One way to increase the visibility of your organisation and make it easier to raise funds for your cause is to tie your efforts to national or local holidays and other special events.  After all, most of us are in a more festive mood and giving frame of mind during these occasions, and who doesn’t enjoy a good party or other fun get together, especially when it’s for a good cause?

Getting Started

As you plan your marketing efforts and fundraisers for the year, make certain that you have access to a few good calendars that list many types of special days.  Two good ones to consider using are the National Calendar and the United Nations’ List of Observances, but you can easily find other calendars that you could use with a simple online search.

Choose the dates that you will conduct your campaigns for the year, and then design your campaigns to celebrate the spirit of a given holiday or other occasion.  When designing this type of campaign, you can increase your chance of a success for the year by ensuring that you have a good mix of different types of holidays and occasions to ensure the widest possible reach.

For example, many NFPs typically host fundraisers and make direct appeals during major holidays and events, such as Christmas or the end of the year. Why not pick out additional occasions, such as The Sustainable Living Festival that’s celebrated through most of the month of February or International Jazz Day which is held on April 30th?

Theme, Message and Branding Are Especially Important to the Success of Your Efforts

When you are designing your fundraising and marketing campaigns to tie into the activities surrounding a special day, you can increase the impact by taking the time to ensure that all of your efforts present a coherent and unified message that presents both the theme of the occasion, and your organisation, in a positive light.

Diversify Your Efforts Across Multiple Marketing Channels

To increase your reach, don’t forget to use several channels when you create your holiday themed campaigns. Your appeals and marketing efforts could include direct email appeals with a holiday theme, in person events that celebrate a special day, such as sales, auctions and socials, as well as social media posts about the event from members and volunteers for your organisation.

Remember to also diversify the mix of social media platforms where you and your supporters will make posts, such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Vine and blog posts on your organisation’s site or supporters’ own individual blogs.

Now that you have a few ideas on how to use special days in your marketing and fundraising efforts through the year, which holidays will your organisation celebrate? Why not share with our readers your most or least successful holiday-themed events?