount on this session, which airs Thursday, September 10, at 2 p.m. Eastern. Can’t make it then? Watch it on demand at your convenience.

New Grant Opportunities

Your Chronicle subscription includes free access to GrantStation’s database of grant opportunities. Among the latest listings:

Community Improvement. A Community Thrives, a grantmaking and crowdfunding program of the USA Today Network with funding from the Gannett Foundation, is a way to share community improvement ideas on the national stage, gain support through donations and local connections, and get a chance at receiving a portion of an additional $2 million in grants to help projects succeed. During the campaign, nonprofit organizations have the chance to raise funds for their charities on a challenge page. At the end of the crowdfunding period, the Gannett Foundation will award grants ranging from $2,500 to $100,000 to selected organizations. The application deadline is September 11.

Community life. The Duke Energy Foundation seeks to improve the quality of life in communities served by the company in the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. The Foundation provides grants of up to $10,000 to nonprofits whose programs focus on K-12 education, the work force, or nature, among other things, and work to improve extracurricular activities and programs for students in poor areas. Applications may be submitted throughout the year.